Dara Break with Tradition! 18/2/13

Image compliments of GC Photographics

Dara is one of Derry’s most recently formed traditional and folk groups with a line-up comprising of some of the best,well known and talented musicians on the local folk scene. Steven O'Carolan on accordian, Ciara McCafferty on vocals , Ciaran Carlin on flute and whistles, and Ramon Ferguson on guitar.

Ramon explains that it was a natural progression for the group to form after having played together for while.

 “Well I’ve been sort of playing with Steven and Ciaran for years like and then I started playing with Ciara separately and the Ciara started playing with us the odd time filling in for this, that and the other. So I decided to put something together and see what type of sound we get. Dara started just in November. We got a job in Switzerland to go over and play over there so we put our heads together to see what we could come up with. We formed just to go over there and do a 4 or 5 day tour and it worked out so we’re going to stay at it. All the rest of the boys have jobs anyway, the likes of Balkien Alien, Sontas.  I’m a session player, I play with anyone, Betty Harrigan and whoever but this is our wee project to have as a hobby but also a professional career. We all played together so we all so we all knew what each of us was capable of.”

Of those in the group the newest member to the folk scene, lead-singer Ciara, found herself getting involved after a trip away from home. “Ciara started singing folk stuff when she went to Baltimore with a project, not sure of the name, she went with a whole pile of young musicians from Derry. When she got back she sort of, played, got into the folk music scene and she’s a bit of a wedding singer, studied music and still is studying music. Gone now more into the folk side of things.”

 

In this city the sound of folk music is a familiar one but rather than rely solely on the old classics the group have been putting together an original setlist. This has meant breaking with tradition and adding in influences from other genres.Three out of four members are working on albums too! “Steven and Ciaran are composing. Steven is composing tunes for his own album anyway, he’s working on that on the side.  He’s composing away and has some cracking tunes and nearly has enough now for a full album. Ciaran’s writing and composing stuff as well as playing with Dara and Sontas and possibly in the future bringing out an album of his own. Ciara is actually working on an album too. She’s taking really old folk songs and putting her stamp on them and she’s bringing on a lot of musicians and I’m sure we’ll all be involved in that too. I’m not doing an album yet, not ready for that, too many other people’s albums to do first.”

The immediate plans are to try and play in Derry a bit. We’re starting to play in Peadars on a Monday night as Dara so we can get more familiar with gigs and we all play as well with different people. A Monday night will be Dara from 11 to 1. We’ll be throwing in old tunes, Steven and Ciaran’s composed tunes and some really old traditional songs that you might not have heard that Ciara does. There will be the usual ‘Whiskey in the Jar’ and things that people are familiar with as well, we’ll be throwing a few in to try and localise it too. Maybe we’ll get a few more gigs, try and do a wee bit more marketing on it now so hopefully get a few things out in Derry. We’ve some stuff to send out to some other countries, couldn’t say where just yet as it’s not confirmed. We are pitching for more stuff in Europe, maybe Holland, Germany, some in France and definitely back to Switzerland because it was absolutely brilliant, we were treated like royalty out there. It’s not every you get asked out to the Swiss Alps to play so it was a new thing. The audiences over there, they’re a listening audience, they’re interested in hearing the songs and what the songs are about. It’s the same here if you look around here, there are tourists in and around looking and listening. There isn’t a night goes by that we don’t get talking to tourists in the likes of Peaders about what they thought about the music. I think with irish music and what we’re doing it’s almost a passport to anywhere because they enjoy it. I think this year is going to be a good year for us travelling wise.

Ramon explained that Dara has a few things to look forward to further afield and at home, there is even the chance of an album. Yes Please! “We’re going back to Switzerland now hopefully in March and September and we’ve a couple of other wee things in the sideline, they’ve offered us back now for a six day tour. Don’t have any City of Culture stuff, we’re not really recognised. We’re recognised in our own individual way but we’re not recognised as a group yet because most of the gigging we’ve done has been in Switzerland or been in the recording studio. We’re ready to do another pile of recording now with everybody and more ideas flying around for maybe a Dara album. Hopefully in the middle of the summer we might have one, thinking maybe July or August, we just love the studio. You can layer up a whole lot more stuff and experiment more and we can bring in other different instruments as well or double up on guitars. Bring in a bit of piano to beef the song up or the tune up but then in the live performance still have the main tune coming through. Even live they do come out the same, they have the same drive and the same kick. The tunes still there, it’s the tune, have it up loud enough and play fast enough and people seem to enjoy it.”

For those who would like to see and hear Dara for themselves check out Peadar O’Donnells in the coming Monday nights from 11pm.