While the line-up for Hard Working Class Heroes 2017 may be down 50% in terms of the number of bands, insistence on spelling your band names in ALL CAPS is reassuringly at a record high of 20%. Here’s TD’s five top picks for the weekend:
Paddy Hanna
Mumbling Howth storyteller – and former TD cover star – Paddy Hanna’s second solo full-length went AWOL for a while before a recent announcement that he’s joined up with Strange Brew Records for the upcoming release.
The Cork-based R&B/nu-soul band were a hit at Body&Soul this year and are every bit as sweet as their name suggests.
Another, more recent, former cover star, Balbriggan’s Samantha Kay has swaggering confidence and a voice to match the sweet production from the Diffusion Lab team backing her up.
Brooding, vaguely folk-ish project led by Laura Hyland and featuring contributions from a host of experimental and improv musicians from Dublin and London.
John Seabrook
Seabrook, a writer with The New Yorker and author of the bestseller The Song Machine: Inside The Hit Factory is one of the keynote speakers at the HWCH conference events, hosted at the Chocolate Factory.
Hard Working Class Heroes takes place 28th – 30th September
Words: Ian Lamont
Images: Paddy Hanna – Dorje de Burgh, Second Frame Films; Soulé – Ruth Medjber
