Hibsen

Thank you to everyone who's listened to our album 'The Stern Task of Living' since its release at the end of May. We really appreciate all of your support ❤️.



- with Jim Murphy and Grainne Hunt

We were delighted to be joined by Canadian filmmaker Godfrey Jordan for our album launch at Smock Alley Theatre in June. Gordfrey captured our performance on camera, along with some fantastic behind the scenes footage. Check out the trailer of his short film at:

vimeo.com/873128048

HIBSEN @ SMOCK ALLEY promo trailer - 40 sec.

Looking forward to performing at the James Joyce Centre over four nights in October - Tues 24th, Wed 25th, Thurs 26th and Fri 27th.

There's no charge for these concerts as they're supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, but seats must be booked in advance at tinyurl.com/3mjey6y8.

- with Jim Murphy, Grainne Hunt, Shay Sweeney and Laura Ryder

We're really looking forward to playing at Your Roots Are Showing in January. Tickets are available at https://www.showingroots.com/.

Hibsen are a contemporary folk music ensemble formed by Irish artists Grainne Hunt Music and Jim Murphy. They released their debut album 'The Stern Task of Living' on 26th May 2023, which was inspired by James Joyce’s book of short stories 'Dubliners'. Two of the songs from the album ('Eveline' and 'Two Gallants') were included on RTE Radio 1 weekly playlists, one of which reached number 2 on the RTÉ Radio 1 Airplay Chart ('Eveline'). 'The Stern Task of Living' was also selected by Aedín Gormley as her featured album on RTÉ lyric fm on 16th June (Bloomsday). Gráinne has released two solo albums under her own name and she performs vocals on 'The Stern Task of Living'. Jim has released two albums with indie folk rock band Blue Fish Diamond and he plays guitar on 'The Stern Task of Living'.

We're absolutely delighted to announce that we'll be performing at 'Your Roots Are Showing' in January 🥳! The showcase will take place at the Crowne Plaza in Dundalk from 17th to 21st January and it features an amazing line-up of artists and speakers.

Tickets are now available at www.showingroots.com.



- with Jim Murphy and Grainne Hunt

🎵 **2024 Showcase Artist Announcement!** 🎵

LIKE AND SHARE!

We're excited to unveil the Official Showcase Artists for the Your Roots Are Showing - Ireland's Folk Conference 2024. Experience top-notch folk music by today's standout performers. Stay Folk!

🎟 Register now at www.showingroots.com 🎟

📅 January 17 - 21 2024, Dundalk, Ireland

We had a lot of fun chatting with Barra Carlin about our new album on the latest episode of the Who Art Thou? podcast ... and we also performed an unplugged version of 'Eveline' live on the show!

The podcast is available in every corner of the internet. If you subscribe to Spotify, you can find it at https://linktr.ee/hibsen.

- with Jim Murphy and Grainne Hunt

Thanks to the gorgeous folk at Casino Marino for the warm welcome and beautiful setting for our gig at the weekend! Massive thanks to Damien, Brigid and Paul for looking after us so well.
📷 Borrowed from the Casino Marino page!

We're excited to be bringing our connection to the Casino Marino full circle with a performance as part of their Jam in June series this Sunday - though we won't be bringing the car!

Tickets have all been reserved, but there is a waiting list if you wish to join it.

We're delighted that our performance at Casino Marino is sold out!

“The entire project is an unqualified success and the level of talent on display is hugely impressive”.

Huge thank you to Paul McGee at Lonesome Highway magazine for an amazing review of ‘The Stern Task of Living'. The full review is available to read at https://linktr.ee/hibsen.

- with LonesomeHighway.com

Wow! We were delighted to have Frank McNally join us on stage at Smock Alley Theatre last weekend and this write-up in today's Irish Times is a huge added bonus. Thank you Frank!

The full article is available to read at https://linktr.ee/hibsen.

- with Jim Murphy and Grainne Hunt

We had a fantastic night last night launching 'The Stern Task of Living' and we get to do it all again tonight!
We also got up this morning to a review from John Meagher in the Irish Independent! https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/music/music-reviews/new-albums-noel-gallagher-on-form-a-joycean-tribute-by-hibsen-and-dave-grohls-stadium-sized-grief/a976862625.html
📷CultureHead

Tonight we take 'The Stern Task of Living' to the stage for the first time in Smock Alley Theatre !

Tickets available from https://smockalley.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/873634089?_gl=1*a2ye7u*_ga*MTgxOTk2MDU5Ny4xNjgzNzA3OTkx*_ga_MWDVV00WLD*MTY4NjMwOTkxMy4xLjAuMTY4NjMwOTkxMy42MC4wLjA.

Gráinne and Jim spoke to Entertainment on RTÉ for their Behind the Music feature! Check it out - https://www.rte.ie/entertainment/2023/0606/1386719-behind-the-music-hibsen/

We're all over the radio today! Tune in to Lynette Fay on BBC Radio Ulster tonight at 8pm for the Folk Show and catch us chatting about The Stern Task of Living!

We're on air with Nessymon from 12pm chatting about all things Hibsen on on RTE 2XM!

It's one week till we officially launch The Stern Task of Living in the beautiful surrounds of Smock Alley Theatre !
We'll be joined on the night by a host of amazing musicians - Musici Ireland Shay Sweeney Laura Ryder Axel McDonald and Ronan Quinn - and we're delighted that Frank McNally will be with us for excerpts and intros. We're very grateful to Aviva ans Irish Life for their sponsorship of these shows.
Tickets available from Smock Alley

Press and PR enquiries CultureHead

We were delighted to hear our song 'The Dead' on last night's John Creedon Show on RTÉ Radio 1. Big thank you to John for giving it a spin 🙏🎶!

