Following this, Martin was awarded a Deis Bursary from The Arts Council to compose a concert length composition for large ensemble that utilizes aspects of both traditions. This work has now been completed and is awaiting its first performance.

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Ebony Bridge are the resulting of a request in 2012 by the Clarinette Populaire festival in Glomel for the clarinetist Dylan Gully to assemble a band that would integrate his instrument with Irish traditional music. While the brief was to look to both traditions, the result was a sound that ended up occupying a microcosm all of its own. Within the first two days, Martin composed five new tunes, while compositions from fiddler Stella Rodrigues and guitarist Matt Griffin seeped out of the woodwork shortly thereafter. Interspersed with lesser-known specimens from the traditional repertoire, a set developed that is mellow, melodic and rustic, mirroring the rural Breton castle south of Glomel in which it was created.

Their new album is due for release in late 2014.

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Deep End of the Ford combine four of the most progressive avant-garde talents in improvised and folk music with the spoken word of Celtic prehistory to ‘create a seemingly ancient sound out of instrumentation that is anything but ancient’. They conjure massively dynamic soundscapes that shift from peaceful melody to turbulent invocations of sorcery and battle.

Possibly their most unique and exciting feature is their use of the earliest text of An Táin (8^th century AD), to explode a mythological epic, which was formed in the 3rd century BC, on the modern senses.

Since their critically acclaimed retelling of An Táin, the band have composed From Derry to the Sea using texts from St. Colmcille to open the 54^th Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in Derry, and The Battle of Clontarf for The Temple Bar Trad Festival, to celebrate its millennial anniversary. Both of these concerts concluded with the inclusion of orchestra and choir featuring arrangements written by Martin.

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Between August 29th and September 10th, 2013, a Deis-funded residency took place in Cork, which allowed three musicians from different disciplines, Éamonn Cagney, Niwel Tsumbu and Martin Tourish, to collaborate on a body of compositions, primarily those of Éamonn. Key among the trio’s objectives was to develop concepts surrounding the use of grooves, the highly syncopated rhythms of the Congolese tradition and improvisation using the melodic language of the traditional idiom. This event was live-blogged and covered by the media (RTÉ, RnaG, Journal of Music etc.) helping build an audience prior to the first gigs. An Irish tour ensued and the trio was named Treelan. The success of the first tour has prompted the trio to pursue a debut recording, hopefully to be released in late 2014.

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Martin and his cousin Ciaran Tourish are regular collaborators, playing with larger groups such as Altan and Macklemore and Ryan Lewis but also as a trio in venues from McGrory’s of Culdaff to Vicar Street. The two are known for their love of counterpoint, spontaneity and indelible live chemistry.

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Existing pieces include:

• Harp Concerto in F Major (2014)
• A New Year’s Dream (2013)
• The Walls of Dublin (2013)
• I am the Foyle (2013)
• An Dro (2012)
• March of the King of Laois (2012)

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On their 2012 album Gleann Nimhe / The Poison Glenn, a song composed by Martin entitled An Ghealóg was featured. Martin has been playing with the band since 2013 throughout Ireland, Europe, Australia, China and soon, America.

In 2014, Martin became a full member of the band, recording ‘The Widening Gyre’, their new album, in Nashville, Tennessee which was released in 2015.

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This line-up features Martin’s accordion along with fiddle and guitar and brings a dynamic interpretation of the music of Under A Red Sky Night to life. Martin works with a range of vocalists who sing a combination of his compositions and traditional material and who can also be included in these shows.

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