Lúnasa is a

traditional Irish music Irish traditional music (also known as Irish trad, Irish folk music, and other variants) is a Music genre, genre of folk music that developed in Ireland. In ''A History of Irish Music'' (1905), W. H. Grattan Flood wrote that, in Gaelic Irela ...

group, named after

Lughnasadh Lughnasadh, Lughnasa or Lúnasa ( , ) is a Gaels, Gaelic festival marking the beginning of the harvest season. Historically, it was widely observed throughout Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. Traditionally, it is held on 1 August, or abo ...

, an ancient harvest festival. They tour and perform internationally, and have recorded a number of albums of both traditional and contemporary Irish instrumental music.

History

Lúnasa was founded in 1997 when Sean Smyth, John McSherry and

Steve Cooney Stephen Cooney is an Australian-Irish musician. Early life Cooney was born in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, where he learned to play the didgeridoo, and from the age of seventeen he played in a number of rock bands. He is of Irish ancestry ...

teamed up to tour Smyth's solo album, ''The Blue Fiddle''. They called in Mike McGoldrick, a friend of McSherry's, and toured as a four-piece. As the band was taking off, Cooney bowed out. In the meantime, Smyth was touring in Scandinavia with the rhythmical duo Donogh Hennessy and Trevor Hutchinson, and recruited them to join the band."Lúnasa The Merry Sisters of Fate"
''The Irish Music Review'', by Geoff Wallis, reprinted from FRoots Magazine. Calling themselves Lúnasa, they began performing and touring; the first album, ''

Lúnasa Lughnasadh, Lughnasa or Lúnasa ( , ) is a Gaelic festival marking the beginning of the harvest season. Historically, it was widely observed throughout Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. Traditionally, it is held on 1 August, or about hal ...

'', was recorded while the group was on tour in 1998 and released to critical acclaim. McGoldrick and McSherry were becoming increasingly busy with other projects and left the band. Kevin Crawford then joined the band and various other pipers stepped in for McSherry. McSherry and McGoldrick were again called upon to record the second album, ''

Otherworld In historical Indo-European religion, the concept of an otherworld, also known as an otherside, is reconstructed in comparative mythology. Its name is a calque of ''orbis alius'' (Latin for "other world/side"), a term used by Lucan in his desc ...

''. It was after this album that piper

Cillian Vallely Cillian Vallely is an Irish musician, born in Armagh, Northern Ireland. He plays traditional Irish music on the uilleann pipes and low whistle, and studied at the Armagh Pipers Club with his mother and father, Brian and Eithne, and then with ...

joined the band. In 1999, the group signed a three-year contract with

Green Linnet Records Green Linnet Records was an American independent record label that specialized in Celtic music. Founded by Lisa Null and Patrick Sky as Innisfree Records in 1973, the label was initially based in Null's house in New Canaan, Connecticut. In 1975 t ...

, and that October released their second album, ''Otherworld''. In December 2000, they appeared on ''A Thistle and Shamrock Christmas Ceilidh''. In 2002, their highly acclaimed album '' The Merry Sisters of Fate'' was released; this was followed by 2003’s ''

Redwood Sequoioideae, commonly referred to as redwoods, is a subfamily of Pinophyta, coniferous trees within the family (biology), family Cupressaceae, that range in the Northern Hemisphere, northern hemisphere. It includes the List of superlative tree ...

'', which was released late due to a feud with the label. Ultimately the band terminated their contract. In 2004, Lúnasa signed up with Compass Records and recorded ''

The Kinnitty Sessions ''The Kinnitty Sessions'' is an album by Lúnasa that was released in 2004 on Compass Records. It is their fifth major release, and their first on Compass Records. The album was recorded in Kinnitty Castle before a small audience. This was Donog ...

'' before a live audience in Kinnitty Castle,

County Offaly County Offaly (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is named after the Ancient Ireland, ancient Kingdom of Uí ...

. That same year, Donogh Hennessy left the group, being replaced by

Tim Edey Tim Edey is an English multi-instrumentalist and composer who grew up in Broadstairs, Kent and is now based in Perthshire, Scotland. In 2012 he was Musician of the Year at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards and, with Brendan Power, Best Duo. He was a ...

and Paul Meehan who each played half the tracks on the album '' Sé''. Tim Edey left shortly after, and Paul Meehan became the band's guitarist. In 2008, the band released a compilation album, ''Lúnasa: The Story So Far'', with representative recordings from the band's first eleven years. Released in April 2010, the band's following album, ''

Lá Nua ''Lá'' ( Irish for "Day"; later known as ''Lá Nua'', Irish for "New Day") was an Irish-language daily newspaper based in Belfast. It was the first daily newspaper in Ireland to be published in Irish. ''Lá Nua'' belonged to the Belfast Media ...

'', was the first release on the band's own record label, Lúnasa Records. That same month, the band also performed on the

Natalie Merchant Natalie Anne Merchant (born October 26, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter. She joined the band 10,000 Maniacs in 1981 and was lead vocalist and primary lyricist for the group. She remained with the group for their first seven albums before ...

album '' Leave Your Sleep''. Meehan left the group in late 2011 and was replaced by Ed Boyd. In 2018, the band released the album ''CAS''. The group has toured and performed in the Americas, Europe and Asia.

Line-up

Current members

Seán Smyth Seán Smyth is an Irish musician from Strade, County Mayo, Ireland, where he is a national champion, having won senior titles on both Irish fiddle and tin whistle. He is perhaps best-known, however, for his years spent recording and performing wi ...

– Fiddle, whistles * Kevin Crawford – Flutes, whistles *

Trevor Hutchinson Trevor Hutchinson is a Northern Irish bass player and a founding member of Lúnasa. Born in Cookstown, County Tyrone, in Northern Ireland, Hutchinson is known for his work as a double bass player within traditional Irish music. Prior to his ...

– Double bass *

–

Uilleann pipes The uilleann pipes ( or , ), also known as Union pipes and sometimes called Irish pipes, are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland. Their current name is a partial translation of the Irish language terms (literally, "pipes of the ...

, whistles * Ed Boyd – Guitar *Colin Farrell – Fiddle, whistles *Patrick Doocey – Guitar

Former members

– guitar *Donogh Hennessy – guitar *

Michael McGoldrick Michael McGoldrick (born 26 November 1971, in Manchester, England) is a folk musician who plays Irish flute, uilleann pipes, low whistle and bodhran. He also plays other instruments such as acoustic guitar, cittern, and mandolin. Bands McG ...

– Uilleann pipes, flute, whistle * John McSherry – Uilleann pipes * Paul Meehan – Guitar, bouzouki, mandolin

Discography

Studio albums

* ''

'' (1998) * ''

'' (1999) * '' The Merry Sisters of Fate'' (2001) * ''

'' (2003) * ''

'' (2004) * '' Sé'' (2006) * ''

'' (2010) * ''CAS'' (2018)

Live albums

* ''

Lúnasa with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra ''Lúnasa with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra'' is a collaboration album between Irish traditional Celtic music band Lúnasa and the Irish RTÉ Concert Orchestra, recorded in 2012 and released in April 2013 by Lúnasa Records. The collaboration came ...

'' (2013) * ''Live in Kyoto'' (2024)

Compilation albums

* '' The Rough Guide to Irish Music'' (1996) * '' The Story So Far...'' (2008) * ''The Leitrim Equation featuring Lúnasa'' (2009) (features Lúnasa and other Irish musicians)

References

External links

lunasamusic.com
– the official website. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lunasa (Band) Irish Celtic music groups Irish folk musical groups Irish world music groups Green Linnet Records artists Compass Records artists