Krea aka Karen Cowley is one third of Wyvern Lingo, the Choice Prize-nominated group who are currently on hiatus. Krea has just released her debut EP, The Callows. Here, she talks about the band's hiatus and how her solo project started up, before we talk through the EP track by track.
Cowley was awarded the prestigious Music Bursary by the Arts Council, as well as a residency at the renowned Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris. It was during this residency that she dedicated her time to crafting the songs that would make up The Callows. She says: "The Callows are the flat grasslands along the Shannon, and the word comes from the Irish 'caladh' for meadow. My mother is from Shannonbridge, Co. Offaly, where I spent a lot of time as a child. There’s something really tranquil and ancient about the landscape there. I wrote 'The Callows' at a time where I was feeling unmoored and craving a stronger sense of identity and rootedness. Images of this beautiful part of the country kept coming to mind, particularly the view from where my grandparents are buried at Clonmacnoise Monastery along the river. The Irish landscape and the effect that it has on me comes into each of these songs in some way, so I wanted to acknowledge that in some way in the title and artwork."
Krea tour dates:
July 20 - Frank’s Place, Wexford
July 21 - Sea Church Ballycotton, Cork
July 30 - Workman’s Cellar, Dublin EP LAUNCH
August 17 - Harbour Bar, Bray, Double Headliner with Caoi de Barra
Buy The Callows: https://krea.bandcamp.com/album/the-callows
