Solas Returns with “For Love and Laughter”

Posted on Monday, August 25th, 2008 at 8:45 PM

Nashville, TN (August 25 2008) – In a manner befitting their name (a Gaelic word meaning “light”), Solas burst onto a largely dormant Irish music scene and almost instantly became a beacon – an incandescent ensemble that found contemporary relevance in timeless traditions without ever stooping to crossover clichés. Now, as Mairead Phelan, an exciting young singer from Kilkenny, steps up to lend her exquisite vocals to the existing line up of Seamus Egan (flute, tenor banjo, mandolin, whistle, guitar and bodhran), Winifred Horan (fiddle), Mick McAuley (accordion and concertina) and Eamon McElholm (guitar and keyboards), the band heads into their second decade of playing tight, fiery Irish music.   

For Love and Laughter breaks fresh ground in duets with Canada’s folk phenoms The Dukhs and an inspired rendition of Rickie Lee Jones’s “Sailor Song”,while it offers the imaginative reinterpretations of traditional material that Solas has been playing to the delight of their fans worldwide.

 

 


Summer/ Fall Tour Dates

Aug 15 – 17 / Milwaukee Irish Fest / Milwaukee
Aug 29 – 30 / Planet Arlington / Arlington, VA
Sept 6 – 7 / Virginia Irish Fest / Leesburg, VA
Sept 10 / Tupelo Music Hall / Londonderry, NH
Sept 13 – 14 / ICONS Festival / Boston

Sept 15 / Space / Hemden, CT
Sept 16 / Higher Ground Showcase Lounge / S. Burlington, VT

Sept 17 / Iron Horse Music Hall / North Hampton, MA 
Sept 18 / The Egg / Albany, NY 

Sept 19 / Towne Crier / Pawling, NY
Sept 20 / Sullivan Hall / NYC
Sept 21 / World Cafe Live / Philadelphia
Sept 23 / Anthology Lounge / San Diego
Sept 24 / El Rey Theater / Los Angeles
Sept 27 / KVMR Celtic Festival / Grass Valley, CA
Sept 28 / Crescent Elk Auditorium / Crescent City, CA
Sept 30 / Triple Door / Seattle
Oct 1 / Aladdin Theatre / Portland
Oct 5 / Abbey Pub / Chicago
Oct 7 / The Ark / Ann Arbor
Oct 9 / St. Brendan’s Inn / Green Bay, WI
Oct 10 / Cedar Cultural Center / Minneapolis
Oct 25 / Perthshire Amber Festival / Perthshire, Scotland UK
Nov 1 / Liverpool Irish Festival / Liverpool, UK

Press & Promotion: Stephanie Fields
stephanie@compassrecords.com
www.compassrecords.com
www.myspace.com/compassrecords

Posted in: News, Uncategorized Comments(1) August 2008


For Love and Laughter to be released in US on August 26th

Posted on Monday, August 25th, 2008 at 12:00 AM

We’re pleased to announce that our new cd For Love and Laughter will be released Tuesday, August 26th. It’s our first studio album in 4 years as well as our first album with a great new singer, Mairead Phelan. Check out what Siobhan Long, of the Irish Times, had to say about it this past weekend. 

SOLAS For Love and Laughter   Compass Records ****

Sometimes we’re so preoccupied with trad musicians overstepping boundaries that we miss their leap into the blue yonder. Solas’s Irish-American roots are the very things that seem to free them from the perils of navel-gazing. First, there’s an urbane cosmopolitanism in the multi-instrumentalism of Seamus Egan. Then there are the compositional contributions from four of the five band members. Solas relish that primal flux of influences from zydeco to klezmer, jazz and bluegrass that bathed the likes of Michael Coleman and James Morrison before them. Amid a raft of busy arrangements and collaboration with The Duhks, newcomer vocalist Mairead Phelan excels on Mollaí Na gCuach Ní Chuilleanáin , and Winifred Horan’s sublime My Dream of You lingers long after the final note has sounded.

 SIOBHÁN LONG

We hope you like it!!

Posted in: News, Uncategorized Comments(0) August 2008


Check out full length tracks on MySpace

Posted on Sunday, August 24th, 2008 at 12:43 PM

We have posted 5 tracks from For Love and Laughter on our MySpace page. To check it out, just click on the MySpace link above.

Posted in: News, Uncategorized Comments(0) August 2008


Fall Tour Confirmed

Posted on Sunday, August 24th, 2008 at 12:38 PM

We are hitting the road for the next few weeks in support of our new album. Check out the tour dates page to see when we’re playing near you. Hope to see you out there!

Posted in: News, Uncategorized Comments(0) August 2008