Saint Sister Introduce Themselves to Philthy, Tonight at B&S

If you’re still looking for something to do this warm Friday night in the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection, I would highly recommend coming out to Boot...

If you’re still looking for something to do this warm Friday night in the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection, I would highly recommend coming out to Boot & Saddle and getting acquainted with Irish electro-folk duo Saint Sister, who will be opening for Henry Jamison.  Saint Sister formed in 2014 and are comprised of Morgan MacIntyre and Gemma Doherty.  Since then, they’ve recorded with Hozier bassist Alex Ryan, played Glastonbury, and even supported The National.  For the past month they’ve been touring the states with Jamison, in support of their debut LP, Shape of Silence, which dropped last fall.  The album rings of folk-inspired dreampop… or dreampop-inspired folk… It’s ethereally uplifting, above all else, while being rooted in the simplicity of classic Americana songwriting.  I got a chance to chat with MacIntyre and Doherty earlier this week.  Read what they had to tell me and check out their recent music videos for “Steady” and “You Never Call.”

Izzy Cihak: I know you’ve been touring the US with Henry Jamison for about a month now.  What have been some of the highlights of this run of dates?

Morgan MacIntyre: We’ve had such a great time traveling around places we’d never been before. Playing in and driving through Montana was amazing. We stopped off in Butte and visited the house my great grandma was born in, which was a very surreal feeling. All of the shows have felt special, but I particularly enjoyed our night in Portland, Oregon.

Izzy:For that matter, considering that you’ve only been around for about five years, what have been some of your own, personal highlights of Saint Sister in general?

Gemma Doherty: Releasing the album in October was a huge milestone, and getting the chance to tour around with it has been a dream. We headed to places we definitely didn’t think we’d get to see this time around; Australia, the whole way across America. That’s been pretty special.

Izzy: What would you consider to be your most significant influences at the moment?  As you spend all this time on the road, are there certain artists you find in heavy rotation?

Morgan:  I’ve been playing Julia Jacklin’s new record a lot. It’s so beautiful and catchy and smart, I don’t think I’ll ever tire of it and I’ve definitely found it a source of inspiration. More recently we’ve had the new Weyes Blood album on heavy rotation and a good helping of country classics.

Izzy: What can be expected of the live show when you play here at Boot & Saddle later this week?

Gemma:  It’ll be a pretty intimate show, we don’t have the band with us on these dates, so the set-up is a lot more stripped back. A lot of percussive harp loops and close vocal harmonies!

Izzy: So, I know your US dates are about to wrap up, but that you have a bunch of dates in Ireland and the UK later this year.  What are you most excited about for the second half of 2019?  Any chance there’s new music in the works?

Morgan: Yes, definitely. We’re writing loads at the moment and really enjoying it. For so long I found long periods of time booked off for writing very overwhelming and would look toward them with a lot of dread but, after a few months of writing terrible songs every day, it’s finally starting to flow and I’m really happy with what we’re making. We’re in the very early stages but making a second album is at the top of our list!

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Band InterviewsLive EventsMusic

During the day Izzy Cihak teaches transgression, subversion, and revolution at Temple University. At night he haunts Philthy's best venues to cover worthwhile acts for Philthy Mag. Morrissey is everything to him and, in their own heads, all of his friends see themselves as Zooey Deschanel.

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