New album release is emotional moment for Offaly musician
TULLAMORE resident Barney Murray is one half of a musical duo which is releasing a new album.
Barney Murray and Davey Walshe are folk act The Winter Codes and their LP Set The Darkness Reeling will be out on August 1.
The first single from the album, Too Sly To Die, is already available across all platforms and Barney said he is delighted listeners will hear all of the tracks later in the summer.
A native of Leixlip, he has made his home in Tullamore for the last 18 years and is a veteran of the music business, having previously played in a punk influenced band called Blood or Whiskey.
“I was in it for nine years and it's 20 years since I left it. It was trad punk and I wanted to get away from the punk,” Barney explained.
His album with Davey Walshe is fuelled by classic Irish folk influences and showcases the duo's love and devotion for their country with what has been described as “a thrashy and attitude filled flair”.
Barney said his favourite track on Set The Darkness Reeling is Friend In Tullamore, where he explores how good the town has been to him.
He had composed it before but remixed it for the album and added brass and uilleann pipes.
“Of all the songs on the album, it's the one I'm happiest with,” he remarked.
Another Offaly connection is the involvement of Kilcormac man Daithi Melia, a remarkably skilled musician with the hit Irish/bluegrass band Jig Jam.
Other collaborators are folk singer Lisa Loughrey and engineer Sean Montgomery.
The Set The Darkness Reeling collection is also an emotional tribute to band member and brother of Davey Walshe, Paul Walshe, who passed away 10 years ago.
The late Paul is immortalised on the new album because some of the tracks feature his expert musicianship.
It was recorded in the nearby Grouse Lodge studio, Rosemount, Moate and other influences listeners might hear are Richard Thompson, The Undertones (a nod to Barney's punk past) and folk legend Bob Dylan.
The video for the single Too Sly To Die was shot in Dublin pub The Cobblestone, a music venue which received international attention last year when an ultimately unsuccessful plan was announced for its demolition.