IT HAS been a long time coming, but A Band Called Wanda finally release their long awaited debut album with a gig tomorrow night in The Crane Bar, Sea Road.
The eponymous debut by the Galway “folk’n’roll” quartet was recorded near Fort William in the Scottish Highlands, and according to band member ,Brendan, its 12 songs are “about living and how to deal with it, or not deal with it, depending on the time of day”.
The band draw on a wide range of musical influences, such as rock, folk, trad, brass band, blues, and ska, as well as Bob Dylan, Cork songwriter Ger Wolfe, and actor Paul Newman.
“The album comes out of the time we spent living in a house in the countryside in Mayo,” says Brendan. “We went to the crossroads, but didn’t want to do the whole sell your soul bit, so we decided to stay in a house near it instead.
“After a year of studying the landscape for clues, staring at an empty crossroads, we decided to get back to town to warn the people of the health risks associated with country living. Whatever else about that year, it gave the four of us plenty of time to write and practice, and to think.”
The Wandas take an organic approach to music, following the muse wherever it takes them.
“We just do what we do, we don’t set out with any grand plan or try and get a particular sound,” says Brendan. “The music sometimes just takes off in a strange direction, we just try to follow and see where it ends up. Because of this approach, or lack of an approach, we don’t really know how to describe the music we play, though it is probably somewhere in the spectrum of indie, folk, and rock.”
This year has been a major one for the Galwegians, as in April they were chosen as Glastonbury Emerging Talent Finalists 2013, one of only eight from more than 8,000 entries across Britain and Ireland.
For more information and tickets contact The Crane on 091 - 587419 or see www.thecranebar.com
