Moon Looks On
Moon Looks On has been carving out a name for himself on the Irish and international music scene, with appearances at music festivals and venues such as Glastonbury, Electric Picnic, All Together Now, 2000 Trees Festival and The Ruby Sessions to name but a few, along with performances on the renowned TV show 'Other Voices' on Ireland's premier broadcasting channel RTÉ.
Moon Looks On has also had tracks from his album ‘Razor Wire Skies’ added to the much sought after 'New Music Friday' Spotify playlist whilst amassing over a quarter of a million streams on Spotify.
Goodbye Polar Bear - is the new single from this eagerly awaited new album - Way Out West - which was recorded and produced by acclaimed producer Bill Shanley and this second single is due for release February 2nd on Cauldron Records.
Goodbye Polar Bear is in essence a song about learning to block out the negative thoughts in your own head, the constant niggle, the voice in your ear that tells you should be doing better or you be could doing more, while you actually feel like you’re going in reverse with no semblance of control over the direction or path ahead.
I wrote it in the depths of winter on a cold morning in January after a heavy snowfall and the deep white blanket of snow outside my window mirrored the heavy weather within and inspired the title.
Most days the easiest way for me to clear my mind is to write down my thoughts on the page and not to lean too heavily on past exploits.
"It’s not a given that it will be a constant but it is for me living in the moment through the power of song. That’s what I have known and that’s who I am." - Stephen Gormley
Upcoming dates:
TRADFEST - FEBRUARY 25TH
LEVIS BALLYDEHOB WEST CORK - MARCH 9TH
MONROES GALWAY - APRIL 5TH
WHELANS DUBLIN - APRIL 20TH
Fast car - Tracy Chapman
My parents had this song on a cd or possibly a tape. (it was a long time ago) Amazing honest songwriting and storytelling with a beautiful melody and still one of my favourite songs to play. I'm a huge fan of Tracy Chapman's music and her songwriting and lyrical delivery has been a constant for me throughout the years.
Lakes Of Ponchatrain - Paul Brady
Amazing lyrics in this old folk song and Paul Brady’s guitar playing is as good as it gets. This was one of the first songs I learned to sing when I started getting into acoustic guitar music. At that time I was still working as a scaffolder (my previous trade in life) and I remember working on a brutally cold building site in Oranmore outside of Galway city in the depths of winter. I was putting a top lift on the scaffold for the roofers and had written out the lyrics to this song on my lunch and was learning them on my smoke breaks on that cold day in January. That memory seems like an absolute lifetime ago now but the song remains one of my favourites.
Where Did You Sleep Last Night - Nirvana / Leadbelly
I started listening to Nirvana when I was about 13 and the "Unplugged In New York" album was something that I played on repeat. Many years later I heard the Leadbelly version and I play this song to this day at gigs.
Cocain - John Martyn
I think this was originally written by Rev Gary Davis? and I first heard this sung on the island of Inisbofin by a great local musician named Luke Murray. It got me listening to a lot of John Martyn and his picking really influenced my style of playing as I had started to focus heavily on finger style guitar. This was the song that led me deeper down the rabbit hole of fingerstyle playing and onto open tunings which was a game changer for me as a songwriter.
Blue Monday - New Order
This was the first vinyl I owned. Before I picked up a guitar I was really into DJing. I got my first set of decks as a young teenager and I followed that road for many’s the moon. Great lyrics, great melody, an absolute classic. Over the years I've fallen in and out of kilter with dance music, but these days I'm back listening to tunes again, albeit a little more chilled than what I cut my teeth on back in the trance days, but I still love this track like it's my first time hearing it. An absolute Belter.!
Abandoned Love - Bob Dylan
I first heard this on a Sean Keane record that my Mam owned - it’s a relatively obscure Dylan track, but it was to be the song that drew me into a lifetime of listening to the great bard's songs. I owe so much of my love for music to the fact that my parents themselves loved and still love music, Irish, folk, trad, rock and roll, reggae, bluegrass. our house was a house where there was always a radio or tape on in the background.
The Diggers Song - (originally written in 1649 by Gerrard Wistanley) - Dick Gaughan
I first heard this on a Karen Casey record that she recorded with her bandmate John Doyle of Solas at the time. This song started for me a lifelong admiration for the playing and singing of Dick Gaughan leading me to Write my minor dissertation in college on the relationship between his songs (or those sung by him) and the struggle by the working classes of the UK at that time under the Thatcher administration.
The Poorest Company - Kris Drever
i started to play guitar when i was around 26 years old and not long after learning my first few songs i bought an album called Black Water by Kris Drever from the Orkney Isles, he has without fail been one of my go to artists from then until now and and i'm a big fan of his playing and singing. This track "The Poorest Company" was a song that I first heard him play with John Mccusker and Roddy Woomble who are co writers on the track. The lyrics are just pure magic.
Another Lifetime - A Blaze Of Feather
Definitely my most listened to artist of recent years, Mickey Smith and the crew in A Blaze Of Feather are writing amazing songs, the playing and production is next level, without a doubt one of my favourite bands and this is the song that first introduced me to their great tunes.
End Of The Affair - Ben Howard
What can i say really, one of the best songwriters of a generation, amazing guitarist and vocalist, mind blowing music. The first song I heard of Ben Howard's was "End Of The Affair" from his "I Forgot Where We Were" album and I had the joy of working backwards and getting to listen to "Every Kingdom" and everything that followed since. Truly beautiful music!
