Meet Chuck Squires: the Dublin country supergroup featuring members of Badhands, The Mary Wallopers and Tandem Felix

The band’s album The Late Great Chuck Squires is out next Thursday May 28th.

Chuck Squires are a new Dublin country project bringing together Daniel Fitzpatrick (Badhands), Ken Mooney (The Mary Wallopers), Chris Barry (Ailfionn Studios) and David A. Tapley (Tandem Felix), and they’ve shared new single ‘On The Move’ ahead of their debut LP The Late Great Chuck Squires, out this Thursday May 28th.

The foursome have been quietly working on the album across 18 months, recording live together at Barry’s Ailfionn Studios in Dublin, tracking 11 songs over the course of just five days.

The approach was rooted in the fast-paced Nashville recording style of the 1960s and 70s, with minimal overdubs and spliced takes in place of elaborate production. The influences running through it are the outlaw country school, George Jones, Kris Kristofferson, Merle Haggard.

‘On The Move’ is the third and final single from the album and features a lead vocal from Ken Mooney, better known as the drummer in The Mary Wallopers. It’s a country ballad built around warm organ, pedal steel and banjo, understated and assured, a song about pushing past uncertainty toward something more honest.

The album’s fictional frontman, the elusive Chuck Squires himself, lends the project its central mythology. A man perpetually on the run from financial trouble and worse, he’s more often absent than present, leaving the band to keep things going. It’s a neat frame for an album full of wasted chances, late nights and new beginnings.

Fitzpatrick on the recording process: “The music is so simple, so fun to work on and play together. From our own stuff, it was all a bit too much with the production and figuring out arrangements, which can become overwhelming.”

Tapley adds: “The touchstones for us were rooted in the outlaw country style. Keep it real simple and the songs should be able to be played in a bar room.”

The Late Great Chuck Squires will be self-released on Thursday, May 28th and available on all streaming platforms.
Chuck Squires will launch their debut album with a gig in Dublin’s Workman’s Club on Friday, May 29th. Tickets from €16.55, available here.

Tracklisting (artwork by Éna Brennan):

1. One Last Roll Of The Dice
2. Pissed It All Away
3. I’ll Wait On
4. Saturday Morning (Makes A Fool Outta Me)
5. All The Way Home
6. Walk On By
7. On The Move
8. Pink Buffalo
9. That Nightlife
10. Something’s Gone (You Won’t Get Back Again)
11. The End Of The World