WILLY VLAUTIN, the lead singer and songwriter of the much-acclaimed Americana band, Richmond Fontaine, is making a welcome return to Galway as part of The Delines, who this month released their second album.
The Delines released The Imperial, and the single 'Eddie and Polly', last week, and are currently touring Ireland and Britain. They play Strange Brew at the Róisín Dubh on Thursday January 24 at 8pm.
The band, who describes themselves as "retro country", was formed in 2012, with a line-up featuring Vlautin and fellow Fontaine members Sean Oldham and Freddie Trujillo; vocalist Amy Boone, who had worked with Richmond Fontaine on their celebrated 2006 album Post To Wire; keyboardist Cory Gray; pedal steel player Tucker Jackson (The Minus 5 ); and The Decemberists' Jenny Conlee.
Two years later the band released their debut, Colfax, featuring Vlautin's lyrics about characters from the American hinterland and their everyday struggles, powerfully interpreted by Boone. Uncut gave it a 9/10 star rating, praising its “widescreen romanticism”, and calling it “the richest collection of songs Vlautin has written". A successful tour of Europe and Australia followed, with The Guardian declaring them the surprise hit of the End Of The Road festival. Then it all came to a halt.
Amy Boone was hit by a car and put into the hospital and recovery for many months, putting the band on hold for more than three years. Thankfully Amy is finally on the mend. This allowed The Delines to re-group late last year to record a new set of Vlautin numbers. The Imperial, featuring 10 songs, was released on Decor Records on January 11.
In a statement on thedelines.com, the band said: "After nearly three years of waiting, we couldn’t be more excited to have Amy Boone back again. We’d like to thank everyone for their support during Amy’s recovery. Hopefully this record will help pay back the kindness from friends and strangers alike."
Tickets are available from www.roisindubh.net; the Ticket Desk at OMG@Zhivago, Shop Street; and The Róisín Dubh.
