Gig - Joyce and the Sonic Gypsies | Ailie Blunnie

dublin | arts and media | event notice Friday July 15, 2011 00:33 by Memet Uludag - Joyce and the Sonic Gypsies

the songs and dance of revolution

Joyce and the Sonic Gypsies | Ailie Blunnie

Saturday 23 July, The Mezz, Temple Bar, D2. Doors 7pm

Memet Uludag | 087-7919307

www.facebook.com/JoyceAndTheSonicGypsies

JOYCE AND THE SONIC GYPSIES s are one of the most startling alternatives to the standard 4-piece rock band Dublin currently has to offer. Their present album ‘The Bosphorus’, recorded partly in Turkey and named for the strait that bisects Istanbul, forming part of the boundary between East and West Europe, is the perfect metaphor for their sound and aesthetic. Mixing pop sounds and influences from the West with Eastern, African and Latin rhythms, they are a study in dynamic tension and sharp contrasts. The backbone is recognizable - piano, electric and acoustic guitars, bass and drums, as well as the prominent violin and occasional clarinet - but it is in the interaction of these instruments (all expertly played) with the vital and unusual percussion, from mid-Eastern darbuka to African djembes and Latin conga drums that the music comes alive. The band have a serious commitment to rhythm, willing an audience to movement and celebration. Lead vocals are shared by Mick Joyce and Sarah Williams, providing a further area of simultaneous harmony and contrast - male and female, East and West, electric and acoustic sounds. Lyrically, Joyce’s songs are concerned with maintaining humanity and dignity in the face of the dark days we live in, as expressed in Credo, with its refrain ‘'praise for the dollar, praise for Allah, but what about each other?”. There are big subjects to discuss, but also reasons to believe in the transformative power of music. Clearly enjoying themselves throughout, from an irreverent country stomp take on Zeppelin’s ‘Whole Lotta Love’ to the joyous pulse of ‘Kamikaze Moon’, Joyce & the Sonic Gypsies’ energy ripples through a crowd, raises the mood of a room and leaves even the most hard-hearted of cynics smiling long into the night
www.myspace.com/joyceandthesonicgypsies
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AILIE BLUNNIE is a musician/songwriter/compos​ er based in Carrick on Shannon, Co. Leitrim. She is classically-trained in piano, guitar and voice and recently completed a Master of Literature research degree at NUI Maynooth on the subject of twentieth-century Anglo-Irish composer Elizabeth Maconchy.

When on stage, Ailie is often joined by her sister Róisín, a PhD student in music at Trinity College Dublin and conductor of the Trinity Singers mixed choir. Recent exploits for Ailie and Róisín include playing to full houses at The Dock arts centre in Carrick on Shannon and Bewleys Theatre in Dublin, featuring in the line-ups for popular Dublin gigs 'The Variety Show' at The Grand Social and 'The Sunday Roast' at The Mercantile, and singing backing vocals for radio and television performances by Vyvienne Long.

Splódar Theatre Company's most recent Irish-language production, Salomé, featured original choral and instrumental music by Ailie.
www.myspace.com/ailieblunniemusic