We swung by KCLR96FM yesterday to chat to Martin Bridgeman about all things Hibsen and play a couple of tunes. The interview will be played soon but Martin played The Sisters and The Boarding House last night on the show! You can check them out on his show here
https://kclr96fm.com/ceol-anocht-show-566-30-5-2023/

We'll be live on air with Ursula on the Arts Show at 1pm today on RosFM 94.6 !

It's release day for Hibsen with debut album *The Stern Task of Living* out now!!
It is available to stream on all music platforms and to purchase on bandcamp and selected music stores around Ireland links here - https://linktr.ee/hibsen

Huge thanks to everyone involved in making The Stern Task of Living with us:
Production, engineering, mixing, bass and mandolin:
Drums and percussion:
Piano:
Viola:
First violin and fiddle:
Second violin: Paul O'Hanlon
Cello:
Tin whistle: Alan Doherty
Strings arrangements:
Mastering:
Artwork:

Thank you also to for their wonderful hospitality while we were recording the album.

🎵 Album of The Week 🎵

“It is such a beautiful album”
Eve Blair (BBC Radio Ulster)

Massive thank you to Eve Blair for selecting The Stern Task of Living as her Album of The Week on The Late Show with Eve Blair. We are over the moon!

Eve played A Mother and Eveline on last night’s show and will be playing two more tracks from the album each night for the rest of the week.

"Records based on short story collections rather than works of literature are a lot rarer. Such is the adventurous debut by Irish folkies Hibsen - with 'The Stern Task Of Living' taking its cue from James Joyce’s iconic Dubliners"

Big thank you to Jackie Hayden for the lovely review in Hot Press Magazine of our debut album 'The Stern Task of Living'. The full review is available to read at https://bit.ly/HotPressReview.

Album Review: Hibsen, The Stern Task Of Living | Hotpress Folk crew deliver Joyce-inspired opus.

We've just pulled into Longford to step into studio with Charlie McGettigan on Shannonside FM to talk about Hibsen and The Stern Task of Living ! Tune in from 10am!!

What a wonderful start to the weekend! 'Two Gallants' from our debut album is on the RTÉ Radio 1 Recommends playlist for the coming week 🥳.

🎵 We’re delighted to announce that our debut album The Stern Task of Living is now out in the world! 🎵

It’s available to download at https://hibsen.bandcamp.com or you can stream it on any of the major streaming platforms (see linktr.ee/hibsen). CDs of the album are also available to purchase on bandcamp, in most Dublin record stores and in selected record stores around Ireland. Please spread the word if you like the album!

Huge thanks to everyone involved in making The Stern Task of Living with us ❤️:

Production, engineering, mixing, bass and mandolin: Alex Borwick
Drums and percussion: Shay Sweeney
Piano: Laura Ryder
Viola: Beth McNinch
First violin and fiddle: Lynda O' Connor Violin
Second violin: Paul O'Hanlon
Cello: Gerald Peregrine Cello
Tin whistle: Alan Doherty
Strings arrangements: Cormac Curran
Mastering: Tony Fitz
Artwork: Mark Keogh
CD Design: Axel McDonald

Thank you also to Black Mountain Recording Studios for their wonderful hospitality while we were recording the album and to Arts Council for their financial support in recording it.

- with Jim Murphy and Grainne Hunt

What better way to begin ‘release week’ than to see our picture on the home page of The Irish Times! We were delighted to be asked to write an article about the story behind our upcoming album – how Grainne Hunt and Jim Murphy met, how the idea for the album came about and the process behind writing and recording it. You can find the article at https://linktr.ee/hibsen.

‘The Stern Task of Living’ comes out on Friday (26th May) and we can’t wait to share it with you all ❤️!

Delighted to say that Spindizzy Records has a stock of in now for pre-order!
https://spindizzyrecords.com/products/hibsen-the-stern-task-of-living-cd-may-26?_pos=1&_psq=hib&_ss=e&_v=1.0

"One might almost sense the spirit of Joyce himself strolling through these tracks. Better still, you don't have to know the stories to savour this as a musical experience in its own right."

Huge thank you to Hot Press Magazine for the fab review of our upcoming new album 'The Stern Task of Living! The album comes out next Friday 26th May and will be available on all streaming platforms.

- with Jim Murphy and Grainne Hunt

"Wrapped in a John Denver-esque melody and folk ballad instrumentation including guitar, piano and strings, it perfectly showcases the relevance of a story such as Eveline ..."

Big thank you to Craig McComish and The Goo for this lovely review of our most recent single Eveline. Eveline is one of 15 songs from our debut album The Stern Task of Living, which is based on Dubliners by James Joyce, and which comes out tomorrow week (Friday 26th)!

- with Jim Murphy and Grainne Hunt

We're on a total high spinning back dowm the road to Dublin after a fantastic interview with Paul McDevitt and Jimmy Stafford in Monday Night Sessions on Highland Radio News and Sport!
Listen back to the live stream to hearthe interview and The Dead, Eveline and Araby!

We're en route to Donegal to hang out with Paul McDevitt and Jimmy Staffoed this evening on Monday Night Sessions on Highland Radio News and Sport ! Tune in from 8pm!

A lovely plug in today's Sunday Times for our Bloomsday Festival album launch on 9th and 10th June. Big thanks to CultureHead and to Marc O'Sullivan Photography for making it happen ❤️.