Size2Shoes in the Belltable tonight

THE profile of local band Size2Shoes is expanding before our very eyes, with the O Súilleabhin brothers starting to become very well-known indeed by the outside world. They return to Limerick this Friday for a second gig in a little under a month, but by way of contrast, these are the first gigs that they have played in their home town since March, coming off the back of a very successful national album roll-out in early November.
Messrs. Russell Crowe and Steven Spielberg have become confirmed fans, the former praising the “inspired mastery of their harmonies” and the “streetwise intellectof their humours”. Size2Shoes are to travel to Australia next year to record in Crowe’s studio.
Plenty of gigs around the country,plus recent radio and television appearances and strong word of mouth - in particular - about their superb live performances, has seen a deserved rise in profile for Eoin and Moley (Mícheál) and their uplifting form of folk-pop.The duo recently performed with The Chieftains at the University Concert Hall, performing with the seminal band for “Teddy Bears Picnic”and taking control of the stage to perform one of their own tracks,“Take It Easy”.
Size2Shoes best selling point is that they can combine rap, vocal percussion and exquisite guitar playing with either their own original music or other classic tracks, yet still keep that distinctive Irishness that many acts run away from.
Moley told the Limerick Chroniclerecently that he “started to write songs quite late - I was sixteen or so- and so did Eoin, so we were always careful about what we did and we didn’t want to sound like anybody else.
Simply put, he added that the duo“just wanted to create something that was great fun and uplifting”.
This they have done and a couple of hours in their company will leave you smiling from ear to ear, the perfect antidote to the ever-prevalent doom and gloom out there.
Size2Shoes play the Belltable this Friday night, doors 8.30pm. For tickets contact 061-319866.

Size2Shoes album review and gig this Saturday

Size2Shoes
‘Size2Shoes’
(Self released)

THE SONS of world famous Irish composer Professor Mícheál O'Súilleabháin and spiritual singer Nóirín Ní Riain were always bound to have musical talent in spades, but Eoin and Mícheál O'Súilleabháin, performing under the name Size2Shoes, certainly have the potential to stand out on their own merits.
Although they launched their debut album locally several months ago, they are only now rolling it out on a national basis.
In doing so, and with the benefit of regular gigs around the country, this musical duo have reached a level of maturity with an act they have been plugging around Limerick for several years.
The evolution of Size2Shoes has been steady, moving from raw, humorous and over-the-top double act, to polished, still humorous over-the-top double act, but yet they have perfected the art of peppering both their recordings and live performances with equal dashes of musical comedy and spine-tingling moments of clarity, when the audience/listener is forced to sit in rapt attention.
The album contains a few gems, notably the upbeat opener Take it Easy, the graceful Light in the Dark and the title track Size2Shoes. A delightful reworking of traditional favourite The Parting Glass is also superb.
The duo combine elements of Simon and Garfunkel, dashes of the Doobie Brothers and The Eagles with a distinct Irishness, indeed a sense of being from Limerick, which merely adds to their appeal.
Mícheál - better known as Moley - holds a MA in Rap Performance and rap, hip-hop and his significant beatboxing abilities make regular appearances throughout the album; this ability, coupled with the brothers’ entwining and often mesmerising vocals, being their secret weapons. Where others have failed to entrap the energy that comes from live gigs in the studio - the brothers have largely succeeded.
Their endearing nature can tend to become ever so slightly cloying and they could do with developing a slightly harder edge but, to the most part, this album succeeds with what it sets out to do.
We look forward to their next album and to the further development of this most musical of local acts.
RATING 3/5

* Size2Shoes play in Shannon Rowing Club this Saturday night, November 21, doors 9pm.

The brothers Súilleabháin - Size2Shoes album launch

Those nice lads Eoin and 'Moley' O' Súilleabháin (look at them there, having a right old laugh for themselves) released their debut album on Tuesday night Upstairs in Dolan's, and an entertaining evening it was indeed. I've seen the duo several times over the years, from not wholly-convincing Boatclub gigs, to the Belltable Sessions, to finally, the mature and polished act they are today (or were last Tuesday).

There are cringey moments in their set and they do have a propensity to present every word in their inimitable 'altar-boy-esque', perfect diction, style - but, ultimately this is a winning act and one from Limerick that could have a decent impact nationally and beyond. Here is what I wrote in the paper this week:

THE SONS of world famous Irish composer Professor Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin and spiritual singer Nóirín Ní Riain were always bound to have musical talent in spades, but Eoin and Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin, performing under the moniker of Size2Shoes, have the potential to stand out on their own considerable merits.

