The Olllam and Síomha

The Olllam are delighted to announce that SÍOMHA will be joining them as special guest for many of the venue dates on their forthcoming tour of Ireland and England.

Recently awarded Best Group at the RTE Folk Awards, the olllam are a transatlantic supergroup featuring the twin pipes and whistles of master uilleann piper John McSherry and his protégé, Grammy-nominated producer Tyler Duncan, weaving melodic soundscapes over the post-rock groove of Joe Dart (otherwise bassist extraordinaire with Vulfpeck) and drummer Mike Shimmin. Live, the band are joined by Limerick guitarist Seán O’Meara and keyboard player Joe Hettinga. This summer sees them play a series of festivals and venues in Ireland, then their first shows in England since 2014.

SÍOMHA (pronounced She-vah) has a special relationship with the band: in 2018, she was invited to tour with the olllam and instantly formed a bond with founding member Tyler Duncan, who went on to produce her debut album Infinite Space, also featuring Joe Dart on bass; a single from the album, CRAOBHACHA, featured the olllam. SÍOMHA will perform her own set at Cork, Dublin, London, Kendal and Manchester dates.

The band’s guitarist Seán O’Meara has made a name for himself as a solo artist in his own right the past 12 months, and Seán will perform his own set at Dolan’s in his home town of Limerick, and will open the show at Vicar Street in Dublin on 29th July.

And at the Belfast Tradfest gig at Mandela Hall on 28th July, fiddler and bilingual singer Clare Sands opens the show.

In addition to the venue dates, the olllam appear at Forest Fest, Laois; and at WOMAD, Wickham, Valley and Underneath The Stars festivals in England.