Lunasa

March 15, 2009

Their approach to Irish music has been compared to Bela Fleck’s approach to bluegrass - modernizing and amping up the form to put more focus on the rhythm section while still keeping the heartfelt feel and energy of a distinctive genre.
It’s an approach that’s worked impressively; 2007 was the 10 year anniversary of Seán Smyth (fiddle), Kevin Crawford (flute), Cillian Vallely (uillean pipes), founding member Trevor Hutchinson (bass), and Paul Meehan (guitar), collectively known as Lúnasa.
It was a landmark year, and even the BBC showed their support for the group by filming their headlining show at Glasgow’s Celtic Connections international jamboree. The band followed up with a seven-week tour through the U.S. and Australia, and by March, Irish Music Magazine had granted the band the front page and a major feature celebrating “Lúnasa’s Decade of Excellence.” No one can say that this talented group of Irish guys are underachievers.
THE STORY SO FAR
Founding member Trevor Hutchison knew just what to do with the remainder of 2007. He spent much of the year going through the band’s albums to select highlights of their recordings. The result is Lúnasa’s 2008 CD, The Story So Far..., which includes Hutchison’s tracklist choices alongside re-recordings of two of their classic songs (“Aibreann” and “Morning Nightcap”), creating a terrific showcase for the band’s music. They’ve made it a long way from their more casual beginnings.
“We originally put the band together for a one-off tour of Australia in 1997,” Hutchison says, “Sean, Donogh, and myself had already worked together in Scandinavia, and we decided to augment that lineup with flute for the tour, and then we added pipes for a recording which we made specifically for an Australian release. That recording, which was taken from a series of live shows in Ireland, became the first Lúnasa release the following year.”
That album was lauded by the press as “a true must-have disc,” and was called one of the finest recordings of Irish music in years; it topped Hot Press’ folk charts and was nominated one of the year’s top ten, making Lúnasa a near-instant success.

UNIQUE BEATS
One of the things that makes Lúnasa stand out is their use of the upright acoustic bass, played by Hutchinson, which serves as an anchor for the rest of the musical elements of the band and makes a solid rhythmic foundation. Sean Smyth explains that there are plenty of great melodies in Irish music, but often people don’t hear the rhythms underneath; so Lúnasa found themselves naturally “seeking out the essential heartbeat” of each tune.
Lúnasa’s songs definitely have that familiar Irish lilt, but many of them also veer subtly into other grooves, whether jazz, pop, swing, or other forms; and listeners will find that the flutes and fiddles, pipes and guitar are executed just as deftly and beautifully as Hutchinson’s bass playing.
“The idea of using stronger rhythms to enhance the Irish melodies was a style that Donogh and I had evolved during our (earlier) time playing with the Sharon Shannon Band, and we just took it a bit further,” Hutchinson explains, “I suppose it was the natural way we played it rather than something we thought out deliberately. The idea of the backing taking a life of its own has always appealed to me, and this seemed the ideal vehicle for it.”

TOURING IS TOPS
That vehicle has kept them in a lot of other vehicles: namely planes, trains, and automobiles, as Lúnasa’s tour schedule has stayed busy, criss-crossing the world. But touring is a perk for Lúnasa, not a detriment.
“Personally, I like to see new places and experience different cultures,” Hutchinson enthuses, “on the other hand, it’s good to see familiar faces, too; we’ve been to the U.S. so many times, and we have many friends in the cities that we visit.”
Northern Michigan residents will be treated to a live Lúnasa show this month. The band will be performing Friday, March 20 at the Harbor Springs Performing Arts Center at 8 p.m. (more info at www.harborps.org or www.harborspringschamber.com.).
And while the band will be on the road until then and well after, they still find that the simple pleasures are often best, even for an acclaimed touring band, as Hutchinson confirms; “another big feature in our touring life is food. We never turn down a good meal,” he laughs.