Young Dubliners
After thirty years as one of the world's leading Celtic Rock
bands, the Young Dubliners have begun work on their tenth studio album and will
dedicate much of the year to the project while still heading out on the
road for their summer tour.
The boys spent the first quarter of 2022 playing shows all over
the US and "reconnecting with fans while we tightened up as a musical unit
and prepared to hit the studio" says lead singer, Keith Roberts.
The band is Roberts (vocals / guitar), Chas Waltz (Violin, keys,
vocals), Justin Pecot (guitar, vocals), Dave Ingraham (drums) and Ethan Jones
(bass guitar). With a solid line up and a new batch of songs to play, The YD are
excited to get out on the road and continue to bring back live music into people's
lives. New dates are being added daily as the world reopens.
"We want to be the band who reminds the world how important a good
gig can be to our sanity after what we've all been through" says Roberts. For only the second time the band is looking to its fans to
finance the album instead of a traditional record company. "The business has changed
so much over our lifetime that it no longer makes sense for us to take
money from a label and then owe it all back" says Roberts. "Making all our
supporters co producers is a far more rewarding way to make a record and allows
us to maintain control all the way". The band have teamed up with long
time producer, Irish born Tim Boland, and will begin recording in the
coming months.
The Young Dubliners have released nine albums to date. The set on
the upcoming dates will draw from all their albums and include
unreleased new material.
In recent years the Young Dubs have appeared twice on ABC's Jimmy
Kimme lLive, had songs featured in TV shows (Sons Of Anarchy, Human
Target) and toured extensively as a headliner and as the opener for such a
diverse list ofartists as Collective Soul, Jethro Tull, Johnny Lang, Los Lobos,
Chris Isaak andmany more.
Although the Young Dubliners sound is most commonly called 'Celtic
Rock',that label can often be misleading. The Irish influence is
certainly there, but it's not the only influence that bursts through on their albums or
live shows.
After all, several of the band members have no Irish roots of any
kind. "Thatwas always the idea", explains Roberts "The sound was intended to
be ahy brid because we all come from different backgrounds. Even though
I amfrom Ireland, a lot of the music I listened to growing up wasn't
Irish at all, but when I got here, I got homesick and developed a new appreciation
for Irish Music. In truth the Celtic riffs can just as easily come from
the American band members. Everyone writes now so you never know what you'll
end up with"
"Their sound defies categorization. The Young Dubliners can be
seen as Ireland's answer to Los Lobos, with a similar combination of
traditional folk music, raucous electric rock, and forward-thinking
experimentation." Allmusic.com "(the songs) range from stadium-friendly
extravaganzas to more intimate but equally outspoken pub-sized opuses.
Lead singer Keith Roberts' powerhouse vocals front a maelstrom
of fiddle vamps, howling guitars and frenzied drums. But even so, the hint
of rueful melancholy that lies at the heart of traditional Celtic music
survives, transformed yet triumphant!"--Christina Roden, Amazon Music