 that reminds me of, and I think it actually reminds me of a whole bunch of artists, but if you want to catch Remedy Club live, then you can, and Ballet Buffet tonight, they're in the Baller Theatre tonight, and this is a part of a session really, because it's called the Ghostlight Sessions, and it's with Oscar Blue from Claire, and Carol Wilson as well on the bill tonight, and I'm delighted now that Aileen and KJ, who make up the Remedy Club, have joined us in the studio. Come in for a wee chat. You're more than welcome both of you. Thank you, John. Thank you so much. It's lovely to be here. We were just saying the last time we were here was for our first album, which is about six years ago, which is kind of crazy to think. Yeah, this is a new album, this album number three. So there was a second album, but then COVID stepped in. Yeah, we recorded the second album in Nashville actually, and yeah, there was a lot of excitement about that one, and literally as we were about to release it, I think it was the first day of the first lockdown. That was our release date. So we released it from the kitchen, slightly different to what we had planned. Bizarre, and then couldn't support it then. Couldn't tour, had to cancel all the tours, and we were literally about, when we heard news, we were literally about to hop on a plane. It was very dramatic to play in the O2 in London as part of C2C Festival there. So yeah, when we got over our initial disappointment and we realised it wasn't actually just about us, that this was a bigger thing, you know. We kind of, yeah, like everybody then had to come to terms with this. Well, everybody was impacted in different ways. Yeah, of course, of course, yeah. Well, you most certainly have got over the disappointment with this new album, and it just sounds even breezier and more upbeat than the last one, and that's just from casual listening. Yeah, it's funny that you're saying upbeat, because a lot of the songs were written in lockdown, but there are, yeah, there are a lot of upbeat songs in there as well, yeah. There's a few optimistic songs there in terms of, let's hope we get out of this. There's a few different themes. You were taking the glass half full approach at the time. We were trying. Yeah, of course, it's the only way, really. Okay, it described as a marriage of folk in country, and a marriage are more than that and that you guys are my couple. And also, KJ, you are, you've got, well, you've got music in the family. Yeah, I do. Yeah. My sister, Eleanor, is a successful songwriter, artist, writer of a woman's heart. And many more songs besides, she's about 12 albums out now, I've lost count, she's got a lot of music, but that's certainly your most well-known song. So when you have like a barbecue, I would ever... It's a lot of fun. And the guitar comes out, yeah. There's a lot of fun. My older sister, Marion, also was a musician, so she plays a lot of trads and stuff, and a songwriter, so we're all musical, and yeah, parties are a lot of fun. With the duo, you haven't gone down a trad route. Well, you couldn't, but could you describe Eleanor as out in a trad either? Oh, no, Eleanor's not trad. She's more folk music. It's her own music, certainly not trad, no, folk music, but Marion plays trad music, but amongst other things. But ours is, I was always the lover of kind of more American music in the family. You know, we all love Bob Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel, but I kind of honed in on the blues at a very early age. I was a Chuck Berry fan, about 16. You know, Country as well, Chris Christopherson, Johnny Cash, all of those people. Elvis, I like to listen to them. Yeah. He doesn't make a bit of Elvis. Yeah. So, yeah. Eileen, your influences? I was just about to say, when he was, you know, listening off all of these cool artists, I was like, God, around about that time I was listening to Kylie Minogue and Top of the Pops. You've got to start someone else. You've been honest. Yeah. Oh, my God. I thought she was incredible when I was, you know, seven or eight. And still is. I mean, I admire her, but not maybe not a musical influence. We would have very similar taste in music and a lot of the same kind of influences. I grew up also in a very musical family. My parents were in a band, and they listened to, again, like, you know, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan and Chris Christopherson and Amy Lou Harris was a favorite and Patsy Klein. So there was always that love of country music, of American country music, I would say. And then I met KJ and I would say he kind of introduced me on a deeper level to blues music, which I couldn't, I immediately connected with blues music. That was an incredible thing. You can't deny your influence. Having said that, maybe gravitating towards one style, but your influences are there and you just probably don't even realize that you're drawing on them. Exactly. Yeah. It's subconscious. Yeah. And you're both going to be drawn from different pools. So that creates then the final wider pulpery. