Clare Sands is the Cork-born, Belfast-based sixth generation fiddler, bilingual singer, and multi-instrumentalist who is to releasing four new bilingual songs in Irish and English with four different collaborators, following on from a 2022 self-titled album.
The four-part music and film project, ‘Gormacha’, [pronounced GUR-MA-KA] treads a musical path between the four most extreme geographical points in Ireland.
Tracing the line between rugged land and stormy seas, Gormacha interweaves Irish folklore, language, and personal responses to our natural world. The first release ‘Teasgal’ [pronounced [CHAS-GAL] (a singing wind in a storm) features Mayo based alt-folk songwriter Patrick O’Laoghaire, AKA I Have A Tribe.
Melding the fiddle playing of Sands with the piano of O’Laoghaire into an eruption of sound, ‘Teasgal’ brings the pair together with their voices binding together in Irish across the track. The title is “a mystical incantation that breathes new life into ancient words and worlds. It is a song of love and longing, and a call to protect the natural world and seas that we are fast destroying.”
Watch ‘Teasgal’, directed by visual artists and twin sisters Liadain and Kasia Kaminska here:
‘The way we filmed this video reminded us of the race against time we currently face as a planet. The wind and waves picked up as we shot, with water coming over the pier, we literally raced against the rising tide.”
Liadain and Kasia Kaminska.
This project is kindly sponsored by the Arts Council of Ireland.
Clare Sands Upcoming Tour Dates
GERMANY + SWITZERLAND
10th April: BRAUNSCHWEIG • Roter Saal
11th April: LEVERKUSEN • Notenschlüssel
13th April: VILLINGEN • Folk Club VillingenV
16th April: FLAWIL • Kulturpunkt!
18th April: BERN • Martas
21st April: OBERRIEDEN • Frohe Aussicht
22nd April: NEUCHÂTEL • Festival Tournez le Meule
28th April: SAARBRÜCKEN • Breite 63
29th April: BAD TӦLZ • Kulturhaus in Bad Tölz
UK Tour – Special Guest to Hothouse Flowers
3rd May: BEXHILL ON SEA • The De La Warr Pavilion
4th May: FROME • Cheese and Grain
5th May: COVENTRY • Warwick Arts Centre
7th May: MILTON KEYNES • The Stables MK
9th May: BRISTOL • St George’s Bristol
10th May: BIRMINGHAM • The Glee Club Birmingham
11th May: WORTHING • The Factory Live
13th May: MANCHESTER • RNCM – Royal Northern College of Music
14th May: LONDON • O2 Shepherds Bush Empire
16th May: STROUD • The Subscription Rooms
18th May: SCARBOROUGH • Scarborough Spa
19th May: NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE • Boiler Shop
20th May: GLASGOW • Saint Luke’s & The Winged Ox
21st May: ABERDEEN • The Lemon Tree
23rd May: GLASGOW • Saint Luke’s & The Winged Ox
24th May: YORK • Pocklington Arts Centre
25th May: CARLISLE • old fire station
26th May: LEEDS • The Wardrobe Leeds
Social Links
https://claresands.com/
https://www.ihaveatribe.ie/
https://claresands.bandcamp.com
https://ihaveatribe.bandcamp.com
