NIALL CONNOLLY
NIALL CONNOLLY
plus guests
^ Upstairs ^
Cork-born, Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Niall Connolly brings the urgency to folk and the finely-crafted story to indie rock. Born in 1977, alongside the birth of punk, his work bears evidence of the roots and influences that made him a songwriter: early years listening to Nirvana on the Walkman, Leonard Cohen on his sister’s stereo, and the steady stream of bands and songwriters emerging from the 1990’s Cork music scene. He blends a riveting sound with layered, literate lyrics that generously reward the listener.
After garnering acclaim in his hometown, Niall moved to Brooklyn in 2006. There he began the Big City Folk Collective, gathering together a community of songwriters and musicians and giving space for a generation of writers to hone their craft. Since that time his sound has accumulated influences from his peers in his adopted homeland, juxtaposing sparse, finger-picked moments with the gigantic sonic swells of the band at full flight. All the while his lyrics retain their reverence for the poetic, the literary, and all that is emotionally honest.
In his latest album, All We Have Become, Connolly traverses the landscape of his travels. Sublime trumpet lines and atmospheric guitar riffs lay alongside surging beats and harmonies. Each lyric creates a cosmos in miniature, memoirs from his youth to the imagined lives of others, nostalgia for young wonder and the struggle for the survival of the human heart.
Niall has had the great pleasure of playing festivals, embassies, theaters and dive bars all over the world including Glastonbury, the Prague Fringe Festival, and CMJ. He has had the privilege of sharing the stage with the luminaries in his band and in the Big City Folk music scene, as well as MisterWives, Lambchop, Evan Dando, Mick Flannery, and John Spillane, to name a few. He has also collaborated with such poets as Neil McCarthy, Stephen Murray, and Billy Ramsell in various Voice and Verse projects.
What people who know better have to say:
“Niall Connolly rocks. His brand of Storm The Castle music blows me away every time.” – Ken Rockwood, Rockwood Music Hall, NYC
“Disarming and beautifully crafted folk-pop. Connolly is a witty storyteller and a not-to-be-missed songsmith.” – Chicago Tribune
TICKETS
€12 ADV // €15 Door
Available online from WAV Tickets or Lo-Call 1890 200 078 (1-8pm M-F, 4-8pm Sat)
– 50c per ticket service charge applies on phone, internet or creditcard bookings. Final ticket price may be higher from other outlets.Strictly over 18′s, I.D. may be required.