DERVISH – ON SONG

Dervish, now on the road for 32 years, are touring Britain this month. They’ll be focusing on their album

The Great Irish Songbook – a celebration of their career

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AT the end of 2019 Dervish received a prestigious lifetime achievement award from the BBC, a fitting tribute to the band after over 30 years of recording and performing all over the world.

The six-piece traditional outfit from Sligo and Leitrim, had just released their 14th album entitled The Great Irish Songbook

The band are approaching their 32nd year on the road, so The Great Irish Songbook celebrates their long career. In the recording they have joined forces with other musicians from the world of folk music, Americana and even the theatre to give voice to their interpretations of some of Ireland’s best-loved musical pieces.

Guests on the album include Steve Earle, Rhiannon Giddens, Vince Gill, Brendan Gleeson, Jamey Johnson, David Gray, Kate Rusby, The SteelDrivers and Abigail Washburn.

Dervish play an energetic, tireless brand of music as befits an outfit from one of the counties which is still a bastion of Ireland’s musical heritage. Their latest album is in some respects a retrospective of their thirty years of performance, but perhaps more of a homage in general to traditional music.

Shane Mitchell, one of the founder members, said: “We’re constantly astonished by how loved Irish music is.

“I was amazed by how many people were really keen to get on board with this project when we mentioned it to them.

“I don’t think anybody knows why Irish music has such a global reach. It has rhythm. It has the tunes. And it also has great mood changes. I think that’s important. But nobody really knows. Put ten musicologists in a room and they’ll all come up with different answers.”

The album revisits some familiar pieces such as She Moved Through The Fair, The Rocky Road To Dublin, Yeats’s Down By The Sally Gardens, The Galway Shawl, Molly Malone and Raglan Road, but played in the inimitable style of Dervish.

“We wanted to pay our respects to this great music, and in some cases breathe new life into songs which may have become over familiar,” says Shane. “We just think that this was a great way to approach an album. To include songs that people

“I think the ethos of the music is in our character. The Irish are great at communicating, and that’s what this album is about. Real people singing real songs; the camaraderie of the music.

“Irish music is the soul of the Irish people.”

The genesis of the project arose when Shane met Ken Irwin, the boss of Rounder Records. “His passion for bluegrass is just as great as my passion for Irish music. But I think he’s been bitten by the Irish music bug as well,” Shane explains. “So this idea of getting other musicians involved in our project just sort of grew organically.

“The idea was to try and find people who had a love for Irish music from different genres of music. We found a lot of closet Irish folk music fans. In fact, we have enough to make three albums, somebody said at one stage.”

Dervish were formed in 1989 by Liam Kelly, Shane Mitchell, Martin McGinley, Brian McDonagh, and Michael Holmes – a band of musicians rooted in the south Sligo tradition.”

In 1991, Cathy Jordan joined Dervish who had formed in 1989.

Over the next two decades Dervish, with Cathy aboard, established themselves as basically the brand leaders in Irish music. They have entertained US presidents, performed at the Great Wall of China, played at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, and performed at the biggest rock music festival in the world, Rock in Rio to over 250,000 people.

Mal Rogers

Dervish British tour: May dates

Tuesday, May 23

Liverpool Philharmonic Hall

Wednesday, May 24

Nottingham Lakeside Arts

Friday, May 26

Wiltshire Music Centre

Saturday, May 27

London Irish Centre