Réalta

Réalta are a new group from Belfast featuring Conor Lamb on uilleann pipes and whistles, Deirdre Galway on guitar, bouzouki and vocals and Aaron O' Hagan on uilleann pipes, whistles and bodhrán. Now from the outset I will admit I have always had a thing for pipes and low whistle when they sound sweet with a touch of mysticism thrown in for good measure. When done well, it can be quite the relaxing chill out music needed at the end of a hard day. Réalta tick all these boxes with their debut album.
Deirdre's mellow guitar strings open up the album. Low whistle joins in for a beautiful rendition of Open The Door For Three, a great slip jig from O' Neill's and the title given to the album. On into a set of jigs called Girl of the House/Tom Busby's/The Bashful Maid/The Flitch of Bacon and our love affair with the album continues unabated. Solid confident pipe driven music, well modulated with pipes and low whistle in a beautiful interplay. Track three and we have a cool laid back low whistle reel called Patsy Touhy's paired with some jigs. With the combination of D and C chanters Réalta have done something unusual. Two set of pipes. Not something that you would normally contemplate but somehow it works to magical effect. A couple of songs break up the tunes including Siobhán Ní Dhuibhir and Gathering Mushrooms, both well sung and delivered with good accompaniment. This is glorious, atmospheric music with quality in spade loads. It's played at a leisurely pace when necessary with spaces and breaks in the sets, pipes soaring at times in perfect unison, low whistles often kicking in to break things up. The guitar of Deirdre Galway sounds great, sitting nicely under the arrangements and at times popping its head up to be right there in the mix. The sets shift and evolve, rise and fall and always enthrall. Réalta have most definitely arrived and have opened a door with music that is really engaging and entertaining.
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If you like uilleann pipes and low whistle driven music arranged in some great evocative and meditative sets then this is for you. Réalta make a tantalising new contribution and have hit a creative patch with this album. It is mellow, laid back and natural in its presentation. There is a lovely echo from the music, no doubt from the recording or mixing process. Either way it gives a well balanced sound to the album. This is especially evident on Jimmy's Return/John Brennan's /Trip to Cullenstown. Réalta's star has definitely risen and can now be seen in the northern sky somewhere over Belfast. With every track a delight it's one for repeat plays. Inspiring music.
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Listen and Buy : www.realtamusic.com - TradConnect

Réalta are a new group from Belfast featuring Conor Lamb on uilleann pipes and whistles, Deirdre Galway on guitar, bouzouki and vocals and Aaron O' Hagan on uilleann pipes, whistles and bodhrán. Now from the outset I will admit I have always had a thing for pipes and low whistle when they sound sweet with a touch of mysticism thrown in for good measure. When done well, it can be quite the relaxing chill out music needed at the end of a hard day. Réalta tick all these boxes with their debut album.
Deirdre's mellow guitar strings open up the album. Low whistle joins in for a beautiful rendition of Open The Door For Three, a great slip jig from O' Neill's and the title given to the album. On into a set of jigs called Girl of the House/Tom Busby's/The Bashful Maid/The Flitch of Bacon and our love affair with the album continues unabated. Solid confident pipe driven music, well modulated with pipes and low whistle in a beautiful interplay. Track three and we have a cool laid back low whistle reel called Patsy Touhy's paired with some jigs. With the combination of D and C chanters Réalta have done something unusual. Two set of pipes. Not something that you would normally contemplate but somehow it works to magical effect. A couple of songs break up the tunes including Siobhán Ní Dhuibhir and Gathering Mushrooms, both well sung and delivered with good accompaniment. This is glorious, atmospheric music with quality in spade loads. It's played at a leisurely pace when necessary with spaces and breaks in the sets, pipes soaring at times in perfect unison, low whistles often kicking in to break things up. The guitar of Deirdre Galway sounds great, sitting nicely under the arrangements and at times popping its head up to be right there in the mix. The sets shift and evolve, rise and fall and always enthrall. Réalta have most definitely arrived and have opened a door with music that is really engaging and entertaining.
.
If you like uilleann pipes and low whistle driven music arranged in some great evocative and meditative sets then this is for you. Réalta make a tantalising new contribution and have hit a creative patch with this album. It is mellow, laid back and natural in its presentation. There is a lovely echo from the music, no doubt from the recording or mixing process. Either way it gives a well balanced sound to the album. This is especially evident on Jimmy's Return/John Brennan's /Trip to Cullenstown. Réalta's star has definitely risen and can now be seen in the northern sky somewhere over Belfast. With every track a delight it's one for repeat plays. Inspiring music.
.
Listen and Buy : www.realtamusic.com - TradConnect

Young Belfast trio Réalta don't so much open the door as kick it down and demand to be heard on this outstanding debut.

