Nomos

OK, first things first...what exactly does "Nomos" mean? Good question. Niall Vallely, the band's concertina player and one of Nomos' founding members, heard that it was the Greek word for both melody and nomadism, and both meanings make perfect sense, given what they are doing with their music. Nomos started in 1990 in Cork, Ireland, where Niall, Frank Torpey and Liz Doherty were students at the University College. From the beginning, their style has centred around technical expertise and mastery over their instruments within Irish traditional music. In addition to that-and this is where the nomadism thing comes in-Nomos takes songs that are hundreds of years old and moves them into today. The group applies modern techniques to ancient songs, and at the same time preserves the magic that makes Irish traditional music so resilient. In addition to Niall on concertina (the younger sibling of the accordion), Vince Milne (who later replaced Liz Doherty) on fiddle, and Frank Torpey on bodhran, Gerry McKee adds the mandocello and Eoin Coughlin lends guitar, bass and his flexible voice, not to mention his natural songwriting abilities, to round out an incredibly talented pack of musicians. The other thing that attracted attention to this band is its high speed and even higher precision. Nomos stirs up its fair share of energy, so get ready to move! Be it a ballad or a rousing dance tune, the joy these five musicians take in their music can be heard consistently in everything they play.

  -- LG