Whilst enrolled at Boston University’s School of Theater, pursuing her passion for acting, a requirement to study abroad for a semester landed on the lap of the New York native, Kaitlin Cullen-Verhauz. “A lot of my friends and classmates went to London, and I kind of just needed a break,” explains Kaitlin on how she came to Ireland when we spoke in January.

“I found this incredible-looking programme at The Gaiety School of Acting that was not just conservatoire training, but it was drama lit. It was all about theatre that came out of The Troubles, and politically-active theatre. So, that’s how I ended up in Dublin, because I was really interested in that.”

A former celloist who had fallen out of love with performing, Kaitlin had some knowledge of Irish music, as, in her youth, her parents had brought her to see The Chieftains when they toured the U.S.

Whilst studying in Dublin, Kaitlin had an evening off and decided to spend it checking out some local music. She hit up Gogarty’s in Temple Bar, where the guitarist, Ian Kelly, was performing that evening with the champion fiddle-player Padraig O’Neill.

“I was just mesmerised by his playing and his vocals,” Kaitlin recalls of seeing Ian for the first time that night. After the session, Kaitlin introduced herself to Ian, and, in conversation, it came up that she occasionally sang in her theatre work and used to play the cello.

At the time, Ian had a bunch of originals in his back pocket. “I was just kind of writing songs, not for any particular project or goal in mind,” remembers Ian. “I had full songs there, but, a lot of the songs, I wasn’t comfortable singing them myself, and I was kind of hoping that I could get the right person to fit in.”

The session-playing Ian would occasionally call Kaitlin up to sing when she was in attendance at his performances. After establishing a rapport, he decided to show her the songs he had been sitting on. Impressed by what she heard, Kaitlin even purchased a new cello to illustrate her interest in working together.

With Kaitlin on cello and lead vocals and Ian on guitar, the two began expanding on Ian’s foundations. “When I showed them to Kaitlin, we started working out more arrangements, in terms of the cello and guitar, and me doing some backing vocals, as well,” Ian says of their early collaborations. “Then we were like, ‘You know what would be cool on this? A bodhrán!’”

Ian decided to ask fellow session player and former bodhrán player for The Bonny Men, Conor Lyons, to join them and add percussion to the tracks that they had begun weaving. “Dublin’s a kind of small enough area, regarding Irish music, so you get to know everyone who plays music,” Conor recalls of how he was asked to come aboard.

“And Ian was playing a good bit in town, I was playing a good bit in town, so we would’ve known each other that way. [Playing] gigs in the city centre, and getting to know each other that way. Then we moved into a house together [in Howth] a couple of years back.”

At the time, Conor was simply filling in for a studio recording of an original tune called “The Boss,” which was released in December 2019. But his contribution changed their trajectory.  “We initially put together a duo, called KC VIK, which was just our initials smushed together,” explains Kaitlin.

 “And Conor recorded on that. We had put out an EP as KC VIK… – this is years ago, now – …and we’ve since taken it down! [Laughs] It’s a time capsule! It was basically a demo!

“So, when we pulled Conor in for ‘The Boss,’ after that was released… – it was actually released as KC VIK – …we decided to kind of abandon this duo idea, and include Conor in a real substantial way, and that was kind of the brand shift, and Saltaire came about after this.”

The name Saltaire came from a trip Kaitlin and Ian had taken to her hometown. On a day trip to Fire Island, they were about to get on the ferry back to Staten Island when Kaitlin noticed a sign for the village of Saltaire. The name change was as simple as that.

The addition of Conor really changed the sound of the project, justifying not only his permanent addition but also the rebranding. “Guitar and cello, it’s not really a ubiquitous duo set up as it is,” Ian says.

“Then we kind of thought if we fused the classical and folk world with Ireland’s indigenous drum, we’d have a unique enough sound, and, sure enough, it is a unique enough sound! Then, with Conor on the bouzouki as well, adding more of the traditional elements to the paradigm.”

Adding to Ian’s point, Kaitlin says, “Sonically, I think that these instruments work really well together. Because, obviously, you have the low-end with the rich quality of the cello, and the guitar kind of sits in the middle, and then the bouzouki adds the brighter sound on top, and then, of course, the bodhrán has that earthy, rhythmic drive. So, you wouldn’t necessarily think to add these instruments together, but they work really well together, just in terms of the texture and the timbre of the instruments.”

Being well-versed folk players with a collective decades of knowledge and experience, the members of Saltaire are very genre-savvy and aware of the ‘types’ of songs they are crafting. Yet, they try not to be meta or analytically detached in their approach to songwriting.

“I wouldn’t say we’re trying to change much in it,” asserts Conor of writing within the folk genre. “With the older songs, as well… – taking them, but putting our own stamp on them, as well – …we’re not trying to deconstruct the music and make it all brand new; the music that’s there already speaks for itself.

“We don’t have to do much to it. Just enhance it in our own way. That’s how I always view Irish music, anyway. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel, but you can make the wheel a bit better.”

“Yeah, I also think the landscape of folk music right now is very exciting, because there are artists that are doing that sort of postmodern deconstruction, and that’s awesome,” adds Kaitlin. “I just think that what we’re trying to do is really just hone in on our instruments, and hone in on the story. I think there’s room for all of that at the table.”

Commencing last summer, Saltaire began releasing their first studio tracks under their new name. A series of three singles – “The Axe” (in May 2025), “Matty Groves” (in July), and “Slip Jigs & Jenny’s” (in January this year) – came out to promote their debut EP, Only Moonlight, which was released at the end of last month.

 The five-track EP illustrates what the band are interested in making. “One common thread through all of them is that folk tradition of really narrative-driven songs, with maybe the exception of ‘Lungs,’ which is more poetic,” Kaitlin says of the tracklist.

“Those folk songs that are almost a laundry list of the events that take place, and the facts, and the characters, and who said what to who, and really carving out meaning and poetry in just the facts.”

The EP has a persistently windy, almost-gothic, gloomy miasma lingering above the tracks. “I think it’s kind of natural, in the sense that most things that have a cello on it are going to invoke those sorts of darker sounds and feelings,” Kaitlin says of the EP’s atmosphere.

“I think, vocally, just for myself, as the singer, I would be more drawn to those darker tones. I guess, as well, now that I’m gigging full time, as a musician, and I do have to sing the more happy, upbeat, happy-go-lucky songs for work, when I’m singing for myself and for the band… – these days, anyways; and this could change, down the line – …I find myself more drawn to subject matter that is darker and the melodic structures that are darker. But I think the instrumentation has a huge hand in creating that sound.”

Saltaire’s debut EP, Only Moonlight, is out now. You can keep up with the band and purchase their music through their website.

Tune into POSTBURNOUT.COM Interviews…tonight at 22:30 (IST) to hear this interview in full. Available on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon Music Podcasts.

Aaron Kavanagh

Aaron Kavanagh is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Post-Burnout. His writing can also be found in the Irish Daily Star, Buzz.ie, Totally Dublin, The GOO, Headstuff, New Noise Magazine, XS Noize, DSCVRD and more.