Ìmar

BBC Radio 2 Folk Award Winners, Glasgow-based five-piece Ímar stand out from the crowd – by taking things back to basics.

With a line-up featuring members of Mànran, Mec Lir, RURA, and Talisk and a heavyweight collective haul of top prizes, the group’s formation embodies a personal reconnection with its members’ formative years, dating back long before their recent camaraderie around Glasgow’s justly celebrated session scene.

Adam Brown (bodhrán), Adam Rhodes (bouzouki), Mohsen Amini (concertina), Ryan Murphy (uilleann pipes) and Tomás Callister (fiddle) share a strong background in Irish music – although only Murphy actually hails from Ireland; Rhodes and Callister are from the Isle of Man, whilst Amini is a Glasgow native, and Brown originally from Suffolk – and it is these foundations which underpin many of Ímar’s distinctive qualities, in both instrumentation and material.