“From the moment he turned his instrument on its side, he immediately galvanised the traditional conceptions of the fiddle.”
Blissfully nerdy in his approach, Daithí uses loopstations, kaoss Pads, synthesizers and drum machines to create a unique and exceptional sound all centered around one instrument: the Fiddle. Some people call it post trad, others say it’s Indie traditional electro math rock looped with a twist, whatever the genre the end result is energetic, loud and a damn good time.
Review in the Irish Times by Jim Carroll of his Electric Picnic show
Daithi, Little Big Tent:
Time for a brand new chapter for traditional music and chances are it will be young bucks like Clare native Daithí Ó Drónaí who will write it.
A lad who wields a mighty violin, Ó Drónaí’s innovation revolves around he uses a loop station to lash the bittersweet sound and melancholic tones of that instrument into the midst of top-drawer, thumping beats. Live, this makes for a fascinating, energetic, rollicking show.
The arrival of Elaine Mai onstage adds sultry soulful lines to his tunes, while Aréir, with its spooky Mary O¹Hara vocal lilt, is a a track with breakout appeal. Some trad purists may baulk at where their sound is going in the hands of people like Ó Drónaí, but progression is always better than regression.