Anam
New Directions
by Pieter Hofmann

As a group, Anam is a rare bird. When the record label JVC (Japan) sent A&R representatives to Ireland, looking for their first Celtic signing, they came knocking on Anam's door. One rarely pegs Japan as a Celtic hotbed, yet as founding member Brian (pronounced "Breen") Ó hEadhra explained, "Celtic music is becoming quite big in Japan now. We ended up signing a one-album deal with them." What resulted was their first major release, First Footing, in 1997.

Mixing traditional songs with fine originals, the album often twists arrangements of more familiar fare like "Sally Free and Easy," resulting in versions that breathe new life and fire into tried and true traditional songs. Culling material from around the Celtic domain — as far as Newfoundland for "Siul, A Ruin" — the band is not easy to categorize. Strains of world music, jazz, folk, and Gaelic blend effortlessly within their Celtic package.

An excellent introduction to the Celtic world of Anam, First Footing led to comparisons to Altan, Clannad, and Capercaillie in the British and Irish press. On the phone from Minneapolis early in the summer of 1998, while on an extensive tour, Ó hEadhra quickly pointed out that, "...[First Footing] wasn't our first record. We had two other albums before that, Anam [1994] and Saoirse [1995]. We are re-releasing them now."

Formed in 1992, Anam (which means "soul" in Irish Gaelic) began as a university band "of four lads," as Ó hEadhra put it. Performing original and traditional Celtic music, the repertoire was deeply rooted in the Gaelic language. Invited to represent Ireland at the prestigious Lorient Celtic Festival in Brittany, France, in 1993, Anam returned to the shores of Ireland having been voted best new band of the festival. Anam returned to the festival in 1994 and shared the same bill as the Chieftains. It was there that Ó hEadhra was first introduced to Aimèe Leonard. That winter, Leonard joined the band, changing the face of Anam by adding bodhrán and female vocals to the all-male band. Within the first few months of 1995, Anam released their first two albums.

In April, the group plans to record their next release, once again with producer Calum Malcolm at his studio, Castle Sounds, just outside Edinburgh. A tentative release date for the next album is December, 1999.