MacD on Music: Stendhal: Looking Forward Back

Festival season is well and truly underway. Recently, we had (in England) Glastonbury, featuring Paul Casey, Kneecap, Problem Patterns and other artists that have yet to feature in these pages.

Closer to home, this past weekend saw the return of the always brilliant Stendhal Festival. Now in it’s fourteenth year, Stendhal brings together the best local and not-so-local talents across three days in July.

Unfortunately, my deadline for this column is the day things kick off, which means the big interviews are going to be next week.

This week, in an exclusive, first of it’s kind pre/review, I’m going to be taking a look at some of the artists that will be playing/have played at this year’s festival.

So, just pretend this is a week ago and let’s go:

Red Eye Pariah

Red Eye Pariah are a group I first encountered two years ago during my first year at the festival.

The band, made up of Sammy Stevenson (lead guitar), Alex Close (bass), Joe Dawson (drums) and Deano Kelly (vocals/guitar), describe themselves as “a four piece indie band from Antrim just out here chasing the dream.” So far, the group have released a number of singles and the EP ‘Koala Tea’ and this year marks their third consecutive appearance at Stendhal.

Their set is usually one of the festival highlights for anyone who manages to catch it and I’m sure this year will be/was no exception.

Parker

Next up is a band very familiar to regular readers.

Parker have been a key part of the local music scene since their inception in 2021.

Made up of Dylan Bradley (guitar and vocals), Eoghan Donegan (bass) and Michael Brown (drums), Parker first played Stendhal in 2022 and continue to put on incredible live shows wherever they play.

Last year saw the release of their album ‘Never Let This Go’ (available now in Cool Discs) and they have spent a lot of the last year touring the world in support of it. Recently, they also played a homecoming gig in Bennigan’s as part of their Irish tour.

TomCat

Now onto TomCat, another group that have been making a splash on the local scene in recent times.

Made up of Emer McLaughlin (bass and vocals), Niamh O’Raw (guitar and vocals), Liam Bradley (guitar) and (usually) Jason Feenan (drums) [Tom Carlin (of Selador) will be taking Jason’s place for Stendhal this year], TomCat have so far shared bills with CHERYM, Parker, TRAMP and many more.

Last year also saw the release of their debut single ‘It’s Not Always Gonna Be Like This’, arguably one of the best songs of 2023.

CHERYM

Next we move on to a band that closed out the Friday night of Stendhal in 2022. CHERYM are, to put it simply, one of the best live bands you’re going to see.

Made up of Hannah Richardson (guitar and vocals), Emer McLaughlin (also of TomCat) (bass and vocals) and Alannagh Doherty (drums), CHERYM have played shows around the world in the past few years, recently returning from Germany ahead of a number of festival dates both here and in the UK later this summer.

February of this year saw the release of their debut album ‘Take It Or Leave It’ (available now in Cool Discs) and they will also be supporting the Undertones on their European tour later this year.

Paddy Nash

Now it’s time for one of Derry’s finest songwriters, the legendary Paddy Nash.

Paddy has been a staple of the Derry music scene for decades, having been a member of the Whole Tribe Sings and leader of the Happy Enchiladas.

More recently, Paddy has been playing a more stripped back show, usually just himself and the guitar, as seen at last year’s Gig For Gaza in Sandino’s.

This year also saw the triumphant return of the Whole Tribe Sings for a one-night-only reunion in the Nerve Centre in aid of the Tuned In Project.

Regardless of the setup though, the one thing that always shines through is the songwriting.

With four albums so far to his name (three with the Happy Enchiladas and one solo, all available in Cool Discs), Paddy Nash is a legend of Derry music.

Obviously, I can’t feature everybody that’s going to be playing/has played at this year’s festival, but the above are just a few of the many brilliant names on this year’s bill.

Of course, half the fun of going to these things is discovering new talent I never would have heard of otherwise, so be sure to keep an eye out next week to see who this year’s discoveries are.

Now, time for the socials: Red Eye Pariah can be found on Facebook and Instagram @redeyepariah, Parker @bandcalledparker, TomCat @tomcat_band, CHERYM @cherymoffical, Paddy Nash @thenashman and Stendhal itself @stendhalireland and at stendhalfestival.com