BBC Radio 2 Folk Award winners, Irish/Manx/Scottish quintet Ímar are amongst Glasgow’s hottest folk property.
Their most recent release, Awakening (2023) delivers a critically acclaimed third round of “the high-octane fuel that has energised audiences worldwide, making Ímar one of the most sought-after folk festival bands” (Folk Radio). With a line-up boasting a heavyweight collective haul of top solo prizes – including nine All-Ireland and eight All-Britain titles – audiences are unfailingly transfixed by Ímar’s formidable technical prowess, underpinned by an electric live energy and out-and-out joy of playing together.
With a wide-reaching fanbase throughout the UK, Europe, USA and Canada, the quintet fast became one of the trad scene’s most talked about groups – thanks in no small part to their debut video, L’Air Mignonne catapulting the group to the attention of audiences and media worldwide.
Adam Brown (bodhrán), Adam Rhodes (bouzouki), Mohsen Amini (concertina), Ryan Murphy (uilleann pipes) and Tomás Callister (fiddle) share a strong background in Irish music; a grounding that underpins many of Ímar’s distinctive qualities, in both instrumentation and material. Indeed, the group’s very being embodies a personal reconnection with its members’ formative years, dating back long before their recent camaraderie around Glasgow’s celebrated session scene.
The shared cultural heritages between Scotland, Ireland and the Isle of Man are well documented: all three once shared the same Gaelic language, and a similar, clearly potent, kinship endures between their musical traditions.