Hard Working Class Heroes – The Grand Social
Hard Working Class Heroes Festival is on this Friday, 3rd of October at The Grand Social.
Eamon Bode
7.30pm - 8pm The Grand Social
Eamon Bode is a Dublin musician who releases work anonymously. He performs with his hood raised and does not show his face in press images.
Eamon released his first EP, ‘Tinman’ in 2013, and his 2nd, 'Wolf' in April 2014. He has been getting some radio airplay on the likes of BBC radio, RTE 2fm, 98fm, 8radio and was selected to showcase emerging Irish talent at the 2014 Youbloom festival.
Eamon's work tends to be personal and unpretentious. Having foregone the ego-imagery usually required of solo musicians, he has found a license to lay bare whatever he chooses and to focus all of his energy on using lyrical craft, song-writing and video art to explore the threads that bind the private to the universal.
Arborist
8.10pm - 8.40pm The Grand Social
Having previously worked as a songwriter around France, London and Dublin, Mark McCambridge played his first show as ARBORIST in early February 2013, opening for James Yorkston in Belfast. A solo tour of Ireland followed before impressive performances led to notable support slots alongside Low, Catpower, Efterklang and Alasdair Roberts.
Now based out of Belfast and surrounded by a band of well-travelled musicians, Arborist's music is measured and mature while remaining starkly modern. Centred around McCambridge's soaring vocal and unique lyrical style, it speaks of bleak truths (Leonard Cohen, Bill Callahan, Jason Molina) but delivers them with an assured soulfulness (Sam Cooke, Al Green).
"This guy's a master songwriter..his muse is an earth-bound one - full of scruffy moments and care-worn emotional truths. His development will be one of the most intriguing story strands of the year." - Colin Carberry, Hot Press Magazine.
The Hard Ground
8.50pm - 9.20pm The Grand Social
The Hard Ground are Marlene Enright, Pat Carey, Dave Duffy, Davy Ryan and Hugh Dillon. The band’s signature sound relies heavily on the interplay between the two contrasting main vocals which provide the foundation for what is musically brooding and brash, sassy and sentimental, where the gravel meets the glass. Alternating between contrasting styles, sometimes raw, sometimes layered, the five piece always pack an emotional punch.
The band recorded, produced and released their first album, Broken Conversations, in 2012 and have spent most of 2013 touring Ireland and the UK, cultivating a following at home and abroad. In late 2013 the band took 6 months out to write and rehearse for album number 2.
Buffalo Sunn
9.30pm - 10pm The Grand Social
One of the Irish Times top 3 Irish acts to see acts at Electric Picnic 2014 - the others being Sinead O'Connor and The Blades.
A six piece cosmic rock n' roll band from Dublin, Buffalo Sunn were known as Sweet Jane until October 2013. On the Reekus Records label, the band are currently enjoying radio success in the US as well as at home, with their current single, By Your Side being the third most played song on the influential Sacramento station KKDO for the past three weeks.
Taken from their forthcoming album, By the Ocean, by the Sea, By Your Side, wich will be released on the 10th of October, has been receiving stellar accolades as far afield as Asia and the US. The album is produced by Grammy winning Pat McCarthy, producer of no fewer than five R.E.M albums.
"The production is massive. It’s a full wall of sound of reverb and harmonies. It’s got that sun kissed, California, West Coast, 60’s kinda vibe" - Chris Jones (BBC)
Maud in Cahoots
10.10pm - 10.40pm The Grand Social
"One of the best sets of the weekend ( Electric Picnic ) was MAUD IN CAHOOTS….It’s been fascinating to watch that band grow, develop and morph into something truly captivating with bags of star quality." Una Mullally, Irish Times
"Maud In Cahoots are undisputedly one of the finest unsigned acts in the country. We recommend getting on this particular bandwagon early. If they become as big as they deserve to, you may soon struggle to get tickets."
(HOTPRESS MAGAZINE)
"Irish pop music has a decidedly chequered history of sibling synchronicity but, with our pop landscape looking especially barren of late, Dublin sisters Maud and Zoe Reardon are a radiant beacon of hope. Combining luscious chamber-pop arrangements with melancholy melodies worthy of the most lovelorn of Scandinavian chanteuses, Maud in Cahoots occupy a point on the musical spectrum quite apart from the production-line pap pedaled by Louis Walsh. They’re one of Dublin’s best kept musical secrets, but that might have something to do with never having played a headline gig here until now. With support from the eminently talented Leanne Harte, this is shaping up to be the kind of family affair Mary J would want to sing about." Le Cool Dublin Joey Kavanagh
Little Xs for Eyes
10.50pm - 11.20pm The Grand Social
A harmony laden band - Made with equal parts boy and girl - our music tells of tragic heroes & funny valentines, taking place on empty danefloors & long walks home.
The band released their debut album, S.A.D. in 2011, to unanimous critical acclaim. In 2013, they brought out summer stay - one of nialler9's songs of the year. This was the first single from their forthcoming sophomore album to be released January 2015.