Limerick band Hermitage Green returns to center stage and why kissing was better in theory

Earlier this summer, Dan went viral on TikTok with a video of himself beating on the harmonica. He ended up being spotted by a news anchor in Chicago and was invited to do an interview with a local station in the city, which led to an invitation to appear on the ITV show, Martin and Roman’s best weekend.

Dan Barry’s brother (vocals, bass), a former professional rugby player with Munster and Sale Sharks in the UK, appeared in RTÉ’s new series Ultimate Hell week – in which 18 of Ireland’s fittest personalities take on the ultimate endurance challenge. Barry also has a podcast with former Irish and Ulster rugby player Andrew Trimble, which his colleague Dermot Sheedy (bodhrán) is also working on.

Darragh Griffin (vocals, guitars) hosted a baby girl during the lockdown and also worked on solo music projects, while Darragh Graham (banjo, djembe, backing vocals) – a former athlete who represented Ireland internationally and a Irish rugby player Simon Zebo’s brother-in-law – faced a severe Covid crisis which saw him go to bed for 10 days.

All the while they were dealing with what Barry calls it a loss of “purpose and sense of self-esteem”. While many people continued to work throughout the pandemic, as performers the band were left dry, dependent on the PUP payment and eagerly awaiting when they could release new music and turn again.

During confinement, they debated when and how to release their new album, Hi generation, which ended last spring.

“We finished it in February of last year to come out in June, then Covid arrived in March,” Dermot explains.

“We said we would push him back and then the blockades kept pushing him down the road. We released singles of it, one in June and one in September. There have been a lot of tough conversations on Zoom about this – the future was uncertain for us, like everyone else. It all reflected how difficult it was for us to plan anything at that time. ”

This year marks a decade the group has performed together and the new album is a testament to the fact that they left behind the roaring twenties of their youth and embraced responsibility.

“We started when we were kids, really, and our parents were the older generation,” says Darragh Graham.

“But now, 10 years later, we have become parents, there is a young generation rising behind us. The name [Hi Generation] is also a game about the creation and generation of music.

The record, like all Hermitage Green albums, is an eclectic mix of influences and styles, with a tangle of different musicians, writers and singers shining at various times across the 12 tracks.

The single ‘Ishmael and Maggie’, an acoustic anthem, was released in The Great Before. This is a collaboration with Canadian band The Trews, which was recorded in St Luke’s Church in Cork, but finalized during Covid. ‘Glow of the Kerosene Light’, a live favorite, which they performed on the Late show last year, closes the album.

“Originally by Wince Coles’ three-piece [folk band] from Nova Scotia. They played this song with a banjo and a bodhrán and we saw them play and we met them afterwards, ”says Barry.

“We asked them to play it back for us and it was so beautiful we thought ‘we’re stealing this.’ They’re from Newfoundland and there’s a very rich Celtic tradition there, the people of Terre- New seem to come from Waterford.

The group had to reduce 20 songs to eight for the album.

“We just had a very open conversation about what we liked and what we didn’t like, but everyone was happy,” Barry adds.

“But it can be tricky, and I think over the years we’ve gotten better at being sensitive and respectful and not breaking our hearts too much.

“[Producer] Phil Magee became a very good friend and he was good at keeping our hearts light – because if it’s not fun, then what’s the point? He is the best of the best for creating a warm studio environment.

It’s clear from talking to the five band members that they appreciate a very real connection, and that’s because they were friends long before the public or the record companies started to notice them.

They might have grown up in the Irish boy band days, but the thatch nicks, acres of muscle, and the fact that they all play and sing their own stuff indicates that this is really what Darragh Griffin calls it. laughing “a group of men”.

Ten years ago they all lived in Limerick.

“The recession had kicked in quite strongly over the past three or four years,” Barry recalls.

“We were all, it seemed, out of something. The boys had just finished college. I had been a professional rugby player. Darragh [Graham] was an athlete, he had just retired.

“We were looking for something to do. We got together on a Monday evening and started playing traditional and folk songs. Someone heard us play and said, “Can we come in and listen? We put together a setlist and then booked for a bar. Within a month it became clear that something special was happening and we had a connection. ”

Barry says there were parallels between the athletic careers he and Darragh Graham left behind and the musical careers they embarked on.

“Both are what you dream of as a young boy. Playing with your friends with an audience that likes you – they have that in common, ”he says.

“When something happens in a game, like a try is scored, you feel the energy of the crowd, like they’re pulling you to victory, and when you’re on stage it’s the same.”

They quickly built up a large and loyal following and were signed to Sony Music in 2015, but Dan is honest when he says the decade has produced both “peaks and troughs”.

Sometimes their radio-adapted music seemed to break them internationally.

“I’ve always thought that going through this career teaches you to be stoic – you can’t get too excited when something good happens and you can’t be heartbroken when it seems like things aren’t going right,” explains Darragh Graham.

“Maybe it’s our sporting experience or whatever, but we don’t invest our identity too much in the way we do things. We were sometimes disappointed, but we are quite pragmatic.

They have been noted for their creative videos, including last year’s single, “Heaven,” which appears on Hi generation and features Dan walking through a park, into a cafe, and finally into a performance space, kissing everyone he meets on the mouth – including his bandmates – as he goes.

“We were in the Middle East, in Dubai, and two Saudi businessmen walked in and they’re probably very conservative, but they kissed each other on the cheek,” Dan says.

“And I thought it was interesting because it’s nothing sexual to them, it’s just a social construct in which they greet each other. I thought what if there was another social construct in which we were just licking our mouths. I threw that up and the guys were like ‘hmmm’.

“We had to do it twice, which was the worst,” Barry adds. “I remember the screams after the first one.”

They fondly remember some of their craziest experiences over the years – like dragging singer-songwriter Gavin James to a rave at Electric Picnic – but fatherhood eased their cough, in the best possible way.

“It changed my life massively, it’s the best thing ever,” says Barry, who welcomed twins to the world in 2019.

“With the group, it’s always been a family affair. You get the buzz on stage and the buzz after, but then you come home and your wife and kids are there and you get the buzz there, ”says Darragh Graham.

“After a tour it’s a weird time, you can be restless for a day or two and having kids there takes it all away.”

Graham recovered from Covid, but it’s an experience he won’t soon forget.

“I was in bed for 10 days. I had previously had glandular fever and it was 10 times worse. The first day or two that I had it I was looking after the kids and Jess, my wife, came home and I got to the point where I was lying on the floor. I was so tired. ”

In the days following our discussion, it appears that Electric Picnic is not moving forward, and Dermot says the debate around this may have been counterproductive.

“I feel like Electric Picnic could have been a bad flagship for the live events industry. A month ago everyone was talking about it when in reality they might have done better to have bigger crowds at small gigs – 99% of the industry is much smaller than Electric Picnic .

The group has already been approached by a few different festivals for next year and will embark on a nationwide tour that kicks off on October 9.

“It feels like the end of a dark period,” says Darragh Griffin. “We can’t wait to get back on the road. Seeing the joy on people’s faces makes you feel like you have a special connection to them, and it’s a truly indescribable feeling. This is what we all do this for.

‘Hi Generation’ is now available. Hermitage Green starts nationwide tour from October 9 – tickets from usual outlets