The Olllam

Contact Details:

33 Queen's Road, Burley, Leeds, LS6 1NY

01132752411

Leeds Inspired

The Olllam

25th January 2024

With a name aptly deriving from the old Irish for a grand master of a skill, the olllam is a Transatlantic collective of formidable talent, marrying virtuosity, Irish tradition, and Detroit’s post-rock psych-sensibility.

Their compositions are lush cyclical trance-like melodies, co-written by Belfast uilleann piper/whistle player John McSherry, his US protégé Tyler Duncan, and master-drummer Michael Shimmin, whose intricate rhythms are them underpinned in the studio by the bass-playing genius of Joe Dart.

Their 2012 eponymous debut album is considered a cult classic; 2022’s long-awaited follow-up, elllegy, saw the band named Best Group at the 2022 RTÉ Radio Folk Awards.