Hotly tipped Nashville brothers to 'play it loud' in free Galway concert

Brothers have had a tempestuous, but often gloried, history in rock music. Noel and Liam Gallagher parted in acrimony – but in their time together they played to millions and created the classic album Definitely Maybe. It will be hard for Liam’s new band Beady Eye to come up with the tunes – and drama – to match Oasis. Kings Of Leon’s line-up contains three brothers and a cousin. Interviews with the quartet revealed that arguments are sometimes settled with fists. But tensions must be eased when they hear news like their 80,000 sell-out show for Slane Castle.Hailing from Nashville, Jake and Jamin Orrall are two more brothers who plug in and play loud. Their band, Jeff the Brotherhood, play a free show in the Róisín Dubh on Thursday, January 27. As he prepares to embark on his first European tour, singer and guitarist Jake is in the middle of fixing an effects pedal.“I’ll figure it out – we got to be at the airport at 4am!” he laughs. Jake and Jamin have been playing drums and guitar together for nine years and touring for six, with their music being described by critics as “noisy, psychedelic, grungy, even ever-so-slightly post-punk”. Their decision to play as a duo was never a conscious one – it’s just worked out that way.“We grew up out in the country, so it just stayed that way. Two brothers living in the same place, it’s pretty easy,” says Jake.The brothers’ introduction to music began at an early age, listening to their father’s record collection. “Our dad played us a lot of Talking Heads, Devo, Elvis Costello, The Clash, stuff like that,” Jake recalls. “I was getting into a lot of grungy stuff when I was pretty young like the Smashing Pumpkins. More recently, I’ve been into seventies hard-rock stuff. Hundreds and hundreds of bands, Deep Purple sort of stuff. Really, really heavy.”You would imagine that a duo would want to get the most out of their instruments, but Jake must like a challenge. He gets some howl and racket from just three strings. Why did he choose this approach?“I don’t really remember,” he chuckles. “I started out with two and eventually I just added one. It’s really ease to keep in tune; I don’t have a bass player so I don’t have to keep in tune with anybody!”For more, read this week's Connacht Tribune.