There will be plenty of colour, high jinks, and smiles, not to mention some first rate songs by the most exciting Irish female singer-songwriter in years.
Yes, Wallis Bird is returning to Galway to play the Róisín Dubh on Friday October 24 at 8pm
Wallis is a bit different from many others on the over-crowded confessional Irish singer-songwriter scene. Although her songs are deeply personal, there is also a dollop of humour, a bit of jazz, and a splash of colour to what she does. Her enthusiasm also comes through as she knows how to get a crowd going on the night.
It is extraordinary she is playing music at all though. The fingers on her right hand were severed by a lawnmower when she was 18 months old. Four of them were sewn back on. It could have ended any chance to play the guitar, but like Django Reinhardt and Tony Iommi before her, she refused to let her injury bring the curtain down on her favourite activity.
“I remember getting annoyed when I couldn’t leave the hospital and go out and play,” she told me last year. “It made me a little more stubborn and determined, so because of my injuries and to have something to do I kept on playing the guitar. I’ve been making noise for as long as I can remember!”
It led to her developing her own percussive guitar style. Although she is ciotóg, she plays the guitar strung for a right handed person, which leads her to create some unusual chords.
Wallis will be joined by German brothers Michael and Christian Vinnie (on bass and drums respectively ) and her old mate Aoife O’Sullivan.
Tickets are available from the Róisín Dubh and Zhivago.
