Keeping Irish Music Alive & Jigging

Bund on the run…

etermined to keep Irish music alive and jigging, 3 On The Bund are a new breed of trad, a five-piece who look back whilst also leaping forward.

All whilst having a good old-fashioned session, of course.

Coming to The Whale tonight, we asked Ella, Susan, Seán, Rebecca and Simon for their musical inspirations.

But first, how exactly did they get from there to here…?

The band came together in 2019, originally as a four-piece before expanding to a five-piece in 2022. We first met while studying at the University of Limerick’s Irish World Academy, where each of us studied a BA or MA in Irish Traditional Music. That same year, the Academy sent a group of musicians and dancers to perform in the United States and China — and it was during those tours that we really got to know one another and made the decision to keep going!

It was our trip to Shanghai that inspired the band name… The Bund is a cool riverbank walkway that three of us found ourselves wandering lost on one day, hence the name!

Fast forward a few years and we’re kept busy with lots of great touring opportunities! We spent around eight or nine weeks touring Germany last year in total. The year before we spent over a month touring across Austria so we’ve been lucky to see so much of the world! This year, we’re so excited to be back on home turf playing concerts for family and friends across the country, from Dublin to Donegal, Galway to Kerry, Wicklow to Limerick.

Between the five of us, we’re all pretty spread out in terms of where we come from. Ella (pianist) and Susan (vocalist / concertinaist) are from Donegal, Seán (guitar) is from Kerry, Rebecca (fiddle) is from Waterford and Simon (pipes) is from Bavaria, Germany. This regional mix really influences a lot of the music we explore as a band.

Our backgrounds would largely be Comhaltas in nature having grown up going to music classes and Fleadhs, but some of us also came to Irish music alongside learning other genres of music, from classical to other folk traditions, really a mix!

There are so many different influences that the five us bring to the band which makes rehearsals very exciting!

It gives us a lot of ideas to play with, sometimes too many…

The Band The Weight (suggested by Ella McGrory, our pianist)
This one always brings us back to big family sing-songs — someone inevitably starts it at the end of a long night. It’s raw and full of heart.

Ed Sheeran You Need Me, I Don’t Need You (Live Loop Version) (suggested by Rebecca McCarthy-Kent, our fiddler)
We’re big fans of Ed Sheeran’s loops! There’s often a certain simplicity to his riffs and chord choices, but they build into something so catchy! Incorporating some of that catchiness and looping work is something we enjoy exploring – particularly our Rebecca on fiddle – his music is a great example of how to keep it clever and catchy!

Talisk Storm (suggested by Seán Kelliher, our guitarist)
This track really builds. The energy is hard to beat. Such skilled musicians, such tight playing, great dynamic texture with some catchy riffs throughout to sing along to. There are so many elements to this that inspire us to aim for the same dynamism in our own live sets.

Déanta The Usual Suspects (suggested by Susan Coleman, our concertist / vocalist)
This is such an underrated gem. The instrumentation is so creative, and it opened our eyes to how jazz elements can slot seamlessly into trad.

The Bothy Band Kesh Jig / Give Us a Drink of Water / The Famous Ballymote (suggested by Simon Pfisterer, our piper)
Still unbeatable. This band basically started a new era of traditional music and even now, 50 years later, it holds up against any modern trad recording. Great energy, straight tunes.

Cara Dillon Black Is the Colour
So hauntingly beautiful. Cara Dillon’s version is stripped-back and intimate, but it carries so much emotional weight. It’s one of those songs that stops you in your tracks and Sam Lakeman’s piano accompaniment is just beautiful.

You can grab your tickerts for 3 On The Bund at The Whale on Saturday, October 11th here, and find out more about the band here.