DUBLIN & KILDARE

DATES

OVERVIEW Carosel’s first gig was certainly impromtu, with guitarist Pete McGrane dragging his girlfriend Michelle Phelan onstage at his gig for a rendition of Al Green’s ‘Let’s Stay Together’. The enthusiastic reaction of the audience encouraged the couple to continue working together and over the next few months they notched up some memorable gigs, including the Electric Picnic this year and The Cork Jazz Festival While Michelle’s stage debut was somewhat reluctant, it was quickly evident that she had a natural talent, and not just for performing, but for writing extremely catchy songs as well! Michelle had been a closet performer throughout her teens, but it took working with Pete, a trained classical and flamenco guitarist who learned from the best while studying in the home of flamenco, Spain’s Andalucia, to really let her creative juices flow. The couple began writing songs for their debut album towards the end of 2007, while on retreat in the South of France. Returning home to Dublin they gathered an all-star ensemble of musicians to start recording their debut album. The couple enlisted the services of Justin Carroll, Cora Venus Lunny and other leading musicians for their debut recording. Best described as a fusion of jazz, bossa nova and flamenco rhythms, Carosel offer a contemporary light style of music layered with infectious catchy melodies. When the first demo tracks from the album filtered out from the studio, interest in the band grew rapidly with comparisons being made to Feist, Regina Spektor and Astrud Gilbertos, artists that would certainly be held in high esteem by Carosel themselves. 2008 - Release of 'Easy As It Flows' single [19 September] 2009 - Release of 'Kaleidoscope' album [27 February] - Re-release of 'Easy As It Flows' single - Release of 'Sun Is Shining' single [10 July] - Carosel perform at the Oxegen Festival [11 July] 2011 - Release of 'Star' EP [28 January]