The Gloaming Explained

Landscape:yes
Origin:Ireland, United States
Genre:Traditional Irish, Celtic, world music, contemporary classical, jazz, chamber, folk, post-rock, minimalism
Years Active:2011–present
Label:Real World Records (Rest of World)Brassland Records (North America)
Website:http://www.thegloaming.net/home
Current Members:Martin HayesIarla Ó LionáirdCaoimhín Ó RaghallaighThomas Bartlett
Past Members:Dennis Cahill

The Gloaming is a contemporary Irish/American music supergroup. Its members are fiddle player Martin Hayes, sean-nós singer Iarla Ó Lionáird, hardanger fiddle player Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh, and pianist Thomas Bartlett.[1] Guitarist Dennis Cahill was a member until his death in June 2022.

The group was formed in 2011 and began a first tour of Ireland with a sold out performance in the National Concert Hall (NCH). Since then they have played the NCH annually, increasing to a residency of seven consecutive nights by 2017.[2] After the release of their third studio album and a concert tour in 2019, the band announced that it would "take a break" in 2020.[3]

They have recorded three studio albums, The Gloaming (2014), The Gloaming 2 (2016), The Gloaming 3 (2019), and a concert recording, Live at the NCH (2018). Thomas Bartlett, the band's pianist, produced all four albums. The first was recorded at Grouse Lodge in County Westmeath in Ireland and the second at Real World Studios near Bath, England. The Gloaming 3 was produced at Bartlett's studio in New York. Unlike the first two studio albums, which were recorded after rehearsals or during tours, The Gloaming 3 contains music that the group had not played live together, with Bartlett taking a more active role as producer.[4] Live at the NCH contains 6 songs chosen by Bartlett from live recordings of several of the group's National Concert Hall shows.[5]

The Gloaming won the Meteor Choice Music Prize for 2014 Irish Album of the Year for their first album.[6] They won the 2015 BBC Radio 2 Folk Award for Best Traditional Track, for Samhradh Samhradh, which appeared on the first album.[7] In 2019 they were nominated for three RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards: Best Original Folk Track, Best Folk Group and Best Folk Album. Caoimhin Ó Raghallaigh was nominated for Best Folk Instrumentalist.[8] Iarla Ó Lionáird won the Best Folk Singer award.[9]

Notes and References

  1. News: Madonna . Zoë . Inside the twilit wanderings of Irish music supergroup The Gloaming . 16 February 2020 . The Boston Globe . 3 April 2019.
  2. News: It's that time again: The Gloaming are back . 16 February 2020 . Irish Examiner . 5 March 2018.
  3. News: O’Byrne . Ellie . Iarla Ó Lionáird is bringing it all back home . 16 February 2020 . Irish Examiner . 22 February 2019.
  4. News: Carty. Pat. The Twilight Saga: The Gloaming Interview. Hot Press. 13 February 2020. 10 April 2019.
  5. News: Long . Siobhan . The Gloaming: Live at the NCH review – capturing their mesmerising essence . The Irish Times . 2 March 2018.
  6. News: Kelly. Aoife. The Gloaming win coveted Meteor Choice Music Prize Album of the Year, The Script bag Song of the Year. 20 January 2016. Irish Independent. 5 March 2015.
  7. Web site: Gloaming among BBC Folk Awards winners . RTE . 16 February 2020 . 25 April 2015.
  8. Web site: RTÉ Announces Shortlist for 2019 Folk Awards . The Journal of Music . 16 February 2020 . 19 September 2019.
  9. Web site: Ye Vagabonds win big at the Irish Folk Awards . RTE . 16 February 2020 . 24 October 2019.