How it’s New York: At the Irish Arts Center in New York City
How it’s Irish: Irish singer/songwriter Mundy
It’s always a treat when Edmund Enright (aka Mundy) comes to town, and his kickoff to his current American tour at the Irish Arts Center on June 7th was no exception!
Opening the night was the duo August Wells comprised of singer/songwriter Kenneth Griffin and keyboardist John Rauchenberger. I was surprised that I hadn’t heard of them before, as their music was great, and their sound bold and rich.
Kenneth’s soaring vocals particularly intrigued me on their song Here in the Wild from their CD Madness is the Mercy, from which most of the songs in their set came. I’m loving listening to the CD and will definitely check them out in person again! You can find them here: August Wells
Mundy was joined by his frequent companion Deni Bonet on fiddle, fresh off her own European tour to promote her solo CD. Laid back and ready to enjoy himself, Mundy tore into songs from the breadth of his catalog and included some lesser known songs such as the plaintive Window Shopping For Faith and Beaconette to the more well known Gin and Tonic Sky, Raining Down Arrows and 10,000 Miles Away from Harm. Having played with Deni Bonet from some time now they have a great combined sound from his aggressive strums to her climbing and diving solos that kept the pace of the evening lively.
A few friends joined later in the set, with singer Emily Cavanaugh joining him for a cover of Angel From Montgomery, and Colin Smith from the band Mr. North joining in on Mundy‘s iconic rendition of Galway Girl.
The set finished off with what Mundy referred to as the dessert of the evening, being his mega-hit July which had the whole audience singing along! A delightful finish to the evening, and another example of the Irish Arts Center keeping its finger right on the pulse of the best talent coming through New York direct from Ireland. Can’t wait until the next new artist that I discover through them!
For more info on Mundy you can check him out here: Mundy.ie
Here’s Mundy playing with Desi Bonet at our friends Artists Without Walls in 2014:
