Paddy Leonard, 8 Jul
Festival season is well and truly underway. Recently, we had (in
England) Glastonbury, featuring Paul Casey, Kneecap, Problem Patterns
and other artists that have yet to feature in these pages.
Closer to home, this past weekend saw the return of the always
brilliant Stendhal Festival. Now in it’s fourteenth year, Stendhal
brings together the best local and not-so-local talents across three
days in July.
Unfortunately, my deadline for this column is the day things kick off,
which means the big interviews are going to be next week.
This week, in an exclusive, first of it’s kind pre/review, I’m going to
be taking a look at some of the artists that will be playing/have
played at this year’s festival.
So, just pretend this is a week ago and let’s go:
Red Eye Pariah
Red Eye Pariah are a group I first encountered two years ago during my
first year at the festival.
The band, made up of Sammy Stevenson (lead guitar), Alex Close (bass),
Joe Dawson (drums) and Deano Kelly (vocals/guitar), describe themselves
as “a four piece indie band from Antrim just out here chasing the
dream.” So far, the group have released a number of singles and the EP
‘Koala Tea’ and this year marks their third consecutive appearance at
Stendhal.
Their set is usually one of the festival highlights for anyone who
manages to catch it and I’m sure this year will be/was no exception.
Parker
Next up is a band very familiar to regular readers.
Parker have been a key part of the local music scene since their
inception in 2021.
Made up of Dylan Bradley (guitar and vocals), Eoghan Donegan (bass) and
Michael Brown (drums), Parker first played Stendhal in 2022 and
continue to put on incredible live shows wherever they play.
Last year saw the release of their album ‘Never Let This Go’ (available
now in Cool Discs) and they have spent a lot of the last year touring
the world in support of it. Recently, they also played a homecoming gig
in Bennigan’s as part of their Irish tour.
TomCat
Now onto TomCat, another group that have been making a splash on the
local scene in recent times.
Made up of Emer McLaughlin (bass and vocals), Niamh O’Raw (guitar and
vocals), Liam Bradley (guitar) and (usually) Jason Feenan (drums) [Tom
Carlin (of Selador) will be taking Jason’s place for Stendhal this
year], TomCat have so far shared bills with CHERYM, Parker, TRAMP and
many more.
Last year also saw the release of their debut single ‘It’s Not Always
Gonna Be Like This’, arguably one of the best songs of 2023.
CHERYM
Next we move on to a band that closed out the Friday night of Stendhal
in 2022. CHERYM are, to put it simply, one of the best live bands
you’re going to see.
Made up of Hannah Richardson (guitar and vocals), Emer McLaughlin (also
of TomCat) (bass and vocals) and Alannagh Doherty (drums), CHERYM have
played shows around the world in the past few years, recently returning
from Germany ahead of a number of festival dates both here and in the
UK later this summer.
February of this year saw the release of their debut album ‘Take It Or
Leave It’ (available now in Cool Discs) and they will also be
supporting the Undertones on their European tour later this year.
Paddy Nash
Now it’s time for one of Derry’s finest songwriters, the legendary
Paddy Nash.
Paddy has been a staple of the Derry music scene for decades, having
been a member of the Whole Tribe Sings and leader of the Happy
Enchiladas.
More recently, Paddy has been playing a more stripped back show,
usually just himself and the guitar, as seen at last year’s Gig For
Gaza in Sandino’s.
This year also saw the triumphant return of the Whole Tribe Sings for a
one-night-only reunion in the Nerve Centre in aid of the Tuned In
Project.
Regardless of the setup though, the one thing that always shines
through is the songwriting.
With four albums so far to his name (three with the Happy Enchiladas
and one solo, all available in Cool Discs), Paddy Nash is a legend of
Derry music.
Obviously, I can’t feature everybody that’s going to be playing/has
played at this year’s festival, but the above are just a few of the
many brilliant names on this year’s bill.
Of course, half the fun of going to these things is discovering new
talent I never would have heard of otherwise, so be sure to keep an eye
out next week to see who this year’s discoveries are.
Now, time for the socials: Red Eye Pariah can be found on Facebook and
Instagram @redeyepariah, Parker @bandcalledparker, TomCat @tomcat_band,
CHERYM @cherymoffical, Paddy Nash @thenashman and Stendhal itself
@stendhalireland and at stendhalfestival.com