Drawing on their influences from the traditional music world and pre-rock and roll song writing, Ulaid and Duke Special combine forces to create an original work called 'A Note Let Go'. Exploring the collection of noted historian and antiquary - Francis J Bigger, they have written new compositions inspired by obscure treasures found among the Bigger collection and the incredible story of Belfast

When the idea of this collaboration was first suggested to us by Tiona McSherry, we wondered how we could approach each other’s worlds in a way that was both authentic and that played to our strengths. Ulaid is a group steeped in the rich tradition of a thousand years and Duke Special draws on a dusty world of gramophones and pre-rock and roll melodies. Through conversations, we lit upon the notion of exploring old texts collected by the antiquarian - Francis J. Bigger who had amassed a large treasure trove of old poems, documents and other paraphernalia, stored at Belfast’s Central Library. These texts became the starting point for what became a kind of musical homage to Belfast, its history, its stories and our own understanding of living here at this time.

A Note Let Go is a live album recorded over two nights at the fantastic Analogue Catalogue studios near Rathfriland. It felt appropriate to record it in this way since we wanted to capture the sense of the four of us playing together as a single unit in front of people which was what we had been doing since writing the songs. Recording to analogue tape was also a deliberate choice in order to make the whole process as immediate and organic as possible. We left in the applause but transferred the introductions to the sleeve notes so as not to drive you all insane with our dulcet speaking voices!