Amble

What a difference a year can make. In the summer of 2023, the Irish folk trio, Amble - Co Longford’s Ross McNerney, Co Leitrim’s Robbie Cunningham and Co Sligo’s Oisin McCaffrey – had known each other for what the Irish call a ‘wet day’ when a phone call from Los Angeles changed their lives. They weren’t to know it then, but their day jobs (respectively, a secondary school teacher, a primary school teacher, and a data scientist) were soon to end.

Amble’s jump from relative obscurity to signing to a major label isn’t the usual story, however. There were no canny strategies for world domination, no ruthless plans to undercut the opposition, no aching ambitions to match a billion streams. Rather, there was (and is) a ‘less is more’ approach within which the most important elements are the music and the wholesome enjoyment of playing it.

“I was teaching in Dublin for a couple of years,” says Robbie Cunningham (vocals/guitar). “I always wanted to get into music, but I never dared to do it on my own. Through social media, I knew of Oisin, who in his spare time was playing in pubs in Galway, but when he moved to Dublin I reached out to him and asked if he wanted to play some tunes together. The goal at that stage was to get into pubs, start playing music – some John Prine covers and stuff like that - and get a few free drinks out of it.”

In the autumn of 2022, Robbie and Oisin (vocals/guitar) contacted Ross McNerney (guitar/mandolin), whose addition to the group configuration completed the puzzle. The morning after the first show Ross had played with his new friends was a pivotal one. “He messaged us the next day,” recalls Robbie, “telling us the music we had played was too good not to pursue.” From that day on, a more disciplined structure was applied: a band name, no more pub gigs, and a proper ticketing format for shows. “After that night playing with them and having listened to the songs they wrote,” says Ross, a more experienced musician than his new friends, “I felt that things needed to be done as correctly as possible.”

The lads needn’t have been overly concerned about doing things the right or wrong way. If anything, their music ensured that the only proper method was the Amble method. Organic is a much-used word, but it applies here. “We didn't sit down and think about creating an image or anything like that,” says Ross, “because we knew we were similar men who liked similar music. Our name, which took a few weeks to choose, signposts the music – it has a gentle flow - while we were at pains to make sure that everything, from the artwork design to the colours used, looked as professional as possible.” If you can design the artwork well enough, says Oisin, “you have an idea of what the music is going to be. Eighty percent of communication is non-verbal.”

Amble by name, amble by nature? You only have to hear the music to appreciate just how accurate this is. Amble’s tunes conjure up truisms instead of clichés: Across their forthcoming EP, The Commons (arriving November 1st), tracks such as latest singles “Little White Chapel” “The Commons,” plus “Thoughts Flood Back to You,” “One Man’s Love,” and “Luke the Navigator” present indelible marks of deft rural-related storytelling and a musicality that is equally traditional and current. Unusually for a contemporary group, all three members are songwriters. “Every one of our songs tells a story. We had no ambition to add bells or whistles or anything production-wise,” says Robbie. “It was more like we’re putting a microphone in a room, recording the music, and that's it.”

Robbie’s songs are based on personal experiences (“Every time I write a song, it has something to do with my life”), while Oisin, who also writes poetry and short stories, delivers somewhat more impressionistic work. “Not every time,” he allows. “I might just have an idea, and I’ll roam with it. The topic could be anything.” Ross admits he’s more of a melody guy. “There would be a few words here and there,” he says, “but I’m more about the music.” Whatever is written and whoever writes it, for Amble there are two abiding rules: Keep it simple, keep it pure. “The hardest thing to do is write a simple, brilliant song,” says Ross (who, nevertheless, makes it look easy). Robbie adds the story of John Lennon's advice about songwriting: ‘Say what you mean and make it rhyme.’

It's a crowded, frazzled world out there, and everyone needs time away from it. Robbie, Ross and Oisin write songs that provide a quick getaway: one minute you’re at the centre of life’s relentless storms, the next you’re sitting in the shelter and warmth of your local bar on a chilly winter‘s evening with friends, a drink, and the reliability of a great song.

“It's important in this day and age,” says Robbie, “that there are fellas like ourselves, people who write honestly, who present storytelling through music.” Oisin relates a recent encounter. After one of Amble’s shows, a woman approached him and said she had “an eight-month-old baby, and if anything went amiss she would put on one of our songs and the baby would calm down. I thought that was a lovely thing to say.”

What it boils down to is how authenticity generates connection. There is both in the music and songs of Amble, a truth that influences the listener and makes them reflect.

“Our goal,” says Ross, “is to retain that.”