At FRUK we are very excited by the announcement of a UK and Irish tour from the olllam, commencing as the band hit Belfast on 17th of January. An intense week of playing a gig a night will see the olllam play the Celtic Connections festival, then Liverpool, London and Manchester before heading back across the Irish Sea to finish the tour in Cork and Dublin. (see below)
Their name refers to the highest ranked fili, the bards and poets of the Irish kings, the extra L is added to reflect the unique talents of the core trio. John McSherry’s name is one to get any aficionado of Irish music excited. Regarded as one of the world’s best players of the uilleann pipes, John was a founder member of Lúnasa and an original member of Dónal Lunny’s now legendary super group Coolfin. He’s part of an incredibly talented musical family, who released an album together under the name Tamalin. Now, whether with his own group, At First Light, solo or in countless collaborations and work for films and TV, John continues to raise the bar of Irish music. the olllam is the latest proof of that.
Exceptional talent attracts exceptional talent and John may have met his match as even the Atlantic Ocean is no barrier. Detroit natives and Irish American fusioneers, Tyler Duncan and Mike Shimmin bring their own extraordinary skills to this trio. Both hold degrees in Jazz performance and are members of the award winning, Irish-jazz crossover group Millish whose debut album featured in the FRUK playlist many moons ago. Tyler was also the first American to win the All Ireland championship on uilleann pipes in 1999 and 2000. A year later he won the championship for his bodhran skills. Mike meanwhile is an exceptional percussionist, who also brings compositional skills to the project. On the record the core trio is further augmented by bassist Joe Dart.
We are delighted to cover this as an Album Of The Month and a full write up of the album will follow imminently. But in order to capture the complexity of the sound they have created the Olllam will tour with an expanded line up:
John McSherry (pipes and whistles)
Tyler Duncan (pipes and whistles)
Michael Shimmin (drum set)
Joe Dart (bass)
Theo Katzman (guitar)
Woody Goss (keys)
Tour Dates
January 17 – Belfast, Ireland – Club Sasta
January 18 – Glasgow, Scotland – Celtic Connections
January 19 – Liverpool, UK – Liverpool Philharmonic Hall
January 20 – London, UK – The Borderline
January 21 – Manchester, UK – Band On The Wall
January 22 – Clonakilty, Co. Cork, Ireland – De Barra’s
January 23 – Dublin, Ireland – Temple Bar TradFest (wsg Padraig Rynne)
Further info and ticket links here