NÍOR baisteadh as a n-ainm iad – trad band Réalta seem to be be heading towards the musical firmament with a great response to their recently released second album, Clear Skies and an upcoming sell-out gig at the Black Box’s Green Room to start their New Year off with a bang so large it could have launched Apollo 11.
As I’ve mentioned before, I was in the Bia cafe in Belfast’s Culturlann where one of the band, Aaron O’Hagan was playing the pipes with Craobh Rua’s Jim Rainey on guitar.
While most people were more interested in their California chicken and Caesar salads, I was blown away by the music the pair were making.
'If this is so good, how much better would the full complement of five-member Réalta be', I thought.
The thing you’ll first notice about Réalta is the instrumentation, with two pipers (Aaron O’Hagan and Conor Lamb), All Ireland Bodhrán champion Dermot Moynagh, Dermot Mulholland on double bass and vocals and Deirdre Galway on guitar, bouzouki and vocals.
So what’s a nice classically-trained pianist and clarinettist doing in a band like Réalta, I cheekily ask Deirdre.
"Well. I’ve never heard it put that way before!" she laughs.
"There was always traditional music in the house with my sister and my Dad playing and I used to do some Irish dancing but it wasn’t until I came to university in Belfast that I fell in love with the music.
"Here I discovered the session scene and I met Conor (Lamb) who introduced me to other musicians from Co Antrim which was fantastic."
Deirdre also studied rock and jazz, so what are the reasons she plumped for trad?
"I think a lot of it has to do with the rhythm," she says.
"I’m very inspired by rhythm. There is such a great pulse to traditional music that you can’t help but be excited by it. That was one of the big draws for me.
"But on top of that, there is the social aspect of traditional music. It’s a great way to meet people and to travel. We can travel to cities all over the world and sit with a big group of people whose language you might not even speak and still have a fantastic time.
"And that really makes you appreciate what we have here at home and I don’t think people appreciate the quality of the music that is being played here in Belfast and in other places too."
The band came about when Deirdre and Conor started playing together socially. They were quickly joined by Aaron O’Hagan and the band recored their first album as a three-piece.
Thereafter the band has expanded but they see themselves rooted in the more traditional end of the spectrum although they are happy to incorporate other influences.
As for the instrumentation, Conor says he’d love to say it was all cunningly planned – but no.
"I’d played with Aaron for as long as I can remember and because the pipes are such a contrary instrument, what with tuning and the other problems it brings, it can be a real pain sometimes.
"But because Aaron and I have been playing together for so long, it just works for us.
"We originally got Dermot Mulholland in to play bouzouki but it’s a great bonus that he also plays about a million other instruments and sings as well.
"Then we decided we needed a bodhrán player to augment the rhythm so we got Dermot in who plays such intricate work on the bodhrán that it works really well in the whole scheme of things."
Given the response to Clear Skies, it looks like the band have come up with a winning recipe.
The 11 tracks are a mixture of the well-known (The Star Above the Garter and a lovely version of Tabhair Dom do Lámh), some not as initially familiar, a couple of Asturian reels plus three songs and the ever-gorgeous slow air, ÚrChnoc Chéin Mhic Cáinte.
Cue comparisons to the Bothy Band and indeed Réalta’s music does hark back to ancient times – okay, 40-odd years ago – when trad musicians wore flares and had Mexican moustaches, but also how they took native music by the scruff of the neck and created a springboard for what has developed since.
Réalta do the fusion thing, very subtly. There is a song on the album called Máire Iní Mhic Ailpín which the band have married to a Finnish tune which they picked up at the Oulu Irish Festival – the northernmost Irish festival in the world.
"I was teaching singing and there was a girl in the class who was a fantastic singer of Finnish folk songs and it was she who taught me the melody which we put to this ancient song in Irish," says Deirdre,
And now, some good news and some bad news. The good news is that Réalta are playing a gig in the Green Room at The Black Box on Saturday January 7.
The bad news, for those without tickets, is that the gig is sold out.
However, I've no doubt the new stars of Irish trad music will be playing at a venue near you – so keep your eyes and ears peeled.
:: Clear Skies is out now.
