California Irish - The Mountains Are My Friends

Summoning the beguiling spirit of Laurel Canyon, employing analogue recording techniques, and recording songs in one or two takes to achieve something with a real human touch, California Irish are a new seven-piece group hailing from Belfast that working their own niche within the world of folk and Americana, and everything in between. This new group with a unique sound formed from a combination of players that initially came together briefly to perform a Neil Young-inspired theatre show production called "Re-Harvest", in which the musicians who now make up California Irish very successfully performed the classic albums 'Harvest Moon' and 'Harvest' back-to-back. The brainchild of the group's lead singer and chief songwriter Cormac Neeson (of The Answer), the band were hand-picked by Neeson based on long standing friendships, as well as experiences with numerous musical projects within the thriving Belfast music scene. The Laurel Canyon influence also extends to the band’s recording technique, adhering rigidly to the analogue 16 track recording method circa 1969: namely recording live straight to tape at the world-famous Middle Farm Studios under the watchful eyes and ears of producer Pete Miles. The resulting sound of California Irish flies in the face of modern techniques that often lose the warmth of the original compositions. Instead, the group opted for a one off and unique shared human experience with musicians who feed off each other’s energy and create compelling four-part vocal blends around one single microphone in a warm alt-folk celebration. The creative process in turn led to an album's worth of songs tentatively titled “The Mountains Are My Friends”.