Wild Rover - The Haar live at The David Hall

Filmed by Hands On TV - live at The David Hall - the whole concert is now viewable here - subscribers only (from £6) https://handsontv.co.uk/live-session/14 GIGS: https://thehaar.ie/gigs/ WILD ROVER Not for The Haar the bonhomie of The Dubliner. The band were struck by the idea that the prodigal son’s triumphant return, pockets laden with gold, might not be something that endeared him to everyone in the community that he returned to - jealousy, envy and covetousness are easy to imagine. The greedy landlady suddenly gets an extra gleam in her eye in the lamplit gloom of that dockyard tavern. A dark additional verse by Summerhayes gives the final refrains a new poignancy, turning the story on its head. Molly sang a few experimental bars in a minor key, Cormac added a few quietly ominous strikes and the band fell in love with the feel. Adam and Murray found a dark sound, imbued with hints of Arabic and klezmer music. Deciding that Molly would start alone, they hit record, and this is the result. The Haar’s Wild Rover serves as a potent lesson to our extravagantly consuming society in the wake of current global environmental destruction. We meet the Wild Rover as he reaches a critical time, faced with the opportunity to turn his back on excessive consumption and face up to his past before he loses everything. Vowing to change, and knowing he must, the lure of excess proves too strong a lust. But continuing profligacy and extravagance come at a cost. He succumbs once again when so close to change, and the prodigal son pays the ultimate price for his ways. An opportunity has been missed, never to return… “never no more." This is just one example of several in the forthcoming album (out April 29th) where the band, who feature not one but two FATEA Instrumentalists of the Year Award winners, take a familiar tune and turn into something fresh that mysteriously feels as if you have known it forever. For more information, interviews, hi res photos contact [email protected] 07832 200980 credits from Where Old Ghosts Meet Trad. arr (except for final verse written by Adam Summerhayes) Adam Summerhayes - fiddle Murray Grainger - accordion and vibrandoneon Cormac Byrne - bodhrán Molly Donnery - vocal