The Rye are an extraordinary five-piece from the West Coast of Ireland. They present one of the freshest and most exciting approaches to Irish Music heard in recent times. Imagine The Pogues meeting Tom Waits in 2007. Mike Farragher of the Irish Voice puts it thus: “The Rye play, in their words, ‘savage driven ceoil.’ They throw together modern rock melodies into a stew of expert traditional playing, turn-on-a-dime chops rarely seen outside a lower Manhattan jazz club, and an irreverence that ties the whole package together in a rowdy, exuberant bow!†(Irish Voice, April 07)A gig with The Rye is high-spirited, full-blown entertainment. It is an invigorating and gripping journey that features catchy songs like The Big Dip, with its sing-along chorus, “….ferocious reels with the firepower of a gas guzzling machine…,†such as Arkle Mountain, and delicate moments as in Lord Howsagoin, a song that lives from the interplay of vocals and harmonica.Comments from the audience remark on the energy, the soulfulness and the intensity of The Rye’s performance; the rapport between the band members and the mad mix of musical styles, all of which result in that indescribable authentic RYE sound. The Rye is fiercely proud of the fact that their music appeals to vastly different crowds of all ages.
Galway Bay FM has described The Rye as “the liveliest band to come out of the West of Ireland since the Saw Doctors.â€â€œCome rain, hail or snow The Rye will put on a great performance, and it was obvious to see that they enjoyed playing as much as their audience loved listening and dancing to it†writes Breifne O’Rourke of the Cruinniú na mBád Festival in Kinvara.Their weekly residency in The Cellar Bar in Galway has been praised as “ one of the most exciting residencies in Galway...as if the ship manned by The Pogues has been taken over by an equally unhinged crew.†(Jimi McDonnell, Tribune Life)“The Rye are a new band from Ireland that are looking to make an impression on the world. It's together they know what they are doing, but you're never quite sure where it's going next and you're not sure they do either, but it's great musicâ€
(Neil Fatea, Cambridge Folk Festival e-zine)..
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