Groove Tube with Cian O’Connell

For years, Citóg was the heartbeat of local music in Galway. Part-collective, part-gig night, part-record label, it migrated from DeBurgo’s to the Cellar and eventually to the Róisín Dubh, collecting like-minded artists and platforming emerging talent from around the country for over a decade.

Having wound to a gradual end over the last few years, Citóg is returning for a one-off summer reunion this Saturday, July 20, in the Róisín Dubh.

It will feature two of the acts that made its community so special – Eoin Dolan and Dylan Murphy (now performing as Kowalski).

Ado Lyons, who pieced the lineup together, is best placed to describe its significance.

“Citóg nights started something like 15 years ago,” he says. “Well before my time on the scene, it was Ray Cuddihy and Jay Burke. They started this weekly Irish local music showcase, which was on in DeBurgo’s at the time, once a week.

“For years and years, it was essentially a weekly showcase of underground, grassroots artists that maybe wouldn’t have got a headline slot in a bigger venue. To give new bands a leg-up and a place to showcase. It developed a bit of an audience… It became sort of known that Citóg is the place to go to discover these artists and these new talents. From there, Citóg Records sprung up.”

The record label emerged organically among the artists that populated Citóg nights. Ado describes it as a collective hinged on the sharing of resources and advice. There are nights and promoters in the city now who will have followed the same path – ultimately, these things rely on dedication and a shared goal.

“I played my first ever gig in the Cellar,” Ado recalls. “I was in a band which was initially called Fellow Strangers, and then called Majestic Bears. We were 18. It was the first couple of weeks of college we got together and started playing music.

“Dave Boland and Jay Burke, who were running Citóg at the time in the Cellar, gave us our first gig. It was great because we had absolutely no experience whatsoever… It was such a great way to learn and practice and be right in front of it.”

Pictured: Eoin Dolan…integral part of the Citóg community.