Murphy’s law

Hermitage Green’s Barry Murphy talks about touring and friendship ahead of the band’s gig at Ballinrobe Festival on July 28

Ciara Galvin

FROM playing in their brother’s bar to selling out gigs in Australia, Limerick band Hermitage Green have achieved a lot in eight years.
Later this month they will travel across the Shannon to south Mayo to play Ballinrobe Festival on July 28. Though a smaller gig, the Limerick band like to mix local Irish festivals with the likes of Electric Picnic and sell-out gigs in Dublin’s Olympia Theatre.
“I love Irish festivals and smaller town festivals because they get huge support and you’re so welcomed by people, it’s a great way to see the country. We’ll definitely cater our set list to perk up everyone’s ears,” said vocalist and bass player Barry Murphy.
The former Munster rugby player formed the band with brother Dan and some friends ‘by accident’. After injury cut his sports career short in 2010, the musician would sit in a quiet corner of his brother’s pub, The Curragower, with friends and casually perform.
Soon, they were a sensation around Limerick, and YouTube hits sky rocketed on covers of songs like Florence and the Machine’s ‘Cosmic Love’.
Comprised of Barry and Dan, and friends Darragh Griffin, Dermot Sheedy and Darragh Graham, the Hermitage Green’s music has been described as acoustic folk. However, Barry says they have now moved on from that, towards a more ‘electric’ sound.
One person he cites as a huge influence and great friend of the band is Mayo woman Lisa Canny. The talented harpist and all-round musician helped the band to hone their individual talents over the years.
Highs and lows
After releasing their EP ‘Gold & Rust’ last year, the band won high industry praise, with big songs like ‘Lion’s Share’ and uplifting ‘Mountain’ grabbing plenty of airwave time.
The EP’s name is more than a catchy title. Inspired by a lyric that band member Darragh wrote in the song ‘Bring It On Down’, it represents the many highs and lows that the band has experienced.
Barry reveals that ending the partnership with their label, Sony, was a definite low.
“That was pretty daunting; it was a difficult time for us as a group, not knowing who we should follow. It was quite a low point. You can’t pinpoint a high point, but bringing ourselves back out of that is what I’m most proud of, and where we are now,” he says.
A band synonymous with live performances, how do they function as a group living in each other’s pockets for weeks at a time while on tour?
Barry says it’s down to ‘respecting each other’ and having a ‘band brain’ that they get into when they return to life on the road.
With dates in the Netherlands, the US and Australia this year, the band are currently getting back into ‘band brain’ mode.
“Over the last few years we’ve got more professional, a few of us are married now … There’s one Hermitage Green baby and one on the way, so trips aren’t six weeks of lunacy anymore,” the musician laughs.
On their first tour of Australia, Barry remembers couch surfing from gig to gig. Bartering sometimes came in handy: They played the day after a wedding in Ennis so that they could  later stay at the newly married couple’s house in Perth.
The gigs in Australia meant a lot to the band, as they gave many expats a taste of home.
“A lot of our age group were forced to leave the country to get jobs and to make money, they were grateful to have a taste of home, and that was quite emotional. When you get out there [on stage] you see that, and people would say that to you all the time. On our first gig in Perth there were queues of people outside who couldn’t get in, not because they knew who we were, but because we were an Irish band.

Respect
Barry credits the band’s longevity with having respect for each other and getting through the tough times.
“Touring is a recipe for disaster, not getting any sleep, constantly travelling, socialising together, sleeping in the same rooms, but we don’t take it overly serious, that’s the key.”
But they have met other challenges too. “Four or fives years in we got signed by Sony and it was a tentative time in the band, people telling us what to do, and others coming on board, but we’ve grown through that, and we’ve a lot of respect for each other – I think that has kept us together.”
Unlike many other bands, the close-knit group are still very much good friends, and they talk every day.
“We’ve a full day of practice now, then all going for dinner and a few pints,” Barry reveals while answering the door to a fellow band member looking for keys.

Emotional
Asked what his favourite Irish gig has been to-date, Barry doesn’t have to think too far back. It’s a home gig at St John’s Castle in Limerick, with his brother’s bar on the horizon. The concert, which took place in summer sunshine, included an emotional tribute to fellow Limerick musician Dolores O’Riordan, who died in January. Murphy reckons the gig will live on in the band’s memory as one of the greats.
And looking ahead to the upcoming Mayo performance, he and the band are looking forward to doing what they do best – making music. By way of preparing fans attending the almost sold-out gig, ‘We’re going to try to blow the roof off the place’. As for whether Rubberbandit and podcast star Blindboy Boatclub – a friend of the band – will show his ‘face’ and pop into the gig, well that remains to be seen.

Hermitage Green take to the stage at the Credit Union Barn at Abbey Street on Saturday, July 28. Doors open at 8pm. Tickets for this gig and for Bagatelle, who play on July 27, are available at ballinrobe.eventbrite.com, Tacú, Martin Murphy newsagents in Ballinrobe and Vaughan Shoes in Castlebar, Claremorris and Ballinrobe.