County Derry lads release debut album 

Cahir McLaughlin and Pearse Donaghy went to school together at Loreto College in Coleraine, and went on to pursue their separate musical journeys.

Then, in 2021, the pair decided to join forces and their band Alt Folk Polar Bolero was born.  

The band is named after Pearse’s favourite childhood book with the blessing of the author Debi Gliori. 

In early 2022, they embarked on the plan of recording their debut album ‘A Conversation,’ with aim to release in mid 2024, following promotional singles.

The boys explained: "We made music separate for years and years and after we left school we both studied music across the water, but didn’t really take to those respected courses. 

"So, coming back from that in 2021 it became obvious for us that our best foot forward was to combine forces and happily our styles are quite similar, and if they differ it only seems to benefit the final project.

"For years we made our own music separately and never conjured up the courage to release music as individuals but after forming Polar Bolero, it has become exciting and that’s due to our respect for each member's musicality and influence which has helped us to make our music."

Both boys come from very creative families and growing up in such an environment has led them to where they are now.

Cahir started playing guitar at age nine, taking influence from his father and uncles in Dungiven and he hasn't stopped playing since. 

Cahir said: "I am lucky to have a musical family on both sides and have had many a late night session sitting round with guitars and singing, which has had a huge effect on how I play music now going forward."

Pearse, originally from Portstewart, also comes from a very artistic family, "My mum is a sculptor and painter and my dad writes the occasional book," he said. 
"While there’s no musicians in my family, I was always encouraged to try new things and I fell in love with the piano after some years of gentle coercion to learn my scales. I then started writing my own songs when I was around 17."

Cahir (24) and Pearse (23) have both graduated from university and Pearse works part time in Portstewart Golf Club whilst Cahir plays weekend pub gigs. The boys use these jobs as a way of funding Polar Bolero with the ultimate goal of the band being their full time work in the very near future.

The boys continued: "We don't gig together as often as we would like but we had a very busy summer there and we are playing at the Derry Feile in Sandinos in August. There are a few more dates in the calendar for this year"

The boys are releasing their latest single, 'Portrait' from their upcoming album, 'A Conversation.'

They also have two singles prior to ‘Portrait’, ‘Passerby’ and ‘Gilded Skies,’ which are available on all streaming platforms. 

The boys added: "The new album deals with themes of disillusionment and chances gone awry.

"We wanted to be able to contextualise the messages we are trying to get across and we thought that the most interesting way to do this would be to interview a broad spectrum of the Northern Irish public and include snippets of these interviews in our album. This idea became obvious to us early on in the process."

The boys hope the album is a success and in the not so distant future they hope to be playing to audiences across the island and beyond.

"We hope we generate enough interest to be able to play to audiences all over the country and abroad. We love the recording process so we would love to have the financial freedom to create more sounds in the studio as often as we can."

You can follow the boys' journey on Instagram: polarbolero 

Their music is also available on all streaming platforms.