ROUSING ROOTS?Corner Boy will play in McGing's, Westport, this Friday night.
McGing’s turns a Corner
Following a February performance on The Late Late Show, and the launch of their latest EP, ‘True North’, which includes the single ‘Ghost Town City’, Wexford new-folk-rockers Corner Boy will play McGing’s in Westport this Friday night, April 4, as part of their Irish tour. The free show is billed as an ‘unofficial’ Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival preview gig.
Corner Boy is the pseudonym of young Irish folk singer and guitarist Michael D’Arcy. From an early age, Corner Boy began to hone his musical craft through various traditional, folk and rock groups and collectives. In 2011, he upped sticks and headed to Canada, where, working through the bustling Montreal folk scene, he started on the recording of his debut release, ‘Morning Morning’.
Michael returned home revitalised, and teamed up with friends from the farmlands of rural Wexford: Matthew O’Brien on banjo, slide and mandolin; Michael Sutherland on drums; Karen O’Connor on fiddle; and Leo Staples on bass.
Describing themselves as ‘Modern folk Americana with gospel/blues influences fused with traditional Irish instrumentation’, Corner Boy incorporate traditional Irish sounds into a modern ‘new folk’ vibe. They make catchy melodies and instant sing-along classics that radiate energy, marrying the sounds of the new folk revival and Irish trad to create folk for the 21st century.
Michael and the band have played to great acclaim all over the country since winning the Hot Press Bedroom Jam Competition last year, and the magazine named them in its ‘Top 10 Most Promising Acts for 2014’. “Exuberant. It’s hand-clapping, foot-stomping stuff with more rousing choruses than a pub full of ballad singers. Rootsier down-home baroque folk of the Fleet Foxes variety,” the music magazine gushed. Hot Press’s sentiments have been echoed by GoldenPlec.com: “Corner Boy possess something different and this needs to be witnessed in the live setting. It’s early doors for Corner Boy but this band are destined for great things.”
