Orlagh House in Rathfarnham, only a 30 minute commute from the heart of Dublin, is hosting the extraordinary Irish folk festival Hibernacle which will be in session July 18th – 19th. The musical acts will perform from 4pm to 10pm, followed by some wonderfully curated late-night sessions from 10.30pm to 2am with amazing acts such as Lisa Hannigan, Paul Noonan, Carsie Blanton, Gemma Hayes, Wallis Bird, Stockton’s Wing, Roesy, Eimear Crehan, Scullion, Emmet O’Brien, Daragh Fleming, and Róisín El Cherif.
Following their own performances, the Turning Pirate House Band will perform a tribute to Paul Simon’s Graceland album which is eagerly anticipated. We were honored to talk to some of the musical acts and coordinators of the festival about the meaning of Hibernacle and the importance of the Graceland album.
What inspiration have you taken from the Graceland album/Paul Simon himself that you’ve put into your own music?
Eimear Crehan: “For me, I don’t think I’ve ever sounded like Paul Simon, but what I admire about Graceland is its story telling, and its feeling of community. The songs feel very human and there’s lots of warmth and storytelling. This is something that I really connect with – I’ve always tried to write songs that connect emotionally without feeling overly clever or overproduced. I love melodies that people can sing, lyrics that are all about telling the story, and arrangements that leave space.
And as an artist and community worker, music that brings people together is the core of my work – I love creating communities through music. Graceland is a shared experience and connects across cultures and ages and backgrounds, and getting to work on the album with other artists is such a cool idea and project to be involved in.”
With the intimate driven festival, how does this add to the excitement and intimacy for performers? How would you describe the difference between these intimate sessions to other live performances, outside of the Hibernacle festival?
Eimear Crehan: “I am excited and nervous in a good way for this project and performance. I adore collaboration and I am so excited to work with other artists, lots of whom I really admire and look up to, so it’s a real honour and privilege for me.
And I haven’t done anything like this before, so it’s a great challenge and brings a sense of excitement and joy. I love the thought of all the artists working away separately on this music and then coming together to share their musicality with each other, it’s kinda special.”
In your words, what does the change between the 2020 Winter Hibernacle sessions to the now intimate Summer Hibernacle festival mean to the festival itself?
Úna Molloy – Festival Founder: “In terms of Hibernacle 2020 and this event, wow, that Hibernacle was our first event and will always be incredibly special for so many reasons. We had done so many Mix Tapes before with Turning Pirate, Hibernacle has really been an evolution from that into much more musically serious events. We still manage to keep the craic and the mix of artists and how they gel together as the main focus of all our events. The chemistry between people and personality, both on and off the stage really set the tone for the show.
As with all our shows, the lines between audience and stage get very blurred. The artists are all supporting each other and the audience are very much a part of the show. Energy wise, the personalities on stage and relationships between all the artists and musicians and crew, are all part of the experience. While Hibernacle 2020 was in the depths of winter, it was also in the thick of Covid, so it was just a whole other world. These shows are much more leaning back into ‘the before times’ with everyone squished together and sharing stages and songs and hanging out together.”
Wallis Bird, Paul Noonan, Lisa Hannigan, and Gemma Hayes seem to focus and thrive off of acoustic performances, for the upbeat album that “Graceland” is, will it still be a more acoustic feel during these renditions?
Úna Molloy: “Our line up does include the TRIO show with the legends that are Paul Noonan, Lisa Hannigan and Gemma Hayes sharing the stage for a show that has been selling out really big and beautiful venues all over Ireland since it came into fruition.
That show started off through a Hibernacle collaborative weekend in Theatre Royal a few years ago. The musicians have taken what started as a small idea and turned it into a musical masterpiece which is just the perfect combination of 3 incredible artists together. However, all three artists have played with larger bands and bigger setups of their own.
Paul is the lead singer in Bell X1, Lisa has played with big bands of her own and alongside others and Gemma has just finished a tour with her 5 piece band set up. GRACELAND Live with the Turning Pirate House band will be very much a big upbeat full band show with 2 drummers, 2 horns, keys, bass, guitars, the works!
