By John McCusker
THE Lost Brothers are booked to play two of the top festivals in these islands this summer – Glastonbury and the Electric Picnic.
The duo – Mark McCausland from Omagh and Oisin Leech from Navan – have bagged the dates hot on the heels of publicity surrounding their new CD, Trails from the Lonely Parts I & III.
"It's just amazing," Mark said this week. "These are two we've been dying to get and it's great to get both in the one year. We actually formed at the Electric Picnic gig two years ago so it is great to be back there on stage this time around. And we're also really looking forward to the Glastonbury gig."
The duo take to the Acoustic Stage at Glastonbury on Sunday, June 28. Others topping this stage include the likes of Georgie Fame, Roger McGuinn and Sharon Corr. The Lost Brothers also play two other smaller slots at the festival on the Friday and Saturday. And just this week, they received confirmation that they will play the Glastonbury round-up gig, the Joe Strummer Bonfire, which takes place around midnight on the final night.
"This is a special gig to round off the festival and it must be one of the best things at Glastonbury," Mark says.
The Electric Picnic gig is in the diary for September 5. On top of that the Lost Brothers play at the launch of Bap Kennedy's new album in the Black Box in Belfast on July 4, Newcastle's Summertyne Festival, Tenby Folk Festival, the End of the Road Festival in Dorset and the Castle Palooza Festival in Tullamore.
The Lost Brothers' album, which was released at the tail end of last year, won over the likes of BBC DJs Janice Long and Bob Harris, who both had them guest on their shows.
The album also grabbed the attention of Babyshambles' bass guitarist Drew McConnell who teamed up with the pair in London recently where they were introduced to Lee Mavers, former frontman of the La's. During the London trip Mark and Oisin were also filmed for a new interactive website known as Instigate Debate, which is aimed at encouraging young people to get involved in politics.
Mark and Oisin have just recently returned from Portland, Oregon where they have recorded tracks for a forthcoming album scheduled for release early next year.
Following their Glastonbury appearance, they go into Abbey Road studios in London to record tracks for both a limited edition double A sided single which will be released at the start of the summer and sold at gigs and also a four-track EP to be released around the end of the summer. "On top of that we've got a festival every week until the end of September, so it's going to be a hectic few months for us," Mark added.
