Ímar are a folk band from Britain and Ireland, founded in 2016 in

Glasgow, Scotland Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. They won the Horizon Award for Best Emerging Act at the 2018 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.

History

The members of Ímar first met as teenagers through the Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann tutoring program. They reunited in Glasgow and formed the band in 2016, naming it after the Viking warlord

Ímar Ímar ( non, Ívarr ; died c. 873), who may be synonymous with Ivar the Boneless, was a Viking leader in Ireland and Scotland in the mid-late ninth century who founded the Uí Ímair dynasty, and whose descendants would go on to dominate the Iri ...

. The profile of the band rose quickly, bolstered by their individual reputations as members of several prominent ensembles. In 2018, the band won the Horizon Award for Best Emerging Act at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.

Musical style

Ímar are a purely instrumental band. Their musical style is derived from the folk music traditions of the nations of each member – Brown is English, Murphy is Irish, Callister and Rhodes are

Manx Manx (; formerly sometimes spelled Manks) is an adjective (and derived noun) describing things or people related to the Isle of Man: * Manx people **Manx surnames * Isle of Man It may also refer to: Languages * Manx language, also known as Manx ...

, and Amini is

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

. Murphy notes that their style is "more of a pure-drop trad sound than most of the other bands we’re involved in". In a review, Johnny Whalley of

Folk Radio UK Folk Radio UK, is an online Independent Music Journal covering a broad range of Folk music, Global music, Independent music, American Primitive Guitar, Drone Music and other alternative offerings. Established in 2004 by Alex Gallacher. the websi ...

notes that "while the general description 'Celtic' might be appropriate, their music, in fact, derives firmly from the Irish tradition with polkas and slides interspersed with the more generic jigs and reels". He highlights the "intensity, energy and, above all, precision" of their sets. Mike Wade of IOM Today describes their work as "fast, driving tunes, bouncing, infectious reels and slow, beautiful melodic numbers, highlighting individual skills of each player".

Band members

* Adam Brown – Bodhrán * Ryan Murphy –

Flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

, tin whistle, and uilleann pipes * Tomás Callister –

Fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

Adam Rhodes Adam Rhodes is a fictional character from the Australian Network Ten soap opera ''Neighbours'', played by Benjamin Hart. The character debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 14 June 2007 and left on 29 November 2007. Creation and casting ...

– Bouzouki * Mohsen Amini – Concertina

Discography

* ''Afterlight'' (2017) * ''Avalanche'' (2018) * ''Awakening'' (2023)

References

External links