News

Ireland's contributions to contemporary music are many, ranging from the Chieftains and Tommy Makem to U2 and Sinead O'Connor.

Northern Ireland has somewhat less of a legacy, Van Morrison's luminous catalog notwithstanding.

Ben Kyle, a native of Belfast, might be the next notable musician to come from Morrison's homeland, albeit by way of Minneapolis. Kyle, whose band Romantica plays Saturday at the Quiet Storm, is aware his homeland has not produced many musicians who have made an impact globally.

"It's a different culture up in the north," says Kyle, who moved to Minnesota in 1995 with his family when he was 13, "... everyone is dealing with the same sort of environment, the same history and struggles between the British and the Irish."

Those issues have emerged in the music of Irish musicians, notably in a song like U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday." But Kyle has taken a different course. "It's Your Weakness that I Want," Romantica's debut, is, well, romantic. Not sappy romantic, a la Paul McCartney's "Silly Love Songs," but thoughtful ruminations on love.

"During the period I wrote the album I was in a meaningful relationship that led to marriage, so I was thinking a lot about it at the time," Kyle says with a laugh. "But I figured I could get away with 'Romantica' because it feels a little bit like a parody. Hopefully, people don't take it too seriously. But at the same time it has a lot of depth to the word and it sort of implies the romantic movement as a whole, and being very sincere and heartfelt about certain ideas, things that you just feel deeply."

Kyle adds that he probably won't always write love songs, but hopes to invest his work with the same passion that makes "It's Your Weakness that I Want" different. But musically Romantica doesn't need any adjustments. Kyle, Luke Jacobs and Mark Hedlund have a knack for snappy, melodic songs that use fiddle and piano accents effectively, from the punchy hoedown "Break I & II" to the contemplative "Belfast," in which Kyle's vocals resemble those of Peter Gabriel. The release was good enough to win Best Americana album at the Minnesota Music Awards in 2004, no small feat in a region where bands such as the Jayhawks and Soul Asylum still preside.

Kyle, who embraced the music of his new hometown when he was a kid, thinks that the distance between Belfast and the Twin Cities, at least musically, isn't that great.

"There's a lot of similarities between folk music and the bluegrass and country here," he says. "I think Irish and English folk music influenced that a lot. Honestly, it was quite a surprise to me (winning the award). The first time I heard them say Americana, it was a surprise. But looking at it now, I can see that; it's clear. But it certainly wasn't that I was moving here and thinking how do I incorporate this American music into what I'm doing. It was very much osmosis."

• Most Read
• Most E-mailed
• Latest News