YE VAGABONDS Come to Irish Arts Center

Irish Arts Center, the multidisciplinary center dedicated to bringing people of all backgrounds together through the excellence and dynamism of Irish arts and culture, presents the first-ever U.S. performances of folk revivalists Ye Vagabonds, January 31 & February 1 at 8pm. The band will perform songs from their highly acclaimed, award-winning sophomore album The Hare's Lament, an amalgam of original and masterfully resurrected traditional songs that is both homespun and immaculate, plaintive and lush.

Ye Vagabonds is the project of brothers Brían and Diarmuid Mac Gloinn. The pair grew up in rural Carlow before moving to Dublin in 2012, where they became known on the traditional Irish, blues, and folk scenes in the city, playing folk songs as well as their own original material. Their work is a unique blend of traditional Irish, European, and American music, and hearkens back to the 1960s folk revival in particular.

Released on Rough Trade's River Lea imprint in early 2019, The Hare's Lament is a collection of traditional songs learned from some of the greats of Irish music; from precious archive recordings of a grandfather they never met; from the unique collection of singer Róise na nAmhrán from Arranmore Island in Donegal (their mother's birthplace) and from contemporaries in the singing communities around Dublin, of which Ye Vagabonds are a celebrated part.

The Irish Times has called The Hare's Lament a "cavern of delights," praising its "bare-bone vocals and deliciously austere arrangements." The Hare's Lament swept the annual RTE folk awards, winning the band Best Folk Group, Best Folk Album, and Best Traditional Folk Track; and won a BBC Radio Two Folk Award for Best Traditional Track.

Friday and Saturday evening performances take place at 8pm at Irish Arts Center (553 West 51st Street, Manhattan). Tickets are $26 general / $21 members / $20 for attendees 25 and under, and can be purchased at irishartscenter.org or 866.811.4111.

They'll also perform a family concert, An Imbolc and Brigid's Day Celebration, on February 1 at 2pm. Tickets are $10 general / $8 members. The third annual celebration of Imbolc, the Celtic festival heralding spring and honoring the saint and goddess Brigid, Ye Vagabonds perform traditional ballads that conjure the wild and mythical lands of ancient Ireland while visual artist Gregory Corbino illustrates the music with enchanting hand-painted crankies (scrolling storyboards). After the concert, warm up with hot chocolate and make your own Imbolc-inspired crankies and candles. Tickets can also be purchased at irishartscenter.org or 866.811.4111.