The Gloaming

This article is about the group. For their first album, see The Gloaming (album). For other uses, see Gloaming.

The Gloaming
Background information
OriginIreland, United States
GenresTraditional Irish, Celtic, world music, contemporary classical, jazz, chamber, folk, post-rock, minimalism
Years active2011–present
LabelsReal World Records (Rest of World)
Brassland Records (North America)
MembersMartin Hayes
Iarla Ó Lionáird
Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh
Thomas Bartlett
Past membersDennis Cahill
Websitehttp://www.thegloaming.net/home

The Gloaming is a contemporary Irish/American music supergroup. Its members are fiddle player Martin Hayes, sean-nós singer Iarla Ó Lionáird, hardanger fiddle player Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh, and pianist Thomas Bartlett.[1] Guitarist Dennis Cahill was a member until his death in June 2022.

The group was formed in 2011 and began a first tour of Ireland with a sold out performance in the National Concert Hall (NCH). Since then they have played the NCH annually, increasing to a residency of seven consecutive nights by 2017.[2] After the release of their third studio album and a concert tour in 2019, the band announced that it would "take a break" in 2020.[3]

They have recorded three studio albums, The Gloaming (2014), The Gloaming 2 (2016), The Gloaming 3 (2019), and a concert recording, Live at the NCH (2018). Thomas Bartlett, the band's pianist, produced all four albums. The first was recorded at Grouse Lodge in County Westmeath in Ireland and the second at Real World Studios near Bath, England. The Gloaming 3 was produced at Bartlett's studio in New York. Unlike the first two studio albums, which were recorded after rehearsals or during tours, The Gloaming 3 contains music that the group had not played live together, with Bartlett taking a more active role as producer.[4] Live at the NCH contains 6 songs chosen by Bartlett from live recordings of several of the group's National Concert Hall shows.[5]

The Gloaming won the Meteor Choice Music Prize for 2014 Irish Album of the Year for their first album.[6] They won the 2015 BBC Radio 2 Folk Award for Best Traditional Track, for Samhradh Samhradh, which appeared on the first album.[7] In 2019 they were nominated for three RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards: Best Original Folk Track, Best Folk Group and Best Folk Album. Caoimhin Ó Raghallaigh was nominated for Best Folk Instrumentalist.[8] Iarla Ó Lionáird won the Best Folk Singer award.[9]

  1. ^ Madonna, Zoë (3 April 2019). "Inside the twilit wanderings of Irish music supergroup The Gloaming". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  2. ^ "It's that time again: The Gloaming are back". Irish Examiner. 5 March 2018. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  3. ^ O’Byrne, Ellie (22 February 2019). "Iarla Ó Lionáird is bringing it all back home". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  4. ^ Carty, Pat (10 April 2019). "The Twilight Saga: The Gloaming Interview". Hot Press. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  5. ^ Long, Siobhan (2 March 2018). "The Gloaming: Live at the NCH review – capturing their mesmerising essence". The Irish Times.
  6. ^ Kelly, Aoife (5 March 2015). "The Gloaming win coveted Meteor Choice Music Prize Album of the Year, The Script bag Song of the Year". Irish Independent. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  7. ^ "Gloaming among BBC Folk Awards winners". RTE. 25 April 2015. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  8. ^ "RTÉ Announces Shortlist for 2019 Folk Awards". The Journal of Music. 19 September 2019. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  9. ^ "Ye Vagabonds win big at the Irish Folk Awards". RTE. 24 October 2019. Retrieved 16 February 2020.