DUG is a new band (we could say project but we prefer the term band) that brings together and melds effortlessly two traditions – Irish folk and American “Old Timey”. And it’s no surprise that Lorkin O’Reilly and California native Jonny Pickett should be able to do that since one of the strands that the Old Time sound draws on is Irish Folk transplanted to America. Not the only influence, clearly, since Jonny Pickett is a clawhammer banjo player, and the banjo came to America by a very different route. But…it is also one of the instruments that made the journey back across the Atlantic to be incorporated in the traditional Irish sounds. Where do the musical boundaries lie? Well, nowhere, they intertwine if they are of any value to anyone. A closed tradition – who wants that? Not DUG.
The new single ‘Jubilee‘ of course sounds ages old, but its ironic tone as it lists off the range of activities that could be celebrated as part of a jubillee gives it a very modern tone.
