Following the success of Davy's first solo album 'Atlantic Bridge', Davy put together a touring band which included some of Ireland's finest session musicians. Davy along with Anthony Drennan on Guitar, James Delaney on keyboards, Tony Molloy on bass, Paul Moran on drums and percussion started an intensive touring schedule to support the release of the Atlantic Bridge album.

During their first UK tour they came to the attention of the BBC's Andy Kershaw, who brought Davy and Band into the BBC studios to record some tracks for his show on Radio 1. Although there was no live audience for this session the recordings were made in a 'live' context which gave a completely new life and energy to Davy's works.

As the months passed the creative side of the band developed towards a more 'rock' direction and with the successful blend of styles and musicians that featured on the 'Atlantic Bridge' it was suggested by producer PJ Curtis that Rory Gallagher should guest on some recordings with Davy's band. Suggestion became a reality and from the recording session that followed Davy's music continued to break new ground.

Out Of The Air is the combination of the above sessions with the added bonus of a re-recorded version of the track 'Mystic Seacliffs' which was originally recorded by Bill Whelan, with Davy, as the theme music for the 1988 Eurovision song contest in Dublin

REVIEWS

"Apart from the sheer thrill of the music on Davy Spillane's Atlantic Bridge album, one tended to get a trifle seduced by the presence of those heavyweight pickers Lee, Fleck and Douglas. When it became apparent that the ensuing live band was not to include any of these famed folk, it was easy to get into preparation for disappointment in the flesh. It therefore came as something of a shock to settle down for a Thursday evening with Kershaw's show last spring and be pinned to the armchair by session versions of tunes from the album that savaged the loudspeakers and simply trampled all over the familiar album tracks when it came to pure attack and energy. The live band (for this was they) were surely something to be keenly anticipated after all, as turned out to be more than justified.
The four tracks from that same Kershaw session - new versions of three Atlantic Bridge pieces, including the title tune, plus The Storm from Moving Hearts farewell masterpiece - have not diminished in power one iota from that first hearing. Apart from the main man, particular plaudits must go to guitarist Anthony Drennan (for whom safety in playing must be an alien concept) and drummer / percussionist Paul Moran, though keyboards man James Delaney and bassist Tony Molloy are exemplary as well.
Also included is Bill Whelan's theme music for the 1988 staging of the Eurovision Song Contest, previously released by Spillane as a Tara Single. An almost totally different line-up (including Whelan himself and Donal Lunny), but you will be pleased to know they sound considerably more like Moving Hearts than Abba. Then it's back to the working band with a special guest, the great Irish blues guitarist Rory Gallagher, for the final three items which soon get into further exploring that Celtic blues groove first hinted at on 'Lansdowne Blues' on the last Spillane album.
The question all you fans of Spillane's superlative, innovative uilleann piping and low whistle work will be asking yourself is "Do I really need an album which half-duplicates material I have already?" Oh, most certainly! The new versions are excitingly different, and the non-Atlantic Bridge items extremely fine in their own right"
Ian Anderson - Folk Roots

"Ireland's top session chap when a bit of uilleann pipes is called for, Spillane's found a welcoming ear in the Kershaw noddle, which is why the first section of this album comes from a Radio One session 'Atlantic Bridge' and 'The Storm' will satisfy the faithful, while new roads are suggested by Rory Gallagher's involvement and the moving - but not maudlin 'One For Phil' a tribute to Lynott"
Music Week

"The uilleann pipes are a fine traditional folk instrument and Davy Spillane is one of their finest players today. From the man who brought you Moving Hearts and the brilliant 'Atlantic Bridge' album. The first 3 tracks are culled from a session for Andy Kershaw and are all on the aforementioned album, the fourth being 'The Storm' from Davy's Moving Hearts days. However these are not simples copies of the originals, for these cuts were played by Davy's live band which, whilst lacking the august presence of Jerry Douglas, Fleck, Albert Lee et al, hits you right between the eyes with the vigour, strength and attack of a rock-'n-roll band in its prime. With Davy are Anthony Drennan on guitar, James Delaney on keyboards, Paul Moran on drums and Tony Molloy on bass, and all play with a fire and commitment that is a true joy to hear. Having said that, they mix it up fine on the jazzier 'The Storm', supporting Spillane's haunting pipes and Low Whistle with great sensitivity.
Track 5 'Mystic Seacliffs', is Bill Whelan's opening theme to the Dublin Eurovision and it is a shame that this could not be given the same attention as were Hothouse flowers, for it is a great atmospheric track. The final 3 tracks move traditional Celtic music into the Blues arena with Rory Gallagher guesting on guitar.
For those of you who have 'Atlantic Bridge' this album is very much worth getting, because the repeated tracks are different and exciting enough to warrant having them anyway, and the Rory Gallagher tracks have all that sparkle with the bonus of the man's guitar work. Who cares what you call such a great blend of the traditional with rock, jazz and blues that is played with real passion? You won't even mind that there is no singing, I promise."

The Catalogue

"Davy Spillane makes the kind of Celtic, pipe-driven reel that could, in a more modest arrangement or setting, be dismissed as quaint revivalism or an undying love affair with a genre only allowed attention in small outposts up and down the country. However Spillane's 'Out Of The Air' reaches much further than that, mixing a wealth of recordings, some taken from an Andy Kershaw Show radio session, some powered by an aggressive guitar or an expressive electric sitar courtesy of Rory Gallagher. The Album still bears the traditional folk hallmarks, but there's greater depth, a fuller width of sound and, ultimately, a much more palatable end piece. Davy Spillane's mastery of the uilleann pipes and the low whistle might not be everyone's idea of popular culture, but it's certainly an interesting, intriguing and quite stimulating concoction."

Robert Dean - Q Magazine

FESTIVAL OPENS IN IRISH STYLE
Alastair Clark reviews the 1989 Edinburgh International Folk Festival for The Scotsman

"The Shamrock ruled OK on the opening night of the Edinburgh International Folk Festival which just happened to be St. Patrick's Night a splendid excuse for the festival director, Archie Fisher, to put one of his favourite Irish groups, the Davy Spillane Band, on stage at the Queen's Hall.
In terms of sheer logistics, this seemed a rather dodgy exercise, because the Irishmen had to get all their folk-rock paraphernalia organised immediately after a jazz session by Chick Corea.
They managed it with minutes to spare, and so, for the second time in one evening, the hall was filled to capacity. I hope some of the jazz lovers stayed for Spillane. The ex-Moving Hearts man was in peak form.
Backed by a rocking drums, keyboards and electric and bass guitar, he didn't attempt to play jazz, but there was an affinity, nevertheless,in the bluesy, vocal sounds he coaxed from the uilleann pipes and in his irrepressible urge to use traditional themes as a springboard for thrilling, inventive flights. He Soared, He swooped, he conquered. There was something jazz-like too, about the way Anthony Drennan, on lead guitar, would pick up his closing phrases and toy with them before launching into his own embellishments.
They finished off with a 12 - bar blues that had Spillane bending pipe notes as if they were made of rubber. The ecstatic reception showed clearly that he is still moving many hearts.