After thirty years of playing on stages all over the world from Dublin to New York, Tokyo to Sydney, the premier traditional Irish band, Altan came back to the hills of Donegal to record their new album, ‘The Gap of Dreams’. The 13 tracks transport the listener to the lifestyle of rural Donegal, to a time before electricity when folks would gather together in the mists of winter to tell stories, sing songs and dance into the wee hours of the night. The music lifted the locals’ spirits and helped elevate them beyond the hardships of the day like famine, conflict, and emigration. It is this spirit that informed the development of the band through their many phases of growth from a duo performing in pubs to international touring and recording artists.
The album title, ‘The Gap of Dreams’, is borrowed from a poem by Francis Carlin, The Ballad of Douglas Bridge, in which he writes: “The Gap of Dreams is never shut,” referring to the gap between this world and the Otherworld. The Otherworld has always exerted a large influence on the fiddling tradition of County Donegal and has served as inspiration for song, music, and folklore.
The album features many sets of traditional Donegal reels, such as Néilidh Boyle’s provocative composition, “Seán sa Cheo” (John in the Mist), as well as original compositions. Martin Tourish wrote two lively reels in the Donegal style: “Tuar,” which translates to “omen or sign,” and “Oíche Fheidhmuúil,” meaning “a spirited night.”
‘The Gap of Dreams’ will be released on March 2nd, 2018 on Compass Records and Altan will kick off their tour in Calgary, Alberta on February 23rd.