With a sound based on the magnificent twin uilleann piping talents of Conor Lamb and Aaron O'Hagan, propelled by Deirdre Galway's inquiring rhythmic-harmonic accompaniments on guitar and bouzouki, Réalta carry on the Bothy Band tradition of taking tunes by the scruff of the neck and firing excitement through them like hot flames.

The Girl Of The House jigs set is particularly exhilarating but what also gives their music a distinctive edge is the way the two pipers dovetail and harmonise on slower-paced items.

With its very personal glissandi, dips and bent notes, the air Sliabh Geal gCua is a tour de force of raw Irish blues, and La Volta provides a stirring renaissance dance partner to a romping, ecstatic Drops Of Brandy.

Galway also contributes three songs, showing much promise in Irish Gaelic and on the charmingly youthful Gathering Mushrooms. - Herald Scotland

Young Belfast trio Réalta don't so much open the door as kick it down and demand to be heard on this outstanding debut.

With a sound based on the magnificent twin uilleann piping talents of Conor Lamb and Aaron O'Hagan, propelled by Deirdre Galway's inquiring rhythmic-harmonic accompaniments on guitar and bouzouki, Réalta carry on the Bothy Band tradition of taking tunes by the scruff of the neck and firing excitement through them like hot flames.

The Girl Of The House jigs set is particularly exhilarating but what also gives their music a distinctive edge is the way the two pipers dovetail and harmonise on slower-paced items.

With its very personal glissandi, dips and bent notes, the air Sliabh Geal gCua is a tour de force of raw Irish blues, and La Volta provides a stirring renaissance dance partner to a romping, ecstatic Drops Of Brandy.

Galway also contributes three songs, showing much promise in Irish Gaelic and on the charmingly youthful Gathering Mushrooms. - Herald Scotland

RÉALTA
Open The Door For Three
Own Label ADC001, 13 Tracks, 49 Minutes
www.realtamusic.com
A full bodied pipe and whistle extravaganza is one way to describe the driving sound of Réalta on their new release Open the Door For Three. The pipes and whistles of Conor Lamb and Aaron O’Hagan along with the strings of Deirdre Galway are served with a fresh, yet timeless quality that is sustained throughout the thirteen tracks of an array of tunes that include marches, jigs and reels.
The title track is the opener and the attractive slip jig is a sampler for the rest of the album as the strings subtly render the melody to pave way for breathy whistles and almost subdued piping that perfectly emulates the emotion of the tune. The fact that the group can squeeze so much variety from these instruments is testament to their playing as shown perfectly in the grouping of the Martin Wynn’s reel set where Brendan Mulholland and Mickey McCluskey add volume on flute and bouzouki. There’s power in them pipes and that’s emphatically portrayed in the final tune on the Jimmy’s Return set where the Phil Murphy composition Trip to Cullenstown is lifted out of the ground and performed superbly. Galway’s distinctive vocal belies youthfulness and vivacity that shines through on Siobhán Ní Duibhir and is brought through into the charming song An Trucailín Donn which is served with a sidebar of enhancing accompaniment. In fact Realta have produced an enticing twist of compelling music in Open the Door for Three.
The group have a clever way of arranging the flow of instrumental so that each one has a turn to shine, and whether it be in a solo capacity or together as a fluid unit; shine they do!
Eileen McCabe - Irish Music Magazine

RÉALTA
Open The Door For Three
Own Label ADC001, 13 Tracks, 49 Minutes
www.realtamusic.com
A full bodied pipe and whistle extravaganza is one way to describe the driving sound of Réalta on their new release Open the Door For Three. The pipes and whistles of Conor Lamb and Aaron O’Hagan along with the strings of Deirdre Galway are served with a fresh, yet timeless quality that is sustained throughout the thirteen tracks of an array of tunes that include marches, jigs and reels.
The title track is the opener and the attractive slip jig is a sampler for the rest of the album as the strings subtly render the melody to pave way for breathy whistles and almost subdued piping that perfectly emulates the emotion of the tune. The fact that the group can squeeze so much variety from these instruments is testament to their playing as shown perfectly in the grouping of the Martin Wynn’s reel set where Brendan Mulholland and Mickey McCluskey add volume on flute and bouzouki. There’s power in them pipes and that’s emphatically portrayed in the final tune on the Jimmy’s Return set where the Phil Murphy composition Trip to Cullenstown is lifted out of the ground and performed superbly. Galway’s distinctive vocal belies youthfulness and vivacity that shines through on Siobhán Ní Duibhir and is brought through into the charming song An Trucailín Donn which is served with a sidebar of enhancing accompaniment. In fact Realta have produced an enticing twist of compelling music in Open the Door for Three.
The group have a clever way of arranging the flow of instrumental so that each one has a turn to shine, and whether it be in a solo capacity or together as a fluid unit; shine they do!
Eileen McCabe - Irish Music Magazine