“Lions Share” by Hermitage Green – A Song Review

     We have a new favorite bodhran player! Truth is, he didn’t displace a previous favorite, since we didn’t know of the percussion instrument until we started researching the song “Lions Share” by Hermitage Green. The research was centered upon the instruments. The tribal percussion is not generated by instruments found in a traditional drum set. And there are bursts from what might be a wind instrument similar to the didgeridoo.

     The bodhran is an Irish percussion instrument. In Hermitage Green, it’s played by Dermot Sheedy. The full membership of the band from Limerick, Ireland is Darragh Graham (banjo, djembe, backing vocals), Darragh Griffin (vocals, guitar), Dan Murphy (vocals, guitar, dobro, harmonica), Barry Murphy (vocals, bass), and Dermot Sheedy (bodhran). 

     So, "Lions Share” may also include a djembe, which originates from West Africa. Adding to the percussion, Hermitage Green doesn’t shy away from multi-purposing a guitar. Embedded within this post is a video of “Cosmic Love” (Florence and the Machine cover), which shows the percussion skills of the band. Also embedded is the video of “Quicksand,” which required the band to perform inverted to allow gravity to create chaos.

     Quoting the email submission from Mystic Sons (thank you Daniel Jones):

  "Talking about the song, vocalist Dan Murphy says, 'Lions Share is an expression of certain aspects of human behaviour. Indulgence, greed, selfishness, the innate need to consume, and lastly a complete sense of apathy for all of the above. When you care for nothing - that is the moment when you can reap the full rewards."

     “Lions Share” by Hermitage Green