Meitheal (Irish pronunciation: [ˈmɛhəl]) is the trio of Vicky Langan from Galway, David Colohan of Longford and Mike Gangloff of Virginia. All are deeply involved in esoteric musical forms of various kinds (Wölflinge, Raising Holy Sparks and Pelt respectively) but each succumbs to the irresistible pull of some kind of folk music, both through influences weighing on their aforementioned identities and via, for example, Langan’s deep involvement in the Irish Sacred Harp community and Gangloff’s fiddle and voice in old-time trio the Black Twig Pickers.
Meitheal was born earlier this year when Colohan arranged a series of solo Irish dates for Gangloff, leading to an inevitable three-way throwdown that drew from their collective well of ancient music lore and their skills as improvisors. Meitheal is still very much an embryonic entity, we fully admit – no releases, one gig under their belts, no one’s ever heard of them – but knowing them individually, combined with being blown away by the 8 minutes that appeared on Youtube means we had to have them here.
We don’t doubt that when you hear them, you’ll know why.