Lúnasa
Lúnasa ( Irish for the month "August" and named after Lughnasadh , an ancient Irish harvest festival) is an Irish folk band founded in 1996 . The band was founded when Seán Smyth, Trevor Hutchinson and Donogh Hennessy traveled through Scandinavia in 1996. Upon their return to Ireland, Michael McGoldrick and John McSherry joined them. With this line-up they recorded the debut album "Lúnasa" in 1998. Kevin Crawford joined in 1997 and Cillian Vallely in 1999.
In 1999 the band signed a three-year contract with the label "Green Linnet Records" and in October of the same year the second CD "Otherworld" was released. For "Green Linnet Records" the band released "The Merry Sisters of Fate" in 2001 and "Redwood" in 2003.
In 2004 Lúnasa signed with Compass Records and released The Kinnitty Sessions that same year (a live recording at Kinnitty Castle, County Offaly ). In 2004 Donogh Hennessy left the formation. On the 2006 album "Sé" Donogh Hennessy was replaced by Tim Edey and Paul Meehan - each of them recorded half of the CD tracks. Shortly thereafter, Tim Edey left the band and Paul Meehan remained as the sole guitarist.
In 2010 Lúnasa released the album "Lá Nua" on its own label "Lúnasa Records".
The band toured extensively throughout the USA, Europe and Asia.
Nominations and Awards
- Award from "IRISH ECHO" (USA), 1999
- "Traditional Album of the Year" for "Otherworld"
- Award from "IRISH VOICE" (USA), 1999
- "Traditional Album of the Year" also for "Otherworld"
- Award from ASSOCIATION FOR INDEPENDENT MUSIC (USA), 2002
- "Best British / Celtic album" for "The Merry Sisters of Fate" in the "INDIE AWARD" category.
- Award at the "QUEBEC CITY SUMMER FESTIVAL" (Canada)
- "Best live performance".
- Awarded by the "METEOR MUSIC AWARD" (Ireland), 2004
- "Best Traditional Band"
- Awarded "BBC RADIO 2 AWARDS" (United Kingdom), 2004
- "Folk Album Of The Year" nominated for "The Kinnitty Sessions"
- Award from IRISH MUSIC MAGAZINE (Ireland), 2005
- "Best Traditional Album" for "The Kinnitty Sessions"
Discography
- Lúnasa (1998)
- Otherworld (1999)
- The Merry Sisters of Fate (2001)
- Redwood (2003)
- The Kinnitty Sessions (2004)
- Sé (2006)
- Lá Nua (2010)
The different occupations
current:
- Seán Smyth - violin , flutes
- Kevin Crawford - violin, flutes
- Trevor Hutchinson - bass violin
- Cillian Vallely - Uilleann Pipes , flutes
- Ed Boyd - guitar , bouzouki ,
former band members:
- Tim Edey - guitar
- Donogh Hennessy - guitar
- Michael McGoldrick - Uilleann Pipes, flutes
- John McSherry - Uilleann Pipes
