Villagers, Tamino and Julien Baker

Mayo-bound for the St. Michael’s Church live TV recordings at

Other Voices Ballina 2018

September 28^th & 29^th, Ballina, Co. Mayo

Plus, first Other Voices Ballina Music Trail venues and acts revealed including

Elaine Mai, Malojian, Robert John Ardiff, Roe, Paddy Hanna, Montauk Hotel, EHCO and many more.

 

 

The charismatic, eclectic, multi award-winning Conor O’Brien’s Villagers, Egyptian – Belgian breakthrough artist Tamino, and Memphis, Tennessee indie songwriter Julien Baker have been announced to join Little Green Cars, Seamus Fogarty and Maria Kelly in the hallowed halls of St. Michael’s Church, Ballina this September 28^th and 29^th for the Other Voices Festival live TV recordings. The inaugural edition of Other Voices in the beautiful Mayo town will see performances by eight renowned Irish and international acts, filmed in front of a live audience in the ancient chapel, and broadcast as part of the Other Voices TV series on RTÉ in early 2019. The final two Church acts will be announced in the coming weeks.

 

Tickets for the St. Michael’s Church TV recordings will be split into four ‘concerts’ – Part 1 and Part 2 on Friday September 28^th and Part 1 and Part 2 on Saturday September 29^th and will only be available through competitions in local and national media, event partner outlets and through Other Voices social media from next week onwards. In keeping with Other Voices’ 17 year-long tradition, artists for each Church concert will only be announced the week of Other Voices Ballina. All ticket competitions will be pre-announced on www.othervoices.ie and Other Voices social media channels on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

 

 

 

 

In Local Voices, running alongside the Church recordings over the weekend, the Music Trail will explode into life with more than thirty bands performing free gigs across a multitude of venues in the town including An Bolg Bui, Auld Shebeen, Breathnach’s, The Loft, Emmett’s Treffpunkt, Paddy Macs, Bar Square, Brennan’s Lane, Vincy’s Bar and Ballina Presbyterian Church

The first slew of acts to be announced for these free concerts range from punk to pop, folk to electro and include the sublime, woozy psychedelia of Lurgan artist Malojian, the pop hooks, lush synths and drum machines of Derry’s Roe, along with the morose charm and sardonic wit of Dublin’s Paddy Hanna. Ballina bound music fans will uncover the luscious harmonies of Galway’s Dott, Scottish/Irish baroque pop three-piece Gaze is Ghost and Mayo-born, Dublin-dwelling electro-queen Elaine Mai. Also on the Ballina bill, Nordie pop punk noise merchants Cherym, Kildare hip-hop poet JyellowL, the delicate soundscapes of Meath man and Come on Live Long member Robert John Ardiff and the synth laden guitar riffs of Belfast band Beauty Sleep. Rounding out the first wave of Music Trail announcements, are EHCO, the new electro project from former Enemies man Eoin Whitfield, the rich lyrical folk sounds of Ballina/Dublin duo Pembroke and the glistening guitars and punchy beats of Dublin’s Montauk Hotel.

 

 

Villagers need little introduction, Conor O’Brien has a lengthy string of accolades under his belt since the debut album Becoming A Jackal in 2010. Two Ivor Novello Awards, two Mercury Music Prize nominations and a previous winner of Ireland’s Choice Music Prize, Villagers release the fourth album The Art of Pretending To Swim on September 21^st. O’Brien’s new record reconnects with the multi-faceted approach of Villagers’ 2010 album debut Becoming A Jackal and 2013’s {Awayland} while adding a new-found soulfulness, rhythmic nous and dazzling panoply of sonic detail, both analogue and digital, creating feverish moods while writing effortlessly accessible tunes. Balanced with subtle aspects and lyrical themes that embrace existential fears and hopes in this desperate, technologically-centred dystopian age, The Art Of Pretending To Swim is the most brilliantly realised illagers album to date. www.wearevillagers.com

 

Of Belgian, Egyptian and Lebanese heritage, 21-year-old musician Tamino is a singer who has arrived, out of nowhere, fully formed. Aptly, for a musician whose upbringing and trans-nationality elude questions of provenance and pigeonholes, his music is at once ancient and modern, conjuring up the scorched-earth, ripped-from-the-heart poetry of Nick Cave. Musically, it is impossible to categorise, gloriously impervious to style, fashion or commerce, his octave-traversing voice and ethereal falsetto creating music that permeates the heart, mind and soul. www.taminomusic.com

 

 

 

Memphis, Tennessee songwriter Julien Baker is renowned for her transfixing, pin-drop intensity. Since the release of her second album Turn Out The Lights, she has cemented her status as one of contemporary music’s most resonant singer songwriters, appearing in numerous end of year lists including The New York Times, Pitchfork, Noisey and The Line of Best Fit. She has appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and her Spotify streams have surpassed the 50 million mark. www.julienbaker.com

Other Voices Ballina 2018 is made possible with the support and partnership of Mayo County Council, Mayo.ie, Ballina Chamber, Mayo North, Ballina.ie, Creative Ireland, Wild Atlantic Way, Coca Cola, Ballina Arts Centre, The Jackie Clarke Collection, Music Generation Mayo and Core Music Hub.

 

Other Voices is also confirmed for a 17^th outing in Dingle, Co. Kerry at the end of the year, running from November 30^th to December 2^nd, 2018. Further details will be announced in October.

 

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