Philip Fogarty in Glor
Clare People Weekender
To mark the release of his new album 'lambs', Crusheen native Philip Fogarty embarks today on a short nationwide tour that takes in Glor on Wednesday night next February 28th. Now living in Galway after a stay in Cork for a number of years, the Clare musician and his band make a welcome return to the Ennis venue following a well received gig there late last year. Fogarty worked for a time as a studio and touring session musician with rock bands like Rubyhorse and The Fabulous Solfas before commencing his solo career. Brought up in the thriving traditional music scene of his native county, (his first instrument was the button accordion), Philip includes traditional influences in his current work that also include contemporary, rock and electronica.
His band is made up of Fogarty himself, Eddie Dee, Aileen Maloney and Anna Lardi. "There's a lot of instrument swapping going on in the band", says the Crusheen man. "Eddie plays bass primarily but he also plays percussion and keyboards. Aileen sticks pretty much to the violin. Anna also plays violin, as well as keyboards, percussion, drums and melodica and I play bodhran, a bit of percussion, button accordion and piano," reveals Fogarty. "It's kind of like musical chairs and we actually do move around physically from instrument to instrument during gigs."
With such a varied array of instruments, the sound is pretty eclectic, I suggest. "It's ecclectic within a certain range, I suppose. But I would like to think that it all hangs together and there is a central feel to it," he replies. Mixed musical influences have established a fresh sound for the singer/musician/composer and in the contemporary world of predictable and uninspiring music it's refreshing to hear someone whose desire is to create and explore as well as connect. Wednsday's Glor gig promises to be an experience of a different kind. Philip Fogarty and friends mix a unique vocal and songwriting style with a fascinating instrumental soundscape. Fogarty's music is fresh, original and never dull.
Gerry Quinn
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