If anyone has been to our Turning Pirate Mix Tape show that ran every New Year’s in Vicar Street, Graceland will very much be in keeping with that kind of event. Many amazing artists had fun with the musical standard set sky-high, alongside a host of incredible artists and guests.”
Wallis, in a lot of your sets like at Rockpalast in 2020 there was a great use of acapella. Are you excited for the acapella inclusion of “Graceland” like in the songs, “Diamonds On The Sole of Her Shoes” and “Homeless?” Are you planning to do anything different than the albums acapella like the layering of your own vocals also what you had done at the Rockpalast set?
Wallis Bird: “Thanks darlin’, I guess you’ve just inspired me to think of that as an option! That could be really great actually!”
What inspiration have you taken from the Graceland album/Paul Simon himself that you’ve put into your own music?
Wallis Bird: “Graceland was one of the very first albums I ever held in my hand. I played that vinyl obsessively up and down and in and out probably for weeks on end. What inspired me about the album was the richness of the voices, the variety of sonic textures, the bold blending of cultures and electronic instruments meeting ancient acoustic tones and the tender and clever way in which that was smushed together without regard.”
Hibernacle thrives off of the intimate connections built between the performers and the audiences at the aftershow session. How would you describe the feelings and experience of these aftershow sessions? How would you describe how the close blend between audience and performers adds to the festival?
Wallis Bird: “Well the Hibernacle sessions are legendary! You look forward to them all year. Great music and a feeling of life’s great meaning being celebrated, deep conversations with interesting and friendly people within an especially pretty surrounding. It’s wholesome and gremlin and caring and so much fucking fun.
I personally don’t think there’s a difference between the Show and the After-Show because Hibernacle creates an environment where you feel like yourself and you can be yourself and everyone is equal. What’s really important to Hibernacle is that this is an open, inspirational space where circles of musicians who tend to be really sound people, are thrown into a space together and invent music. Creator is also observer, Audience is also muse.”
In your words, what does the change between the 2020 Winter Hibernacle sessions to the now intimate Summer Hibernacle festival mean to the festival itself?
Wallis Bird: “It shows that it’s always the right time to get the right people in the right setting. Hibernacle has a vision of collaboration which takes the barrier away from the audience and makes them as important as the art itself.”
Wallis Bird, Paul Noonan, Lisa Hannigan, and Gemma Hayes seem to focus and thrive off of acoustic performances, for the upbeat album that “Graceland” is, will it still be a more acoustic feel during these renditions?
Wallis Bird: “There’ll be plenty of dancing, don’t worry!”
Do you remember when you first heard the album?
Wallis Bird: “I was a child, about 11.”
As musicians what feelings did the album provoke?
Wallis Bird: “Warmth. Wonder. Instant need to move my body and listen with my heart.”
Will it be a note to note rendition or your own tribute/modern take?
Wallis Bird: “I like to simply capture the energy of the song. If that’s note for note, then so be it- the song needs that, but if I go for my own rendition, it must convey absolute understanding of what the song needs.”
Do you believe the album is still relevant in modern day?
Wallis Bird: “Absolutely, it’s a true classic. Not just because of its musical flair but also because of the historical basis which the album was born from, Simon had faced serious trouble having made it with Ladysmith Black Mambazo in apartheid South Africa.
Many believed he should not have bypassed those laws and profited from their black culture in his white world, whilst defending the reality that he was opening the mainstream world to the completely unique beauty of the culture of Africa. It’s a seminal album about the risk of music.”
Words: Caitlyn Geary
Hibernacle takes place at Orlagh House, Rathfarnham, Dublin, Sat July 18th – Sun July 19th
How do I get there?
The 15 and 15B buses from Dublin City to Hunterswood leave you a 3 minutes drive from Orlagh. The S8 bus from Citywest to Dun Laoghaire leaves you 5 minutes drive from Orlagh. Orlagh is 7 mins drive from Exit 12 on the M50. There is very limited parking available but the area is serviced well by the FreeNow Taxi App.
