"Supergroup" is no exaggeration when describing new Glasgow-based five-piece Ímar. They use their combination of Scottish, Irish and Manx influences to stand out from the crowd – by taking things back to basics.
There are many reasons to be excited about Ímar – not least a line-up featuring current and former members of hugely popular bands Mànran, RURA, Talisk, Barrule, Cara, Mabon and The Lowground. They can also lay claim to a collectively crammed trophy-cabinet between them, including a BBC Young Folk Award, Danny Kyle Open Stage Award, and nine All-Ireland and eight All-Britain titles. All five band members – fiddler Tomás Callister, bouzouki ace Adam Rhodes, Mohsen Amini on concertina, Adam Brown on bodhrán, and uilleann piper, flautist and whistle player Ryan Murphy – originally met as teenagers through Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, the Irish traditional music network that tutors budding players throughout the British Isles and beyond. They have all performed at the Shetland Folk Festival before as members of various outfits and we are excited to hear this new combination! Both their commonality and diversity of background underpin many of Ímar’s distinctive qualities, in both instrumentation and material, and fuels their unmistakable synergy, centred on overlapping the cultural heritage of Scotland, Ireland and the Isle of Man. “So look out, world; light the blue touch-paper and stand well back - Ímar are on their way"!
This is my dream band
David Foley, Folklub
Don’t be fooled by any boy-band resemblances: these guys’ fearsome reputations already individually precede them, despite their dismaying average age. And already, together the chemistry and electricity seems positively exponential
Sue Wilson, freelance music journalist
Find out more at www.imarband.com.
