EMMA LANGFORD HAS ANNOUNCED HER LIMERICK HOMECOMING CONCERT ON THE 12th OF JULY
And it looks set to be a unique celebration of local and international talent.
Limerick singer-songwriter and RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Award winner Emma Langford will headline Limerick Summer Music at the Rossbrien Pavilion on the 12th of July, in what will be her biggest hometown concert to date. Langford launched her first album Quiet Giant in 2017, and is now working with Grammy-nominated team The Production Suite in Dublin to produce a much anticipated sequel. Having toured the album extensively across Europe and the UK since its release, her 2019 summer tour is a farewell of sorts to “the Giant”, performing it in full for audiences in Belfast, Mayo and Limerick.
“This is actually the first time audiences will get to hear Quiet Giant in all its glory - all ten tracks, with a full band,” says Langford, who launched the album at Dolans Warehouse in Limerick City in December 2017. “I can’t wait - we’ve had the experience of playing the songs across Europe over the past year and a half now, and I feel like we’ve really grown into them a bit more as a band. We’ve put together some beautiful new arrangements, plus we’ll be joined by some very special guests, so that’s going to add a whole new dimension to the show.”
Langford is also taking the opportunity on the 12th of July to officially launch a new single from her forthcoming album: “Goodbye Hawaii might be familiar to anyone who’s been to a gig,” but for those who have only admired the artist’s work from afar, Langford claims the track will “come as a surprise - it’s a departure from the earthy, orchestral vibe on Quiet Giant. It’s almost indie-pop, I’ve been calling it Hawaiian motown.”
The Limerick lady’s summer release is an uptempo 60’s-inspired track with lyrics that cleverly parody the dated “helpless and lovesick” clichés often presented in songs of the era. Emma has worked with fellow Limerick creative Shane Serrano to produce an equally tongue-in-cheek music video for the track, which will be released in early July ahead of the concert.
Tadhg Murphy, Hannah Nic Gearailt, Alec Brown, Peter Hanagan and Ray Yrure make up the sublime Quiet Giant band. Emma has also recruited the help of Cork man Kealan Kenny on lapsteel; internationally acclaimed violin duo Lucia MacPartlin & Maria Ryan; Limerick’s Clef Choir led by Galway native Darragh Wynne; plus The Soul and Body Dance Quartet who formed in 2018 at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance in UL.
The show will be Langford’s biggest to date, and with no record label, manager or agent to take on some of the workload she admits to feeling out of her depth at times: “It’s hard seeing huge shows run by huge promoters that sort of squash independent artists into smaller venues… It’s a big undertaking, coordinating and promoting a show like this, but I think it’s important to show that it can be done. I have really excellent support in the Limerick Summer Music committee - Michael Murphy is my man on the inside there, he’s known me since I was a kid, when I worked at the University Concert Hall. Plus my friends, my bandmates, my family - and Limerick almost always have my back! So I’m never really on my own with any of it.”
Limerick Summer Music, now in its third year, takes place at the Rossbrien Pavilion on the grounds of Old Crescent RFC, Rossbrien, Limerick.
Tickets for Limerick Summer Music (€20) are available from eventmaster.ie
For further information visit www.limericksummermusic.ie
To find out more about Emma Langford visit www.emmalangfordmusic.com or visit Emma Langford Music on Facebook. Emma’s album Quiet Giant is available to download and listen to on all main streaming platforms.
