Following the release of their debut album The Mountains Are My Friends, California Irish, the folk rock act fronted by Cormac Neeson of The Answer, has won the Single Of The Year Award at the Northern Irish Music Prize with their single ‘Julie Ann‘.
After fighting off stiff competition for the title, the band scooped the prestigious award with their warm, laid-back single, that evokes scenes of the 1960s, and one that gained critical acclaim across the board, receiving substantial airplay worldwide.
Neeson commented: “We are delighted with this award, and the fact that the people of the North of Ireland voted for our song just means the world to us. Peace Agus Love – and up the Cali Irish!”
Summoning the beguiling spirit of Laurel Canyon, employing analogue recording techniques, and recording songs in one or two takes to achieve something with a real human touch, California Irish is a seven piece group hailing from Belfast that working their own niche within the world of folk and Americana, and everything in between.
The brainchild of the group is lead singer and chief songwriter Cormac Neeson who hand-picked members based on long standing friendships, as well as experiences with numerous musical projects within the thriving Belfast music scene.
“This album is the opposite of boring AI generated no soul perfection,” said Neeson. “We recorded this album in a room together over four days allowing the music to breathe when it needed to, looking at each other for our cues and feeding off each other’s energy. It felt like a dream…but it’s the most real thing I’ve ever done in music.
“That Laurel Canyon sound of the late 60s, epitomised by the early Crosby Stills Nash & Young stuff, and the first few Joni Mitchell records, has always felt otherworldly and magical. On our album we’ve tried to access some of that beauty and create our own magic by combining brand new music with an old school recording process.”
The California Irish album The Mountains Are My Friends is available now from here and here.
