Buzz Blog

Whiskey’s Wake had a specific timeline in mind for creating and releasing their EP Wake Up, Whiskey. And the day of demarcation is, well, today. As in St. Patrick’s Day, “which is when most people want to listen to Irish music,” as the Celtic rock/pop/punk band aptly says.

The recording—which beat their deadline, and now lives on streaming platforms such as Spotify—features Adam Blair on lead vocals and guitar; Patrick Reimherr on guitar and backup vocals; Danny Houpt on mandolin and banjo; Andreas Petersen on accordion; Derek Julio on drums; and, for the recording’s purposes, Joel Pack on bass. It was produced and mastered by Jordan Clark at Rigby Road Studios, after primary recording was completed at Reimherr’s home.

Houpt and Reimherr combined on answering some questions about the release, so we’ll credit them as Houpt-Reimherr. They mention that the group finished recording this eight-song EP (six tracks and two remixes) last fall. But the band dates back considerably farther than that.

Writes the Houpt-Reimherr combo, “The core of our band (Adam, Patrick, Danny, and Andreas) is the same as it was when we first got together in 2005, though our original drummer, Ronan Glon, moved to France more than a decade ago. While he didn’t drum on this album, he continues to collaborate with all of us.”

The pair have a couple of tracks from the half-dozen that tickle their own fancy.

“‘He’s Alive’ is a favorite,” Houpt-Reimherr say, “in part because it’s catchy and fun to play (‘bop shoo wop, bop bop shoo wop’). But in large part it’s because of the lyrics which essentially tell of a woman who tries to raise a zombie army, but ends up falling in love with one of the Frankenstein-like monsters she conjures up. While they find true love, the townspeople revolt. We actually released this song as a single just before Halloween mostly because of the lyrical subject matter. While it’s hard to miss the ‘He’s Alive’ chorus, some of the other lyrics might sneak by listeners.

“For ‘Red Haired Mary,’ the lyrics are mostly taken from traditional renditions (we took some liberties with some final verses), and what I love is that the true comedy in Irish music comes through here. We first heard this song from a live Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem version that, when you listen to it, is almost like a comedy album; the group is joking around, the structure and timing of the song is basically built for punchlines and you can hear the crowd laughing. That really just captured the fun, easygoing, and boisterous energy that we love with this genre, and want to carry forward in our own songs.”

In terms of goals for the remainder of the year, some ideas are in mind: “We write all our songs to be played in packed pubs and bars and do our best to bring some of that live feeling to our recordings. We had our first shows at Kilby Court and, in a way, continue to write, practice, and record for that Kilby atmosphere. We already have another live single we just recorded that will be released in a few months and almost a full album’s worth of new stuff that we’ll be putting the finishing touches on.

“Regarding live shows, Patrick is living in Washington, D.C. for his job for now, which has put a hiatus on shows. But we are setting the foundation for some local concerts later this year. (Think Piper Down and Aces High.) We have bigger aspirations for festivals, like next year’s Shamrock Fest in Washington D.C., that has become a great home for established and new bands in the genre. The Celtic punk community has already been so welcoming of our recent EP that we are getting offers to help set up shows and link up with other bands in places like Boston, New Hampshire, and elsewhere up the East Coast. So who knows?”

What we do know is that full information about the band, including music links, can be found at bio.link/whiskeyswake. And if ever there was a day to sample their music, today’s that day.