Long before the film O Brother, Where Art Thou made it hip again, the likes of Philip King, PJ Curtis, Sandy Harsch and Niall Toner himself were keeping Irish radio safe for bluegrass music, and this weekly residency extends the valuable service onstage.
With the input of the accomplished Clem O’Brien on guitar and Dick Gladney on double-bass, Toner’s current trio manage the impossible, conjuring a warm, musical intimacy in the prairie-like spaciousness of a modern hotel lounge. Among peach-perfect takes on classic songs by Jimmy Rogers (a travelling blues enlivened with rich vocal harmonies), Hank Williams (‘Jambalaya’) and the Carter Family (‘Keep On The Sunny Side Of Life’), plus revered chestnuts like ‘Will The Circle Be Unbroken’ and ‘Man Of Constant Sorrow’, we got a fair sprinkling of original tunes fitting seamlessly into the set. Indeed, their own ‘Ocean Of Teardrops’, a paean to Bill Monroe in ‘The Master’s Resting Place’, O’Brien’s superb ‘Cheatin’ Side Of Town’ and Toner’s ‘Sweet Memories Of You’ prove how instinctively they understand the genre.
Along the way we got kick-ass adaptations of fiddle tunes, a bout of fast riffing on the Elvis-recorded ‘Just Because’, a piece of foot-stompin’ ragtime which drew frenzied interplay between mandolin and guitar, and three songs in a heartfelt tribute to Johnny Cash, a feisty version of ‘Folsom Prison Blues’, ‘I Still Miss Someone and ‘Hey Porter’.
No fake American accents, no idiot yeehaws and no vulgar flash; just three skillied musicians perfectly at ease with the music they love – and you’ll love it too. This is a residency with some weeks to go. And it’s free!