[Cover photo credit to Sasha Pedro]

Bostin-based Folk duo Rakish will be releasing new album Now, O Now, on October 11, 2024, distributed by Free Dirt Records. The album’s first track, “Lonely Hotel Room,” is out now. It features guest Dylan Mckinstry’s drums and electric bass.

The album’s title comes from one of two James Joyce poems the pair set to music (the other is “Lightly Come or Lightly Go”). In honoring Ireland’s beloved novelist, they’re also carrying on a Folk tradition that includes Woody Guthrie, Billy Bragg, and Wilco. The album has a wide range of traditional and experimental elements, including one track that features what they call “Celtic electronica.”

While attending college in Boston, fiddler Maura Shawn Scanlin and guitarist Conor Hearn found themselves sharing the stage as members of the folk band Pumpkin Bread. But after bonding over their shared love of Celtic music, they began performing as a duo as well. They called themselves Rakish, after the traditional Irish melody, “Rakish Paddy”.

Scanlin completed music degrees from the New England Conservatory and Yale School of Music, and Hearn earned a degree in English literature and music at Tufts University. In 2018, they released their debut EP, followed by their 2022 album, Counting Down the Hours, produced by Seamus Egan of Solas.

Tour dates

Sept. 13 – Tompkins Corner Cultural Center, Tompkins, N.Y.

Sept. 20 – Next Stage Arts, Putney, Vt.

Sept. 21 – Harmony on the Green, Hancock United Church of Christ, Lexington Mass.

Oct. 10 – The Violin Shop, Nashville, Tenn.

Oct. 11 – Converse University, Spartanburg, S.C.

Oct. 12 – College of Charleston, Charleston, S.C.

Oct. 13-17 – Celtic Colours International Festival, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada

Oct. 18 – Sycamore Center, Steubenville, Ohio

Oct. 19 – Hamlin Street Diner, Washington, D.C.

Oct. 20 – Stoltz Listening Room, Easton, Md.                     

Nov. 1 – The Lyceum, Alexandria, Va.

Nov. 3 – Celtic Junction Arts Center, St. Paul, Minn.
Nov. 5 – Café Paradiso, Fairfield, Iowa

Nov. 6 – The Bur Oak, Madison, Wis.

Nov. 8 – Northfield Mandolins, Marshall, Mich.

Nov. 9 – Chief O’Neill’s Pub & Restaurant, Chicago, Ill.

Nov. 10 – Riverdog, Oberlin, Ohio

Nov. 13 – Lovin’ Cup, Rochester, N.Y.

Nov. 23 – Cheboygan Opera House, Cheboygan, Mich.                 

Jan. 22 – Club Passim, Cambridge, Mass.

Jan. 23 – The Word Barn, Exeter, N.H.

Jan. 24 – Caffè Lena, Saratoga Springs, N.Y.          

Jan. 27 – Groton School, Groton, Mass.