Belfast born, Donegal based song-writer Richard Gilpin is about to release his third studio album 'Loose Ends' on the 10th February.
A collection of 11 new songs, the album is an eclectic mix of acoustic rock, country blues and traditional Irish music with even a hint of reggae for good measure.
"Loose Ends' was recorded at Valley Studios in Ballybofey, co-produced with Terry McGinty and features a hot of Ireland's top musicians including Cathal Hayden (Four Men and a Dog) on fiddle and Peter Wilson (Duke Special) on paino.
With songs of love and loss, faith and doubt, 'Loose Ends' shows a further development and maturing of his talent both lyrically and musically.
The album opens with a Marleyesque track title of 'Soul Searching', a reggae number with strong backing vocals and keyboards. The ballad of 'Francis and the Sultan' is a winding historical tale of Francis of Assisi, the crusades and the Sultan of Egypt. 'Put your hand in mine' has elements of gospel and soul with a big chorus sound. 'No expert' is a punky little number with an instrumental reggae type break reminscient of The Police, while track five, 'Leave it all behind' continues in more familiar acoustic rock vain opening and closing with the line 'You always thought the worst of me, but it wasn't always true', Track six,' The Great Compromise', is a dramatic tale, twisting and turning both lyrically and musically. 'Oscar Romero' is a tribute to the late Archbishop of San Salvador while 'New Republic' uses the fine fiddle playing of Cathal Haden with great effect. Track nine, a piano ballad called 'Because you can' is one of three tracks featuring Peter Wilson. The healing pool shows off the gine lead guitar work of John 'Doc' Doherty and the album finishes with the reflective 'I think I heard you call my name'. Richard released his debut album 'Beatuiful Mistake' in 2002 and his second album '33' in 2003 which won album of the year on Radio Sazio, Italy, and saw him reaching a wider audience in the UK and broad. He performed with his band at BBC Music Live festival at the Watefront Hall, Belfast in May 2004, gigs at Darvel Music Festival in Scotland and Greenbelt Arts Festival in England.
