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E-mailCatch Them in The Rye!
In the spirit of honesty in journalism, let me come clean. The Rye are my peeps!
They hail from Athenry, Co. Galway, birthplace of my father's tribe. I found them on Myspace not long ago, and my life has not been the same ever since.
The Rye play, in their words, "savage driven ceol." They throw together modern rock melodies into a stew of expert traditional playing, turn-on-a-dime chops rarely seen outside a lower Manhattan jazz club, and an irreverence that ties the whole package together in a rowdy, exuberant bow!
Their music is a lively fusion with Irish roots, including elements of Irish traditional, country, reggae, folk, rock, blues and soul. They add furious fiddling to mimic the crescendo on a killer remake of Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt," made even more famous by Johnny Cash in his later years.
"Square Peig" begins with the devilish bass riff borrowed from the White Stripes before landing into a full frontal assault of fiddling as the bass line shifts from one familiar lick to another. "Arkle Mountain" is a ferocious reel with the firepower of a gas guzzling machine behind the drums. For fans of the jam band players in Kila - and who isn't? - the Rye is right up your alley.
The members of the Rye are vocalist and acoustic guitarist Kevin, Anna on fiddle and backing vocals, Alan on banjo, electric guitar and backing vocals, Ciaran on drums and harmonica and Barry on the bass. Giving your last name is so 2006!
Since their first gig on New Year's Day 2006 in the Roisn Dubh in Galway, the Rye has been playing steadily all across Ireland, in venues as diverse as small country pubs, nightclubs and on festival stages.
Galway Bay FM has described the Rye as "the liveliest band to come out of the West of Ireland since the Saw Doctors." I'll drink to that!
We chatted about the components in the Athenry farming soil that grew such a wildly innovative sound. Here's how it went:
How would you describe the Rye to someone who has never heard of you?
Our music has been described in many different ways and has been bracketed in all types of genres. It would, however, be true to say that it is founded mainly on the Irish tradition, although we do draw from our own background as a musician which is varied. It is a lively type of music, and judging from our shows it is sure to make people dance.
I was listening to "Square Peig" with a friend of mine, and we caught some familiar bass lines from White Stripes and Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean." There were some others we did not recognize. What are we missing?
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