Known for “genuinely jaw-dropping collective virtuosity,” as The Scotsman puts it, BBC Radio 2 Folk Award winners, Glasgow-based five-piece Ímar stand out from the crowd – by taking things back to basics.

With a line-up featuring members of Mànran, Mec Lir, RURA, and Talisk and a heavyweight collective haul of top prizes – including the 2018 BBC Radio 2 Musician Of The Year, 2016 BBC Radio Scotland Young Musician of the Year, BBC Radio 2 Horizon Award, Young Folk Award, nine All-Ireland and eight All-Britain titles – the group’s formation embodies a personal reconnection with its members’ formative years, dating back long before their recent camaraderie around Glasgow’s justly celebrated session scene.

Adam Brown (bodhrán), Adam Rhodes (bouzouki), Mohsen Amini (concertina), Ryan Murphy (uilleann pipes), and Tomás Callister (fiddle) share a strong background in Irish music – although only Murphy hails from Ireland; Rhodes and Callister are from the Isle of Man, whilst Amini is a Glasgow native, and Brown originally from Suffolk. These foundations underpin many of Ímar’s distinctive qualities in both instrumentation and material.

The band’s unmistakable synergy centers on the overlapping cultural heritage between Scotland, Ireland, and the Isle of Man. All three places once shared the same Gaelic language, and a similar kinship endures between their musical traditions.