iMAR
Ímar - Scottish supergroup with Irish roots.
'Want to get your chin off...'
Winners of the BBC Radio 2 Folk Award, Glasgow-based five-piece Ímar stand out from the crowd – by taking music back to its basics. The relatively new lineup is made up of members from leading groups such as Mànran, Mec Lir, RURA ( Førdefestivalen 2019) and Talisk.
The musicians frequented the same streets in Glasgow, and one day they sat down to play together.
-It was really strange. We were all a little taken aback by how good it sounded, says bodhrán player Adam Brown (RURA). -To be honest, everyone looked at each other a little questioningly and wondered: was it just me, or was it just really good?
-It sounded completely different from what we play in the other bands we're involved in, says horn player Ryan Murphy (Mànran).´ And that's probably the explanation, this is the music we all started playing back then, and which ultimately makes us musicians to this day!
They live in Glasgow and only one of them is from Ireland, but the five musicians in Ìmar have strong roots in Irish music. This is at the root of Ímar's distinctive expression, although the repertoire also includes Scottish traditions and music from the Isle of Man, where two of the musicians are from.
“ Genuinely jaw-dropping collective virtuosity ”
Ímar's music has its roots in a shared cultural heritage between Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man, all of which at one time spoke Gaelic. This is also reflected in the different musical traditions. A few decades ago, there was a lot of Irish on the folk music scene in Scotland, but today modern Scottish dominates. The exception is Ímar, who go back to their roots and play Irish folk music in the simple and authentic way, without any frills. They don't play to get noticed, but they get noticed anyway, because it sounds so good!
Adam Brown (RURA) – bodhrán
Ryan Murphy (Mànran) – bagpipes, flutes
Tomás Callister – fiddle
Adam Rhodes (Mec Lir) – bouzouki
Mohsen Amini (Talish) – concertina