Featuring @ Ballymaloe Grainstore, Sun March 4th, 8 pm. Tickets here
The Voice Squad are a traditional Irish singing group from Ireland. The members include Gerry Cullen, Phil Callery and Fran McPhail. They have recorded three albums and have toured Ireland, the UK and the US.
Though group singing, especially in harmony, is not part of the Irish music tradition, The Voice Squad have a considerable repertoire of Irish traditional songs and have always sung unaccompanied.
'Many's The Foolish Youth, first issued in 1987, was the first record by Fran, Gerry and Phil. Later they became known as The Voice Squad. Their style of singing in harmony does not form part of the Irish singing tradition, but each of the singers had already served his time in our individual tradition before coming together to sing in harmony.' - Frank Harte
They have been compared to English family groups of similar style, such as 'The Watersons' and 'The Copper Family'. 'It is the union of the distinct tenor voices of Fran and Phil plus the bass of Gerry, along with their own particular arrangements of good songs, that has made them one of the most distinctive unaccompanied singing groups of recent times.
As a group they are much in demand as studio session musicians adding their vocal textures and melodic colour to the recordings of artists such as; Elvis Costello, Sinead O'Connor, Dolores Keane, The Chieftains, Rita Connolly, Christy Hennessy, Jimmy McCarthy, Liam O'Flynn and John Renbourn.
This group add a unique dimension to the cultural heritage of Ireland which they have brought to many audiences as they tour across the UK, Europe and America.