“Near To Hear” #2 – Northern Ireland in 2016 was a fantastic time for music. The strength of the releases truly showed the Northern Ireland, and Ireland as a whole in fact, was not a place to ignore in the coming year. Here at XS Noize we wanted to play our part in providing platforms for the music coming out of Ireland in 2017.
That’s why we’ve started “Near To Hear”. A weekly feature devoted to Irish musicians. Over the next year we will cover the finest artists Ireland has to offer, keeping you in the loop with any releases we think are great as well as gigs you can attend.
Brash Isaac, the moniker for song-writer Andrew Cameron, kicked off the project with the an absolute storm of a track called “In The Dark”. Immediately Cameron’s quirky ability to meld the melancholic style of folk greats like John Martyn or Nick Drake, but with enough pop sensibility to keep his songs buried in your head for weeks.
Off the back of this track, Cameron got a band together and relentlessly gigged, working the true hard graft of support slots and really carving out a fanbase. This hard work ethic brought Brash Issac to larger stages like the Limelight in Belfast, as well as a successful co-headline gig in the Sunflower Bar with another fantastic local artist, Beulah Kim.
IN THE DARK LIVE SESSION
On top of this, Cameron continued to release single after single of amazing songs, eventually compiled together to create the projects debut EP, “Living In The Dark & Other Cliches”. The title sums up what I love most about Brash Isaac. His songs are heartfelt, deeply personal and its very evident how much they mean to him, but he is never one to take himself too seriously.
I’ve been very fortunate to catch Brash Isaac live numerous times and its an experience. With a full band, Brash Isaac are super tight and it’s immediately apparent they work hard at crafting powerful sets, made to be experienced as a whole, and even when performing solo, the songs are still as strong and the performance just as emotional.
After successfully grabbing the attention of many in Northern Ireland, with the name Brash Isaac on the tips of many tongues right through 2016, it’s really great to see the group putting plans into action for 2017, having already announced many gigs across Ireland.
You can catch Brash Issac at these places BELOW:
• 2nd February – The Empire Music Hall, Belfast
• 3rd February – Chez Le Fab Arts Cafe, Limerick
• 10th February – Follow Coffee – Ballymena
• 16th Februay – Output Showcase – Belfast (Venue TBC)
• 18th February – Finegan & Son – Newry
• 2nd March – Clayton Hotel Belnash Festival – Belfast
Keep up to date with Brash Isaac, on his facebook page or on his website www.brashisaac.com and you can listen to “Living In The Dark & Other Cliches” on his bandcamp or soundcloud page.
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