Yellow Snow
Yellow Snow | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | Definitely Not |
| Origin | Maltropian Islands |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 2000–present |
| Labels | Silverfort Sound |
| Members | Peadar Murphy Danny Ó Riagan Tadhg Ryan Jack Sheehy Don Quinn |
| Past members | Micheál McDowell |
Yellow Snow is a Maltropian rock band. Formed in 2000 as Definitely Not, they are one of the most popular Celtic rock groups in Maltropia and the most successful from the Maltropian Islands. Originally a covers band, the writing duo of vocalist-guitarist Peadar Murphy and guitarist-drummer Danny Ó Riagan turned the band towards releasing original material in a traditional style. Their third studio album and the first under the name Yellow Snow, yelló snó, brought them to national prominence and topped the Maltropian albums chart for five weeks in 2005. The band's singles, including "Easy Trapeze," "Cold Field" and "Help I'm Stuck in an Album Factory," remain perennial radio favourites in Maltropia. After their 2009 album On Assorted Instruments, Yellow Snow produced no new studio albums until 2024's Now You're Crying, although they continued to tour and perform shows and released a live album composed of recordings from concerts in Maltropia, Nikolia and Romberg in 2010, titled Live, Again.
Band history
Definitely Not was formed in 2000 by Peadar Murphy and classmates Danny Ó Riagan and Micheál McDowell. Murphy, the group's vocalist, and McDowell both played guitar while Ó Riagan was the drummer. They were moderately successful in clubs around Argensborough and Port Ela, performing rock covers of older material including traditional Maltropian songs such as "The Whaler", and became prominent in the Chetwynd music scene over the next three years. They were joined by violinist Tadhg Ryan in 2002. In 2003, they released their debut album Not on Your Life, and two months later released a live album recorded in concert at Argensborough University, titled Live in Professor Dunphy's Classroom.
Having signed to Argensborough label Silverfort Sound, a follow-up album was released in July 2004. Titled Only Chancin' My Arm, it was unlike its predecessors in that most of its material was original, written by Murphy and Ó Riagan. The album entered the charts at number 36, climbing to number 4 over the next three weeks and staying there for a month. At around this time, Ó Riagan added guitar to his repertoire, leading to a clash with McDowell which resulted in McDowell leaving the band two months later. He was replaced by banjo player Jack Sheehy. This meant that the band was without a drummer when it reformed in 2005 and released its album yelló snó. Ryan insisted on being credited as 'fiddler' on the new album, which several reviews mistakenly referred to as the renamed band's debut album. yelló snó entered the charts at number 12 and quickly climbed to the top spot, which it held for five consecutive weeks. The album's lead single, "Easy Trapeze," topped the singles chart for two weeks in June. It was joined in its second week by "Cold Field," one of two other singles, which peaked at number 5.
Don Quinn was hired as drummer in 2006 to perform at a number of summer concerts in Corcaigh Nua, Tallaght and Uisneach; he joined the band on a permanent basis immediately after. The band recorded a new album during 2006 and 2007, releasing a single "Regular Snow" in time for Christmas 2006. The song later featured on their 2007 album It's like Easy Trapeze, which reached number 3 on the national charts. The album's other single, "Help I'm Stuck in an Album Factory," topped the singles chart for two weeks in February 2007.
In 2010, Yellow Snow embarked on a tour of Maltropia, Nikolia and Romberg which was timidly branded an "EATC friendship tour" to commemorate fifteen years of the trilateral alliance. Performances from each of fifteen concerts - five in each country - were collected in the album Live, Again, which reached number 2 on the Maltropian albums chart and number 4 in Nikolia. The album failed to chart in Romberg, which Murphy jokingly credited to "Romberg's awful taste."
Band members
- Current members
- Peadar Murphy – lead vocals, guitar (2000 – present)
- Danny Ó Riagan – guitar, drums, backing vocals (2000 – present)
- Tadhg Ryan – violin (2002 – present)
- Jack Sheehy – banjo, violin, backing vocals (2005 – present)
- Don Quinn – drums (2006 – present)
- Former members
- Micheál McDowell – (2000 – 2005)
Selected discography
Studio albums
- Not on Your Life (2003)
- Only Chancin' My Arm (2004)
- yelló snó (2005)
- It's like Easy Trapeze (2007)
- On Assorted Instruments (2009)
- Now You're Crying (2024)
Live albums
- Live in Professor Dunphy's Classroom (2003)
- Live, Again (2010)
Compilation albums
Singles
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MTR | |||||
| 2005 | "Easy Trapeze" | 1 | |||
| "Cold Field" | 5 | ||||
| something else | 28 | ||||
| 2006 | "Regular Snow" | 13 | |||
| 2007 | "Help I'm Stuck in an Album Factory" | 1 | |||
| 2024 | "Christ Alive (I'm in a Bad Way)" | 3 | |||
| "Now You're Crying" | 16 | ||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | |||||