In June last year, Anglo-Irish folk group The Haar, featuring Adam Summerhayes, Cormac Byrne, Murray Grainger and Molly Donnery, released their self-titled debut. In his review of the album Glenn Kimpton drew a focus to the spontaneity of their music which felt both alive and affecting. He concludes “The Haar will take you on a journey and have you appreciating the purest of life’s pleasures.”
In their later interview, they revealed how there was more than an element of chance and fate surrounding the initial meeting when Cormac and Adam were on Inis Oírr, an island off the west coast of Galway, to launch their Stone Soup album when, one evening while in Rory’s Pub having a pint, they heard Molly singing ‘Slán Abhaile’. Adam Summerhayes recalls “The whole place was silent, and I just heard this beautiful voice. I’ve been wanting to collaborate with the right singer for a couple of decades and had never heard somebody with the quality that was in my head…” Until then…the rest is history as they say.
Towards the end of last year, they treated us to the classic traditional song The Parting Glass. Today, we have the pleasure of sharing another: Black is the Colour, a traditional ballad that’s been covered by many, from Nina Simone to Christy Moore and Cara Dillon. It’s a singer’s song if ever there was one. Those previously mentioned names who have covered Black is the Color stood out in my mind as they brought something unique to the familiar, they briefly owned it. The Haar achieve the same here with all members contributing to a re-interpretation on several levels, musically, vocally and lyrically with a final verse written by Adam – the results, despite the familiarity you may hold in your minds of this song are unexpected and affecting.
Murray Grainger’s opening accordion sets a plaintive backdrop before Cormac Byrne’s intuitive and deep sounding bodhrán lends an echoing feeling of space for Molly’s vocals to make their opening. Adam Summerhayes’ fiddle continues the mood with gentle sonorous tones and together they present a great feeling of stillness, the likes of which you experience when hearing a Sean-nós singer – both haunting and exhilarating – you can hear the past through her voice. Despite the song’s Celtic roots, there are other subtle elements at play here that bring to mind jazz and other traditional European music that just go to highlight The Haar’s ability to create refreshingly original music.
Black is the Colour is released tomorrow – Friday, 23 April (details below).
Live performances have, of course, been off the cards since the release, but with bookings for Beardy Folk Festival, and Costa Del Folk Portugal, The Haar will be bringing their unique and exceptional music to live music lovers in 2021.
Black is the Colour is available to purchase and download from tomorrow (23 April) via Bandcamp: https://thehaar.bandcamp.com
Pre-Save: https://ditto.fm/black-is-the-colour-the-haar
Order a copy of their debut album ‘The Haar’ from
For more information on The Haar, please visit http://thehaar.ie and follow the band on socials at @thehaarband