Duke Special & Ulaid were live in studio on Today with Sean O’Rourke this morning. Joining Duke (Peter Wilson) were Dónal O’Connor, John McSherry and Sean Óg Graham to perform “Shipyards of Belfast” and “Lon Dubh Luch Lao”.
Dónal described Duke Special and Ulaid’s individual styles as “different worlds of music”. Peter acknowledged the differences between them as artists but relished the chance to explore a more traditional style of music.
“It’s the kind of music I’ve listened to for a long time but I’ve never had the opportunity to kind of fully collaborate in that world.”
They made the decision to record their album, A Note Let Go, onto tape in front of a live audience. Peter explained the reasoning behind this somewhat risky choice.
“I think part of the thing was the nerves…the energy of having to get it right. And trusting each other…We conceived the songs and rehearsed them and have been playing them a bit live so it felt like a natural way of capturing what we’d composed.”
Listen back to the full interview and performances from Duke Special & Ulaid here.