THEY ARE only together for a year, but in that time Belfast trad band Athru have won Derry's An Re Nua 2014 Competition, recorded their debut EP, and been winning critical acclaim.
Galway will be able to see why when the band - Niall McIlroy (whistles/flutes/guitar ), Cormac Crummey (guitar/fiddle/banjo ), Brendan Loughran (concertina ), Conor Broderick from Galway (piano/rhodes ), and Kevin Meehan (bodhran/whistles ) - play Monroe's Live, as part of an Irish tour to launch that EP, on Friday August 21 at 9pm.
Athru means change or transform in Irish and was chosen to describe the quintet's approach to music in which they add their own contemporary spin to traditional Irish forms. They have played Fleadh Cheoil Na hÉireann, the Pan Celtic Festival, the Willie Clancy Festival, and supported Máirtín O'Connor. As Aldoc's Gerry Paul praised their "alluring melodies, emotive chord changes" and "impressive amount of space and youthful energy in abundance".
Tickets are €5. See www.monroes.ie
