The Winding Stair

The Winding Stair is a musical group from Belfast, Northern Ireland which first played publicly in 2005. The band describe their music as folk noir. Their name is associated with poetry by WB Yeats.

The band
The line-up is Clare Galway on violin and vocals, Tom Hughes on cello and bodhrán, Mary O'Halloran and Ciaran Tracey on guitar. Former vocalist Mary O'Halloran left the band amicably in 2008. The Winding Stair continue as a three piece.

Gigs
The band have played extensively in Ireland since 2005. This has included prestigious support slots such as Martha Wainwright in Lisburn on August 13, 2007. The were also invited to play the Glastonbury Festival, appearing third on the bill at the acoustic stage on June 23, 2007. That night they shared the stage with KT Tunstall among others.

TV and radio and press
The band were invited to perform for the Today programme on BBC Radio 4.They were asked to perform The Mountains Of Mourne, originally written by Percy French, to accompany a feature broadcast on the Co. Down mountains' status as a national park. This was broadcast on August 29, 2007.

On October 17, 2007, BBC Radio 1 broadcast a live session from the band.

The band appeared on the Irish Arts programme called Imeall Geal on BBC 2, playing one song at the end of the programme.

An article was written about the band in the Irish paper Hot Press

The Album
The band self-released an album called Finistere on August 5, 2007. It was produced by Eamonn P Keyes at Chateau De L'Ormeau and Doghouse studios in Belfast. The launch party featured a gig from the band and appearances from Oxford's Cogwheel Dogs and Belfast's Ruby Colley. It received a positive review on the website of the record label Drowned in Sound.

The video
In 2007 Brian Philip Davis made a flim for their song The Meadow. This has been featured on BBC Northern Ireland website]].

The Video adopts Davis' usual magical realist approach and it stars Lara McIvor who is notable for working with Bill Murray and Tim Robbins on the upcoming science fiction movie entitled City of Ember.