Donegal acoustic folk/singer-songwriting duo Without Willow have released their new single, Lay Down Your Troubles, with their debut album Left Behind to follow on 9 February. We asked Karen Kelly and Simon McCafferty the BIG questions . . .
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Lay Down Your Troubles features drummer Mark McGirr, Orri McBrearty on bass guitar and organ, and the late Ted Ponsonby on dobro.
Without Willow, who have opened for Mick Flannery, Moya Brennan, and Declan O'Rourke, are scheduled to perform at the Your Roots are Showing folk conference in Dundalk on 18 January, followed by an album launch gig at the Regional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny, on 9 February.
Tell us three things about yourself . . .
Karen - I qualified as a general nurse in 2011 before going into music. My favourite tv show right now is Lost (even though I'm 20 years late). I’m currently reading Bill Bryson’s The Body.
How would you describe your music?
Karen - Acoustic folk/singer songwriter maybe? We draw inspiration from a lot of folk, country, blues, Celtic and instrumental music so it’s a bit of everything . . .
Who are your musical inspirations?
Karen - There’s so many - off the top of my head there’s Mick Flannery, Lisa Hannigan, John Hiatt, Alison Krauss, Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings, Enya and Clannad . . . the list goes on.
What was the first gig you ever went to?
Simon - The first gig I went to was in Belfast back in 2013 or ’14, I think to see Tommy Emmanuel and Martin Taylor. I was mainly there to see Tommy since I was learning his music at the time but I quickly became a massive fan of Martin's once I heard him. I actually got the chance to meet Tommy Emmanuel a few years later after he played a gig in Letterkenny.
What was the first record you ever bought?
Simon - The first record I ever bought was Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory. Very different musical taste compared to what I listen to now. Soon after I think it was a Jimi Hendrix greatest hits album once I started learning guitar.
What’s your favourite song right now?
Simon - It’s a song by the wonderful American song writer Aoife O'Donovan called IOWA. The lyrics and harmonies are beautiful.
Favourite lyric of all time?
Simon - I think it might be the opening lines of Talk to Me of Mendocino by Kate and Anna McGarrigle. "I bid farewell to the state of ol' New York, My home away from home, In the state of New York I came of age, When first I started roaming".
If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Karen - It’s hard to choose but Adios to California by John Hiatt is up there for me.
Where can people find your music/more information?
You can check out our website.
Alan Corr
