ASIDES . . .

JOINT VENTURES

All three of Harry Bird and the Rubber Wellies are to appear at Snape Maltings in Suffolk on 1st October as part of jazz singer Gwyneth Herbert’s band for her new British Arts Council funded project. The performance piece, 'Sea Songs', is a poignant ode to the seaside towns of England and an impressive display of her talent as a composer across a multitude of genres.

August saw Christophe and Maria contribute to honey-voiced songsmith Pearse McGloughlin's new EP, set to be released sometime in the near future. Harry and Christophe both provided vocals on American folk guitar wizard John Bolduan's debut album 'Can't Fight Fire with a Match', released in July.

In May Harry and Christophe contributed separately to the Indiecater Records project Fast Forward: The World Cup Goes Indie, an album of original and alternative songs for each of the 32 footballing nations competing in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Harry's guitar and harmonica number, 'Pesadilla No.7', was the Paraguayan entry, while Christophe provided piano for Pearse McGloughlin's 'Jongmyo Shrine' for South Korea. You can read Chris Oliver's hilarious knock out simulation, pitting all the songs against each other, and the inevitable head to head between Paraguay and South Korea on the City Lifers blog here. (The entries are displayed in reverse so look away as you scroll down if you don’t want to know the final result!)

Bilbao-based trapeze act Atropecias comissioned Harry to write the music for their street show 'Echadas a la Mar' in April 2009. The band that was to accompany them in the fiestas and festivals of Northern Spain throughout that summer was Chincho por Tátou, whose initial line up consisted of Harry, Christophe, Maria and percussionist Itziar Rubio.

Natascha Leonie is the German popstress who brought Harry Bird and the Rubber Wellies together for the first time (although still not yet under that name) on her 2008 tour of Ireland. Christophe (on fiddle) and Harry (with vocals) both helped out with the recording of her debut album 'Forget Humble' in June 2009 and then returned in October of that year to accompany her band on a tour of Germany.

SOLO OUTINGS

Harry

When the Wellies are no-where to be found, especially at home in Bilbao, Harry often performs solo (weeping as he does so…). He also likes to keep himself busy as a musical member of the Bizkaian circus collective Koblakari, providing a live accompaniment for his fellow jugglers, acrobats and clowns. Recently he has taken to performing musical sketches of his own in galas and cabarets and is waiting eagerly for the day in which he perfects the technique of “Pino y Ron”! He may be waiting quite a while….

Christophe

Christophe is a composer of tunes in the mould of Yann Tiersen and has written the music for various plays and short films, including the Carpet Theatre production '50 Ways To Leave Dun Laoghaire'. Due to his prolific workrate and the high demand for his bowing skills in Ireland, Christophe has now over 30 albums to his name as a recording artist, providing either fiddle, piano or backing vocals (and sometimes all three!) for the following artists: Our Little Secrets, Pearse McGloughlin, Spool, The Rambleers, Aisling Quinn, Readers’ Wives, Jenny Lindfors, Ben Kritikos, Herons! Alyanya, Andy Blaikie, Lisa O’Neill, Nicola Williams, Fia Rua, Ciaran O’Neill, John Shelley and the Creatures, Virtigo Smith, Drunken Boat and James Guilmartin. On more than one occasion he has been told, 'You sound like the fiddle player in…..', to which he is forced to reply, 'That’s because I am!'.

Maria

Maria claims to be an artist rather than a musician but this doesn't stop people wanting her to sing with them! From her origins as a bass player in a girl band she had a brief spell singing with Lisa O’Neill before joining Harry Bird and the Rubber Wellies. As an artist in the field of music, besides the album art, animations and numerous posters she has created for 'Long Way to Be Free', Maria has also provided artwork for others such as Fee Brown and Our Little Secrets.