The Alt - Nuala Kennedy, John Doyle, Eomon O'Leary

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Wow, I don't usually pay attention to new album projects this focused on vocals, but these are some of my current heroes on an amazing recording by a new trio called "The Alt." John Doyle (vocals, guitar, bouzouki), Nuala Kennedy (vocals, flute, low whistle), Eamon O'Leary (vocals, guitar, bouzouki). Wonderful stuff. You can hear all the full tracks right now on Bandcamp:

http://thealtmusic.bandcamp.com/releases

I've followed John Doyle forever (took one workshop with him). I've been following Nuala Kennedy for the last year or so since I've been a beginner Irish flute player. Eamon O'Leary is unknown to me, but he sounds great here. Many of these tracks feature guitar and bouzouki backup under vocals and flute, so it's a real master class in how guitar and bouzouki can be arranged together in a recording, and stay out of each other's way.

Also, check out John's star turn int track 9 (the Green Gowland Glass etc. instrumental set) where he breaks out of guitar backup and shows what a great guitarist can do playing melody and keeping up with a smokin' Irish flute player like Nuala.

[Randi Gormley]

Day-amn. They played last night in Newtown and I was working and couldn't get there. My husband went, though, and bought the CD which they kindly signed. We've had them all down here separately but apparently they got together for the first time as a group at Swanannoah two years ago and magic happened. I was listening to the CD as I was cruising through the café forums -- small world! Definitely worth checking out for those who haven't heard them. My husband said they played mostly bouzouki at the concert, trading off between the two men. fwiw

[citeog]

Eamonn O'Leary has been a stalwart on the NYC Irish music trad scene for many years, playing guitar, zouk and tenor banjo. He's a Dublin native as is John Doyle although, unlike John, he plays right-handed. He also plays in a duo called The Murphy Beds....

Paul

[DougC]

Considering Johnny's singing efforts with Martin Hayes, I was skeptical. That thought is dashed on the first notes of this recording. Rich, three part harmonies and even richer instrumental sounds. Wow, indeed. It seems a similar sound to Altan in their arrangements and, sadly the flute reminds me of Frankie Kennedy. The female voice, Nuala sounds like Mairead at times too. This recording goes to the top of my list. A great find!

[mikeyes]

I saw them at the Milwaukee Irishfest and they were terrific there, all 5 times. We are used to seeing John Doyle in Milwaukee, often with Liz Carroll, and I have one of his albums in which he sings. This was a fun set of concerts and if you get a chance to see them, do so.

Mike Keyes

[Colin Lindsay]

Just downloaded the album, gonna be essential listening on a long flight tomorrow.

[Galimando]

He also plays in a duo called The Murphy Beds....

The Murphy Beds are a really great band. You can hear their album in its entirety on their Bandcamp site, here: http://murphybeds.bandcamp.com/album/the-murphy-beds. (I love the first track in particular.) You can see them performing in this video. The other member of the Murphy Beds is Jefferson Hamer, who did a pretty spectacular album called Child Ballads with Anaïs Mitchell. You can see them here, performing one of the tracks at the BBC's 2014 Folk Awards. Here's them doing another song from the album.

[JPL]

Really great album. There are some good live clips on Youtube, too. Just got a zouk, and I've been telling people I'm third in the worldwide lefty bouzouki rankings, behind Donal Lunney and John Doyle.

[citeog]

Well, JPL, there are more of us lefty zoukists out there than you realise:-)

And it's Donal Lunny (no "e")

Paul

[JPL]

You want that #3 spot, you come and take it from me.

[4 Course Meal]

I purchased both "The Alt" and "The Murphy Beds" albums on band camp. Thanks for the tips. Really enjoying both so far and just getting started.

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I purchased both "The Alt" and "The Murphy Beds" albums on band camp. Thanks for the tips. Really enjoying both so far and just getting started.

I bought "The Alt" album on bandcamp too. It's easy to just listen to or capture the stream, but if you buy the album, the tracks are downloaded as a ZIP file with MP3's encoded at variable bit rate, roughly 250-270kbps, and better quality than the streaming tracks.

And of of course, buying the album supports the band!