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It's been a decade since Fermoy-based folk rock and blues band Loudest Whisper released a new album. They wanted and intended releasing a new album earlier, but they got sidetracked.
"It's been a while in the making alright," Brian O'Reilly agreed when The Avondhu caught up with him this week. He explained that their record label, Sunbeam, wanted to issue a box set of their material. It took time to pore through the group's prodigious store of material to decide what to include and then transfer it to CD format. The result was Magic Carpet, released in 2008, a six-CD box set that included all the group's albums, singles and even some of their early demos.
Before that, in 2004, their green-themed album 'Our World' was well received.
EVOLVING
They've also been busy reworking and refining their 'Children of Lir' work. It's a work that has been evolving over a number of years now, taking on different permutations as they experiment with different arrangements. It's been an album, a Celtic opera and a concert. "The original Children of Lir had dialogue but it's music only now," Brian explained.
Brian says he's very happy with the new album 'The Colour of Time'. Reaction from Sunbeam Records has been very good too. The title track has been released as a single. The album contains an oldie or two, but with slightly different arrangements. The remainder are described by Brian as "prog psychadelic folk rock with a bit of acid thrown in!"
LOOKING AHEAD
The group has been producing quality folk rock and blues music on their own terms for over four decades and Brian likes where they are at right now. He is enthusiastic about all the things the band have on the horizon; the release of the album, their appearance at the Fuaim Festival in Cork Opera House on Friday, March 21st and their trio of Children of Lir concert gigs in Heidelberg in Germany next January. "I love playing music. I feel good about the new album, revitalised," he explains.
"We're enjoying being able to play as a group at folk and blues festivals, then we put together an extended concert band to tour with." The core group these days is Brian and his brother Paud and Paul McCarthy, a bass player from Cashel who Brian calls "a very fine musician".
For their Fuaim concert they'll extend to a six piece with a saxaphone player, Brian's son Oran, who used to play guitar with the band and singers Frances Foley and Melaine O'Reilly-Quann. For the Children of Lir in Germany next year they'll go considerably bigger with a 10-piece Loudest Whisper, a narrator and an 80 strong choir. That's almost 100 people on stage. Brian likes to vary things. Like the time he brought opera singer Cara O'Sullivan in to sing on 'Friend of Darkness'.
Loudest Whisper have a core group of longtime, dedicated fans but they've also built up new followers over the years. They are looking forward to playing to plenty of them at the Fuaim festival. "It's lovely to be part of a festival like Fuaim. It's going from strength to strength," Brian said of the event which is now in its fifth year. The last time the group played Cork Opera House was when they staged their musical Buskin' there. On March 21st they share the bill with Scullion, Julie Feeney and the Yurodny ensemble.
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