In launching their self-titled debut album in Dolan’s last Tuesday night, this musical duo reached a level of maturity with an act they have been plugging around Limerick for several years.

The evolution of Size2Shoes has been steady, moving from raw, humorous and over-the-top double act, to polished, still humorous over-the-top double act, but yet they have perfected the art of peppering their performances with equal dashes of musical comedy and spine-tingling moments of clarity, when the audience sit in rapt attention.

The album, two years in the making, contains a few gems, notably the upbeat opener Take it Easy, the graceful Light in the Dark and the title track Size2Shoes. In a live setting, these songs take on a new form, the duo combining elements of Simon and Garfunkel, dashes of the Doobie Brothers and The Eagles with a distinct Irishness, indeed a sense of being from Limerick, which adds to their appeal.

Then there is the humour, the duo segueing effortlessly several times from their own songs into covers of Sade’s Smooth Operator, Eurythmics’ Sweet Dreams and R Kelly’s Ignition, plus a 90s-dance medley, Snap’s Rhythm is a Dancer and Technotronic's Pump up the Jam balancing delicately in between the Beatles’ Blackbird.

As Mícheál - better known as Moley - holds an MA in Rap Performance, rap, hip-hop and beatboxing abilities make a regular appearance throughout the set and the album, this ability, coupled with the brothers’ entwining and often mesmerising vocals, being their secret weapons. Speaking to the Limerick Leader, Eoin explains that they see this debut album as a hook, with the hope Size2Shoes might get picked up.

“It has been two years since we decided to record this album until we got it to our door, so, it is an amazing achievement for us,” he explains. “We are releasing it ourselves from our own label, and financing it ourselves but we have also written the material for a second and third album, so what we are doing with this is setting out our stall and seeing if there is any interest that a backer might have, in a way we are testing the waters.”

We don’t think it will be long.

Size2Shoes is available now here.

Put the needle on the record yo!

RENOWNED independent New York radio station WFMU held a special broadcast from the newly opened Viva Music Studios last week.
As seen in the picture above, WFMU’s Billy Jam interviewed Dan Sykes of Viva Music Studios during last Friday’s live radio broadcast from Limerick to New York and the East Coast of the USA.
More than 20 guests also featured on the show - 'Put the Needle on the Record' - which was broadcast live over three hours from Sykes’ Viva studios on O’Connell Street.
Local acts like the Rubberbandits, Size2Shoes, Jay Red and True Blood Souljahz, plus a litany of other local DJs and people involved in the local music scene, all featured on the show.
Speaking after the show presenter Billy Jam praised the diversity of the local music scene in Limerick.
“The WFMU Live from Limerick show on March 27 not only proved what a richly diverse music scene inhabits the district but also how tightly knit these divergent scenes and individuals are,” he explained.
The show is available on the internet here (streaming) or for download here.
Info on Dan Sykes studio here.

Photos from the Belltable Sessions and the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble gigs

David Hope

Size2Shoes

The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble - on Cruises Street

The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble - in Trinity Rooms


Two (or three?) excellent gigs in the city on one night, beginning with the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble playing an impromptu set on a deserted Cruises St early on Sunday evening. Chicago's finest really know how warm up a crowd and impressed with a superb set in the Clubhouse @ Trinity Rooms later in the evening. They have just signed a record deal with Damon Albarn's manager and will hopefully be back for a courtyard show next year (fingers crossed).
In between we caught sets from Richie McCoy, David Hope and Size2Shoes (all local artists) at the Belltable Sessions in the Red Cross Hall, the last montly gig this year. Unfortunately Cork band Armoured Bear cancelled due to "unforeseen circumstances". Windings finished the night off, and we await the return of this rather delightful night early in the New Year.

http://hypnoticbrass.net/
http://www.myspace.com/thebelltablesessions

Super gig taking place tomorrow night, last of this year's Belltable Sessions.

Folk musician David Hope will get proceedings underway, followed by the harmonious O'Suilleabhain brothers in their Size2Shoes guise, who have an album ready for release. Steve Ryan of Giveamanakick fame performs as Windings after an excellent gig at the Body and Soul Arena of Electric Picnic, while Cork band Armoured Bear - responsible for one of the Irish albums of the year with Honeycomb Moons - headline the night.

All acts perform live, no mics, no speakers, just performance and music in the versatile Red Cross Hall. Check it out.

www.myspace.com/thebelltablesessions