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah. It's a funny thing. Sometimes you just don't know where it's coming from. It's just like you say, it's almost a subconscious thing. You're just, we're constantly, all of us are just surrounded by different types of music and sound. Yeah. So it's hard to know where it comes from sometimes, isn't it? But it's all about wherever it comes from. It's all about the finished article. It's all about the finished song. Yeah. Yeah. Or the process, some would say. Maybe. Yeah. It's all about the process of it and not necessarily about the finished article. Well, whatever, whether it's the finished article or the process, this time it wasn't a Nashville, was it? No. It was in Wexford. We recorded it in Orphans Studios in Couricleau County, Wexford with Gavin Glass. In a swimming pool, believe it or not. Converted swimming pool. Oh, wow. Right. Yeah. There was no water involved. Not too many studios can claim to that distinction of being compared to swimming pool. No. No. Gavin's is quite unique, I think, and he did an amazing job on his fabulous studio. Quite a large studio and it works really well. It's a beautiful studio. But Gavin's amazing. He's quite a bit of a legend in his own right. He's got his own career as a singer and songwriter. He's a fantastic songwriter, really. Lots of albums and he's just a brilliant guy to work with. But as an artist in his own right, he's able to bring things to the table, really, that maybe just like a studio engineer or a producer wouldn't. Absolutely. Yeah. And he's a multi-instrumentalist, which also helps in a producer because he could hear certain things and he was like, I'll just add a little bit of farfisa on that or a little bit of Hammond organ on that track and things like that. He's got amazing, unique kind of ideas that we wouldn't have thought of necessarily, you know. You've toured Ireland and abroad and at many big festivals. What's the schedule like for the rest of this year? Pretty busy summer in Ireland. We are playing Dulin Folk Festival next weekend on the Sunday. And we're in, obviously, Donnie Gall tonight in Ballybuffet and then Castle Bar tomorrow. Lots of different dates all on our website and then the UK in September for a short enough tour because we have a seven-year-old so we have to make sure that she's well looked after and that we don't go away for long periods. So we try and work it that it's no longer than maybe 10 days, you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Or if it's here in Ireland that you might even get back that night or next day or whatever, depending on. Exactly, exactly. And the reaction to the new album, I know it's probably not off the presses but... Yeah, pretty much, but so far great, good reviews. We've had a couple of good reviews. We've only had, like, they're only starting to come in now because it's literally just been released on Friday. So the reviews, thankfully, have been lovely because that's always a bit of a relief. It's nice that people connect with us. That's what you want. Yeah. It shouldn't be your main objective but it really is nice and a bit of a relief when they come in. It's very accessible. I mean, just as somebody, you know, casually listens and picks stuff to play on the radio, it's very accessible. Yeah, there's no doubt and I have no problem with it being accessible there. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Sure, songs with a lot, you know, pretty big choruses and stuff, without overdoing it, you know, they don't beat you around the head but... It's just what comes naturally. I think you just write what you're given, really, that's the way it is and you can't kind of contrive it and make it into something. It's just whatever you're given and then it's always an interesting thing when you go into the studio, the other musicians add so much of their energy and their creative input. And those other musicians, you've called on, you know, artists from The Water Boys and from The Frames, so have you pulled in a few favours or... Well, we go way back with Angus. Angus Ralston is the bass player from The Water Boys but we've played with Angus from our very first album. This is actually our fifth album but our third album under the Remedy Club because we started as a blues band and Angus has played with us from day one and so he's on bass again for this and we love playing with him. Yeah, and Danzer Brennan... He played with The Frames a long time ago but he's played with so many different people. I've forgotten but he's an amazing drummer and all kinds of people. With Van Morrison's brass section, Michael Buckley and Roland Dooney... And then we had a string quartet which was a first for us. That was a big deal. A friend of ours, Liam Bates, arranged the strings and we got in a quartet. You know, kind of... We went all over it ourselves. We really did because what happens is... That brings a different dimension to things and different dynamics in the studio. Oh, it's completely different and we knew nothing about that. That was a new thing for us, a really learning curve. But you start to hear things when you're in the studio and you're performing these songs. There's a bit of a moment when you're hearing different instruments and you're like, okay, that's going to cost a lot of money. Oh, theory. That could be my birthday present for the next five years. Once you get over that, then it's incredibly exciting to get people in. And I know we mentioned Covid there and it's great that we're over that and artists back out doing what comes naturally, performing live again. And now tonight over in the Ballard Theatre which is a great venue. Looking forward to it? Yeah, big time. Yes, we played there many years ago with just our own gig, not part of it, the ghost live sessions. But we met Dean Maywood who runs this particular night and we've been talking about doing this night for a long time. So we're really looking forward to it. Well, listen, good luck tonight. Good luck with the rest of the year with the live dates and also good luck with the album. Thank you so much. It's just out now. It's called Back to You and let's play the title track if you don't mind. Thank you.