Traditional Irish music and traditional American music share a lot of similarities in instrumentation, lyrical content, and community participation. Still, there are a surprisingly few number of acts who straddle that musical gap across the Atlantic—and even fewer who have made a decade-long, award-winning career out of it like Galway-based quartet We Banjo 3. Containing two sets of two brothers—Enda & Fergal Scahill, and David & Martin Howley—We Banjo 3 have built their legacy on seamlessly combining the virtuosity and precision in each genre’s traditional disciplines with the artful song-craft and infectious live performance of today’s musical landscape. Their upcoming album Open The Road—out July 15—meets on the corner of complex-but-nimble instrumentation and magnetic, well-crafted songs; a combination of which their fans have been enjoying from studio to stage since the band first landed on American shores ten years ago. (We Banjo 3, 2022)

We Banjo 3 shared the first track from Open The Road, the driving jig-turned-indie pop love song, “Hummingbird.” First conceptualized in March 2020 during the great lockdown, David Howley had ample free time. David and his Nashville roommate Scott Mulvahill, an accomplished musician in his own right, spent time in Scott’s home-studio to lay down some new songs. “We had a house full of instruments, microphones, coffee and whiskey, so we did what we could to stay sane,” Howley remembers. Having mentioned to Mulvahill that he had a tune he liked but that needed it still needed to be finished, Mulvahill replied while tearing open a new bag of coffee beans, “Well let’s finish it then!”

Fast-forward to almost two years later, We Banjo 3 finished tracking “Hummingbird” and it landed in the lead-off spot on Open The Road. In addition to the guest musicians who contributed to the initial session—Danny Young on drums and Josh Shilling on keys—The Infamous Stringdusters’ Andy Hall plays his dobro on the final track. Fans can hear “Hummingbird” right now at this link and pre-order or pre-save Open The Road ahead of its July 15 release right here.

We Banjo 3 shares a musical intimacy that emanates in the rolling banjos, soaring fiddle and mandolin runs, and bright and vibrant guitar strums that swirl around propulsive vocals and perfect harmonies. On their new album, Open The Road, it’s the band’s prolific tune-writing skills, and their inciting lyrics that are somehow ubiquitous and intimate all at once, that pull the listener in. Buoyed by musical virtuosity and well-crafted song structure, their complex instrumentation feels nimble and willowy, shaping a contended and canny listening experience. The album’s ten tracks offer up the infectious melodies and musical brilliance fans have come to expect from We Banjo 3, and introduces the band to an even wider swath of music fans at festivals across the U.S. and the world.

Open The Road track list:
Hummingbird
Garden Song
Long Way Down
Heart In Hand
Open The Road
Rialto
Gift Of Life
The First Second Gentleman
Alive With You
Believe In Us

Catch We Banjo 3 on tour:
June 17 – Dayton, OH – Levitt Pavilion
June 18 – Lakeside, OH – Lakeside Chautauqua: Hoover Auditorium
June 19 – Charleston, WV – Mountain Stage (Culture Center Theater)
June 23 – Memphis, TN – Overton Park Shell (formerly Levitt Shell)
June 24 – Owensboro, KY – ROMP 2022
July 16 – Oak Hill, NY – Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival 2022
July 19 – Rockport, MA – Shalin Liu Performance Center
July 20 – Natick, MA – Center For Arts In Natick
July 29 – Ventura, CA – Ventura Music Festival 2022
July 30 – Denver, CO – Ophelia’s Electric Soapbox
July 31 – Lyons, CO – RockyGrass Festival 2022
August 1 – Crested Butte, CO – Center for the Arts Crested Butte
August 3 – Portsmouth, OH – Vern Riffe Center for the Arts
August 5-7 – Dublin, OH – Dublin Irish Fest 2022
August 9-10 – Bethlehem, PA – MUSIKFEST
August 12 – St. Paul, MN – Irish Fair of Minnesota 2022
August 13 – La Crosse, WI – IrishFest La Crosse 2022
August 14 – St. Paul, MN – Irish Fair of Minnesota 2022
August 19 – 21 – Milwaukee, WI – Milwaukee Irish Fest
September 2-4 – Kansas City, MO – Kansas City Irish Festival 2022
October 21 – Frederick, MD – Weinberg Center For The Arts
October 22 – Manteo, NC – Outer Banks Bluegrass Festival

2023 (Rescheduled) Tour Dates:
January 27 – Sacramento, CA – The Sofia
January 29 – Berkeley, CA – Freight & Salvage
February 1 – Flagstaff, AZ – Orpheum Theater
February 2 – Tucson, AZ – Rialto Theatre
February 3 – Wickenburg, AZ – Del E. Webb Center for the Performing Arts
February 4 – Chandler, AZ – Chandler Center for the Arts