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The Gloaming: globalFEST 2012

The Gloaming performs during globalFEST at New York City's Webster Hall on Jan. 8.
Ryan Muir for NPR
The Gloaming performs during globalFEST at New York City's Webster Hall on Jan. 8.

The onset of globalFEST usually marks the arrival of artists largely (or totally) unknown to American audiences, but The Gloaming's set was something else altogether: It was the U.S. debut of an Irish supergroup.

The Gloaming features indie-pop favorite Thomas Bartlett (a.k.a. Doveman), fiddlers Martin Hayes and Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh, guitarist Dennis Cahill and singer Iarla Ó Lionaird, whose vocals electrified the collection of pieces by fellow Irishman Donnacha Dennehy which became one of NPR Music's favorite albums of 2011. Bartlett's moody musings at the piano provided a dark undercurrent to Celtic reels and jigs.

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Anastasia Tsioulcas is a reporter on NPR's Arts desk. She is intensely interested in the arts at the intersection of culture, politics, economics and identity, and primarily reports on music. Recently, she has extensively covered gender issues and #MeToo in the music industry, including backstage tumult and alleged secret deals in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations against megastar singer Plácido Domingo; gender inequity issues at the Grammy Awards and the myriad accusations of sexual misconduct against singer R. Kelly.