The Gloaming: globalFEST 2012
The Gloaming performs during globalFEST at New York City's Webster Hall on Jan. 8. Ryan Muir for NPR hide caption
The Gloaming performs during globalFEST at New York City's Webster Hall on Jan. 8.
Ryan Muir for NPRThe onset of globalFEST usually marks the arrival of artists largely (or totally) unknown to American audiences, but The Gloaming's set was something else altogether: It was the U.S. debut of an Irish supergroup.
The Gloaming features indie-pop favorite Thomas Bartlett (a.k.a. Doveman), fiddlers Martin Hayes and Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh, guitarist Dennis Cahill and singer Iarla Ó Lionaird, whose vocals electrified the collection of pieces by fellow Irishman Donnacha Dennehy which became one of NPR Music's favorite albums of 2011. Bartlett's moody musings at the piano provided a dark undercurrent to Celtic reels and jigs.