Following a string of unforgettable performances, growing international recognition and a new body of work, Ríoghnach Connolly and Honeyfeet return with ‘The Heads, Hearts and Hooves Tour’, setting out across Europe and North America with their signature blend of protest soul, twisted folk, deep groove and joyful abandon!
One of the most electrifying and genre-defying live acts performing today, at the heart of Honeyfeet is the indomitable Ríoghnach Connolly, winner of the RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Award for Best Folk Singer and BBC Radio 2’s Folk Singer of the Year. Her voice, equal parts fierce, tender and fearless, connects ancestral song traditions with contemporary storytelling. Early this year Ríoghnach joined Annie Lennox on stage at the Royal Albert Hall for “Sisters: Annie Lennox and Friends,” a landmark concert that raised funds for The Circle, Lennox’s global feminist organisation. Sharing the bill with artists including Celeste and Nadine Shah, Connolly brought her singular presence to a night that celebrated the transformative power of music and collective voice.
The past eighteen months have seen Honeyfeet on a steady rise. Their “They Want What You’ve Got” tour featured a string of acclaimed performances, including a headline slot at the Albert Hall in Manchester as part of WOMEX 24.
Now embarking on their The Heads, Hearts and Hooves Tour, they widen their reach again, It includes appearances at Gobefest in Manchester, Plein Publique Festival in Belgium, Hillside Festival in Ontario, the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, the Calgary Folk Music Festival, Wilderness, Green Man and Found Festival, concluding with a headline show at Manchester Academy Three.
The band’s line-up features Lorien Garth Edwards on bass, Ellis Davies on guitar, John Ellis on keyboards, Biff Roxby on brass, and Phill Howley on drums. Together they form a fluid and fearless musical unit, their live sets moving seamlessly between swampy jazz, raucous brass, fractured funk, blues balladry and folkloric textures, held together by a groove and a commitment to musical freedom. Connolly’s vocals lead the charge, blending mischief, protest and vulnerability into something fiercely human and utterly live.
“Brilliant band” – Craig Charles, BBC 6 Music
“A righteous blast of working-class energy” – Clash Music
In support is the ace Hannah Moule. As band leader and main writer for experimental art-rock band Moulettes, Hannah has a history of working with refreshingly varied collaborators. This has left a trail of un-algorithmic, musically kaleidoscopic albums with a breadth and eclecticism that mark them as outliers. For her next solo adventure, Hannah is playing with the tactile and symbiotic relationship of cello and voice. Through this pared back approach and experimental mutuality, the frequencies of the cello / voice resonate in new ways, and the quality of the song-writing shines.
“Radical… A charismatic & revolutionary approach to songwriting” – Louder Than War
“Unique… Delicious Music ****MOJO
“…songwriting of rare depth and inventiveness” Songlines