Tara Hill

Tara Hill – rich musical background

Tara Hill are a traditional Irish group with an edgy contemporary sound and some rich connections to legendary bands.

Why we love Irish music
Videos
Showcase main page

The group consists of David McChesney, Paul O’ Toole and Luke Crowley.

Tara Hill

O’Toole is a former member of the Young Dubliners and wrote Last house on the Street, which was a big hit in the USA.

Crowley has played and toured all over the world with the well known Furey Brothers and banjo player Davy Arthur for the last ten years.

Below they describe their musical sound, their career and their love of Irish music in their own words:

Style of music - Celtic rock/pop

We come from a diverse musical background and elements of our individual musical history is having an input onto our sound. We are aiming for a “celtic rock/pop” sound.

Although we love Irish ballads and music, we are not Irish ballad purists and as a result of this we allow other styles of music to cross over the Irish traditional music boundary, which we hope will give us an edgier and more appealing style.

We are all big fans of the Pogues and would love our sound to harness some of the energy of the Pogues, crossed with the chord structures of traditional Irish music and maybe a dollop of Americana style vocal harmonies thrown in the mix too.

I think if we can manage to infuse our original music with these elements we may achieve a musical cocktail that will help us to stand out from everyone else.

Artists who influenced the band

Many band and singers have influenced and inspired us. From home grown Irish acts like the Dubliners, Dublin City Ramblers, Horslips, Planxty to English and American acts such the Beatles, Eagles, Neil Young, Pogues, Bob Dylan, the Band and many, many more.

Dave was inspired to play the banjo after hearing Barney McKenna from The Dubliners playing a lively tune called the “Salamanca”. His parents were big Irish music fans and the raucous sounds of the Dubliners and many other bands were often to be heard coming from the family’s prized record player.

Luke comes from a musical family; his father Mick was singer and mandolin player with the Dublin City Rogues who were popular in Ireland and Europe in the 1980’s and 1990’s.
Irish folk band Tara Hill talk about their music and their love of Irish traditional folk

Tara Hill
Why we love Irish music
Videos
Showcase main page