Reviews of I’m Not Sleepin (STR-717)
Review by Stephan Schelle in Musikzirkus-Magazin, May 2021.
Epic Shadow is an Irish rock band consisting of Noel Alfred (vocals, harmonica), Tom Shinny (guitars), Ciarán Mullins (bass, background vocals) and Brendan Heffernan (drums). This quartet has recorded an album that has been released on June 4th, 2021 in Germany on Spare Time Records. The four musicians were additionally assisted on some pieces by Spare Time Music Director Bobby Ogdin on keyboards, Bruce Dees (guitar and vocals), Kirk Beasley (bass) and the amazing Billy Contreras (fiddle).
The ten songs on the album "I'm Not Sleepin" have running times of 4:14 to 5:37 minutes. The CD appears in a six-page paper sleeve, which apart from the photos of the band members contains hardly any information about the band or the production.
Already in the opener, the five-minute title track, the band's Irish country of origin comes through, because the rocky track exudes the flair of the British Isles. Musically, there is guitar rock and a slight pinch of blues in the song. That already shows that Noel’s bandmates have helped shape the sound of this music in the bars in the west of Ireland over two decades, because the band walks together here in a dreamlike way.
A slight retro touch comes from the organ sounds in the second song "Musical Messiah". They incorporate a little rock'n'roll into this piece. "Somebody" is then a slow song that exudes 70's flair through the drawn-out guitar licks. The song “Be” then gets a certain folk touch through the use of the fiddle, which suits the song very well. The guitar playing in “Crystal Ball” also brings a little folk mood to the rock track.
"I'm Not Sleepin" by the Irish band Epic Shadow has turned out to be a wonderful album in which the band combines Irish charm with rock, rock'n'roll, blues or even folk. The band always focuses on very beautiful, catchy melodies.
Review by Michael Haifl in Streetclip, 18 May 2021. It is translated here from the German.
The story of the band EPIC SHADOW seems to have sprung from a fairy tale. A producer named Kirk Beasley retires to Ireland with his wife and meets some musicians from Adare at a wedding. These musicians have been making music for the past twenty to thirty years simply for the fun of it. He is so instantly impressed by their talent that he and his former colleagues from Nashville open the label “Spare Time Records”.
Kirk Beasley and label co-owner Bobby Ogdin, who accompanied ELVIS on the keys until his death, play on EPIC SHADOW’s debut album as well as producer/session musician Bruce Dees and the famous bluegrass fiddler Billy Contreras, not for added support or for upgrading, but out of sheer joy.
But the focus is of course on EPIC SHADOW: singer Noel Alfred, guitarist Tom Shinny, bassist Ciarán Mullins and drummer Brendan Heffernan. The quartet plays its way through ten compositions, all of which are rooted in rock. The songs are sacred and dark, they are epic and anthemic, they are as powerful as they are light, and sometimes a pinch of folk and country shine through. In addition to a certain melancholy, the songs also radiate a certain power and magic.
Review from the Jolly Joker’s Ohrenbalsam, 12 May 2021, translated below from the German.
Spare Time Records is proud to announce the release of I’m Not Sleepin by Irish rock band Epic Shadow. Frontman Noel Alfred has written ten contemporary songs that are in keeping with the complexities of the COVID-19 era. Bandmates Tom Shinny (guitar), Ciarán Mullins (bass) and Brendan Heffernan (drums) have created the sound of this music together in the bars of the west of Ireland over two decades. Unlike a number of contemporary groups, this is a real band and not just a singer and some sidemen.
Despite the great variety of songs on this album, there is a strong, consistent identity that says, “this is Epic Shadow”. And, just to add to the fun, they are joined on keyboards by Bobby Ogdin, the Music Director of Spare Time, the durable Bruce Dees (guitars and background vocals), the ex-pat Kirk Beasley (bass) and the amazing Billy Contreras (fiddle). Available via Cargo and Shack Media!