Think of what you consider as contemporary music from County Cavan and chances are that it will begin and end with The Strypes. The four-piece have serious backing behind them (including Sir Elton John’s Rocket Music Management) putting them on the fast track to stardom and they are well on the path to achieving it with their 2013 debut album ‘Snapshot’ reaching the top five of the UK album charts.
You could say their career trajectory to date is book-ended by chat shows, beginning with The Late Late Toy Show in 2010 and their appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman this year. Look closer though and you will find that The Strypes DNA is inextricably linked to the Breffni County.
Back in the late ‘70s, Blue Angel was the first rock band to emerge form Cavan. Their link to The Strypes is via Blue Angel’s drummer Paul Cox who is uncle to two of them. As with a lot of bands Blue Angel’s existence was short lived and Cox later reappeared in numerous bands but early ‘90s power pop quartet The Fireflys were the pick of the bunch.
Also in The Fireflys were cousins John and Niall Walsh. The latter is father to The Strypes drummer Evan Walsh while the former, John, is still actively making music under the moniker of The Carnival Brothers with recent success coming via summery single The Sun Is Gonna Shine.
It would be daft as to assume there was nothing else going on musically in the interviewing years between Blue Angel and The Strypes. The Would Be’s emerged from Cavan during the late ‘80s and caught the attention of none other than the BBC's John Peel. An A&R feeding frenzy to sign them erupted but, just as they were about to take off they threw a curve ball signing with a small indie label without much finance.
Sadly, without the proper backing, they never capitalised upon their potential and split shortly after in 1991. However, 2012 saw The Would Be’s reform and subsequently release ‘Beautiful Mess’ on respected Cork label, FIFA Records, to largely positive reviews.
What can’t be denied is that The Strypes have helped shine a light on Cavan as a source of emerging musical talent where it had previously been regarded as a barren wasteland. Look closer though and you will find a small yet perfectly formed music scene bubbling away.
There are some very prominent acts, no more so than Ballyhaise’s Lisa O’Neill who has emerged as a hugely regarded songwriter and performer in her own right. Her song No Train To Cavan pays homage to her roots in her own unmistakable fashion.
Hailed as the new Strypes, The Whereabouts have signed an international management deal and are receiving airplay on major US radio station KROQ. Bailiebourgh's Shouting At Planes is one of the more established bands in Cavan, having played Glastonbury. Their latest EP 'St Jude' got the thumbs up from GoldenPlec.
The Radioactive Grandma don’t originally hail from Cavan, but the trio are now firmly planted in the county. They could be found earlier this year weirding out shoppers in the local Tesco during the recording of the extremely charming video for their single The Robot Song.
It's clear that there is a rich vein of talent in the county at present, gaining the right sort of attention and there’s plenty of other acts worthy of mention too, including C O’Neill & Co, Humbuzzer, John Munnelly, Tara Kennedy and The Plan.
Other links to Cavan can be found in the shape of Michael Paterson who is frontman in up and coming tyros Travis Oaks and Donal Kelly who is the lead singer in Medz. On the periphery of this tightly knit scene there are also some well-respected metal bands such as Eternal Helcaraxe.
A singular thing that links many acts together is recording facilities and one of the more prominent studios in Cavan is Leader's Lab in Ballinagh. The Radioactive Grandma’s John Leader owns the studio and has produced a lot of acts including post rockers Medz and singer/songwriter Michael O’Brien (previously of Winterking).
Forthcoming releases include folk rock band Run From The Cure, and Juggling Wolves with GoldenPlec favourites Kicking Bird currently in session. The Strypes have previously recorded there too; at a time when playing on the back of a lorry in Bailieborough was still the height of ambition.
Like many rural areas, the opportunities for bands playing original music to get gigs locally are sparse making it a necessity to trek all over the country in search of gigs. Worryingly over the past few years, the number of County Cavan venues that regularly showcase original music has dwindled.
Sadly missed is The Sail Inn located in Shercock. The Sail Inn was run by Sandra Eavis, daughter of Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis, and hosted a battle of the bands to play the festival. Nowadays live music tends to centre on McGinnity’s and The Chapter One Café in Cavan town.
The latter’s music is organised by Joe Keenan of Blue Valentines Promotions and has seen the likes of Raglans and The Hot Sprockets play there. Pop in and you can regularly see members of The Strypes there.
Joe Keenan’s son Finn is a renowned music video director and if you are from the locality you’ll recognise much of the surroundings from videos for The Hot Sprockets Soul Brother and Raglans Digging Holes, which Finn Keenan directed.
Michael O'Brien (who we mentioned earlier) is an important outlet for local acts taking the first tentative steps to playing live in Cavan. As the main man behind Origins Promotions, he plays a key role in hosting local gigs and bringing established acts such as Brendan Benson to Cavan.
With the exception of the aforementioned venues and promoters who are to be applauded for flying the flag for original music in the county there isn’t much of an appetite to give local acts a chance, with most pubs seemingly happy to hire bland country cover bands rather than giving local talent a chance.
However, there's a real passion for original music in Cavan and the regularly packed Cafe Sessions are a testament to that. The rest of the country and indeed further afield, is beginning to wake up to the music that is emitting from Cavan. It may be outside the pale and still bleak economically, but at least musically Cavan is starting get the attention it deserves.