Villagers (band)

Villagers
Villagers at Haldern Pop 2013
Background information
Origin	Dún Laoghaire, Dublin, Ireland
Genres	Indie folk
Years active	2008–present
Labels	Any Other City (2008–2009) Domino Records (2009–present)
Associated acts	Cathy Davey, The Immediate
Members	Conor O'Brien Tommy McLaughlin Danny Snow James Byrne Cormac Curran
Past members	Richie Egan David Crean

Villagers are an Irish indie folk band from Dublin, formed in 2008. The band consists of Conor O'Brien, Tommy McLaughlin, Danny Snow, James Byrne and Cormac Curran.

The band came to prominence in 2010 with the release of their debut album, Becoming a Jackal. Released to critical acclaim, the album was shortlisted for the 2010 Mercury Prize and the Choice Music Prize. The band's second studio album, {Awayland} was released in 2013. It won the Choice Music Prize that year and was also shortlisted for the 2013 Mercury Prize.

Villagers have performed at several music festivals and toured with Grizzly Bear, Tracy Chapman, Bell X1, Tindersticks and Elbow.

Conor O'Brien formed Villagers after the break-up of his previous band The Immediate. The very next day, O'Brien wrote the first song after waking up with a hangover. O'Brien's time as a guitarist in Cathy Davey's band was also critical to the development of his style as he had never before performed alongside anyone outside of The Immediate. Villagers gave their first live performance as a support act with The Chapters at a show in Whelan's in November 2008. At that point the band had previously only rehearsed together on two occasions. They had only seven songs, written by O'Brien and passed on to the rest of the band to learn.

Villagers performed on the seventh series of RTÉ Two's Other Voices television programme in 2009. The band's debut EP, titled Hollow Kind, was released in February 2009. It contained four tracks, all of which were written and performed by O'Brien. The EP brought comparisons with Bright Eyes and Sparklehorse. Villagers then went on tour. They were a support act for Neil Young and toured across Europe with Tracy Chapman.