Groove Tube with Cian O’Connell

Anna’s Anchor has been a pillar of Limerick native Marty Ryan’s life for eleven years. It is a project that morphed from his own solo venture into a pulsating and expansive indie rock band, whose sound was best captured on 2023 LP, the Merries, which was released with Galway label Strange Brew. The period that followed was littered with landmark, high octane gigs.

Proving that Anna’s Anchor is still capable of producing something more intimate, Ryan and keyboard played Clare O’Brien are embarking on three small capacity acoustic gigs around Ireland over the next few weeks. On Friday, October 3, they play De Burgos in Galway, with support from Derek Ellard.

“It’s fun in a different way because you can make different arrangements of the songs and strip them back and showcase different elements. It’s also a very different type of a gig to how it was when I used to just tour on my own, which was pretty much the first six years of Anna’s Anchor,” says Ryan.

“It has a lot less stress than the full band, even though I absolutely love doing that. Logistically, there’s so much more involved in doing the full band.

“Doing the shows as a duo, there are still a lot of interesting musical things we can do, but we can also bring it to a smaller environment and have the room be a part of the gig as well. That’s why we chose De Burgos for this gig.”

The last time Ryan spoke with the Connacht Tribune was around the release of the Merries. It was the pinnacle of a decade of commitment to one project, and he looks back on it now with pride.

“That was our first proper, sizable Irish tour as a full band,” Ryan says.

“It was really exciting, and it culminated in our biggest headline gig at the time in Dolan’s Warehouse in Limerick, which was a really special night. As well as playing the Róisín Dubh in Galway after Strange Brew had released our album – that whole week was just a really special one.

“I wouldn’t have known it at the time when we spoke, but Limerick ended up winning the All-Ireland that month.

“And because we were a Limerick band out touring, we ended up playing the homecoming for the hurlers, which was 20,000 people. It was just insane. I don’t want to put a ceiling on what we can achieve, but I feel like that’s the biggest gig we’ll ever play.”

Coming up to Christmas at the end of 2023, Anna’s Anchor played Other Voices in Dingle. As Ryan puts it, in the year after releasing the album, he ticked off a lot of the remaining things on his bucket list for the band. It was a joyous period, but when it all came to a close, he found himself asking what next?

Pictured: Marty Ryan…Anna’s Anchor back for Galway gig.