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Túcan Biography

Túcan, an instrumental acoustic guitar duo comprises of two members, Donal Gunne and Pearse Feeney. They incorporate a wide and varied range of styles into their playing; from classical and 60’s rock to heavy metal and jazz. They have been playing together since 1999 though they only started to perform live in 2003 as the first four years were spent building the solid musical foundation they felt they required. Their sound is definitely coloured by the fact that neither has any formal musical training and they prefer rather to develop their skills through keen ears and an insatiable love for music.

They first met through mutual friends in a local Sligo establishment when Donal was 16 and Pearse was 17. Both shared a passion for music and found a common interest in bands such as The Doors, Thin Lizzy and Alice in Chains. On a meeting for a second time at a party they decided to form a band. Over the next three yeas their musical interests evolving to include such bands as Metallica and Kíla and other styles of guitar such as classical, flamenco, Latin and jazz. They took their music on the road spending their summers busking in Europe. This first brought them to Barcelona where they played on Las Ramblas. This would finally bring them to Prague where they lived for the first time as professional musicians.

On returning to Ireland they played the open-mic circuits in Dublin and Sligo while studying their respective University courses. They played on occasion with two classically trained violinists from Dublin during these times. The two's interests soon led them to such acoustic guitar legends as Paco de Lucia, Al di Meola, and Django Reinhardt who have given the pair direction and inspiration as well as improving their technical abilities. Their interests also broadened to Frank Zappa and heavy metal groups such as Tool. Listening to such music has definitely given a more progressive, experimental feel to their later compositions.

Since finishing their time at University the pair has dived into the world of music. To date they have shared the stage with some major acts like Rodrigo y Gabriela, Kila, José Feliciano, Regina Spektor, Seamie O’Dowd, The Pale and Dervish, as well as some big up and comings like Eoin Coughlan, Kopek and Daara J. The lads have also taken to the streets of Dublin to earn their crust when not gigging. This has proved very successful though they have not gone unnoticed by the Police……..THEY ARE CURRENTLY BANNED FROM BUSKING ON GRAFTON STREET FOR USING AMPLIFIERS…..(please leave a comment on our blog if you have an opinion on this)…………

After supporting Kíla the two decided to go into recording with Lance Hogan, from Kíla, as their Producer. The three, together with Brian Hogan from Kíla, recorded a four song EP called “System of Strings” which showcases the pair’s older style of song composition as well as their new musical direction. With Lance Hogan on drums and percussion, and his brother on bass, the EP has a massive sound that has a very driving rhythm section. The twin guitars are still the backbone and lead instruments of the music but the extra instrumentation adds to the dynamic of the overall recorded sound. Their EP will be available on their official website www.tucanmusic.com and at their live shows. Three of the new tracks can be heard on their Myspace www.myspace.com/tucanmusic.

After a successful summer getting on to the festival circuit, playing such festivals as Slieve an Iarainn (SAI Leecchrum) , where they stole the show, The Donegal Music Festival, SIRF Festival, Feile Beo (Dingle) and ELECTRIC PICNIC (see blog), where they closed out the festival, amongst others, they hope to have a small nationwide tour completed by the end of the Year….