In time for Bandcamp Friday, David Murphy & Ether Ensemble have released a new charity single, an instrumental cover of Led Zeppelin’s The Rain Song, all proceeds will go to Doctors Without Borders / Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). The song featured on Zeppelin’s 1973 album Houses of the Holy, Jimmy Page apparently writing it in response to George Harrison complaining that Led Zeppelin never wrote ballads.
David Murphy shared:
“I’ve been playing this beautiful Led Zeppelin song on acoustic guitar for many years and when it came to performing live shows following the release of the Cuimhne Ghlinn record, it felt like the ideal time to adapt it to pedal steel guitar and include it in our live set. Performing it alongside traditional Irish compositions, it resonated with audiences and so we decamped to the studio to record and share it beyond.”
His 2024 debut Cuimhne Ghlinn: Explorations in Irish Music for Pedal Steel Guitar, reimagined old Irish harp tunes and arranged them for pedal steel. Glenn Kimpton, reviewing Cuimhne Ghlinn for KLOF Mag, called it “an extraordinarily great album,” praising its “quietly adventurous spirit” and the way Murphy brought a different character to each traditional piece without losing the essence of the tune. The album featured in KLOF Mag’s 2024 Album’s of the Year.
This new released finds Murphy and the Ether Ensemble — who toured with The Unthanks in late 2024 — inbetween sessions for a forthcoming studio album, due in 2027. Alongside Murphy’s pedal steel, the single features Ultan Lavery (keys), Jessie Whitehead (violin, viola), Laura McFadden (cello), Michael Riordan (double bass), Aoife Blake (harp), Niamh Dalton (fiddle) and Brendan Fennessy (drums).
Murphy has a run of live dates through the autumn, including a full-band show at Dublin’s National Concert Hall on September 25th as part of Tradition Now, and appearances at PEOPLE Festival in Berlin on October 10th–11th.
Order the single via Bandcamp (also available to stream)
Upcoming Live Shows:
5th Sept :: Garinish Island, Cork (Solo)
18th Sept :: Gougane Barra, Co Cork (Solo)
19th Sept :: Maureen’s Cork (Trio)
23rd Sept :: Coughlans, Cork (Solo)
25th Sept :: Tradition Now, National Concert Hall, Dublin (Full-Band)
10th-11th Oct :: PEOPLE Festival, Berlin
Tickets and more information at https://www.davidmurphymusic.com/live-shows