One of the most hotly-tipped bands in the trad-folk world are set to release their debut album next week.

Ímar are a Glasgow-based trad folk group and are causing waves and generating huge amounts of interest in the run up to the unveiling of their album, Afterlight.

What makes it even more special is that, at their core are two supremely gifted Manx musicians, Tomas Callister and Adam Rhodes, and that traditional Manx music makes up a large part of their sound.

‘The album is called Afterlight,’ said an excited Tomas Callister, speaking during a mammoth CD-signing session in Glasgow.

‘There are 10 songs on there, and the tunes come from all over. There’s Irish and Scots stuff, but there is loads of Manx tunes too, both trad tunes and ones that I’ve written. That makes them Manx, I reckon.’

Since the band launched, roughly a year ago, they have amassed a staggering amount of online interest, reaching 10,000 ‘likes’ of their Facebook page and 80,000 views of their version of a Canadian tune, L’air Mignonne.

Tomas and Adam are joined by an array of award winning musical talent. Piper Ryan Murphy, accordion player Mohsen Amini and bodhrán player Adam Brown have played with many award winning acts, such as RURA and Talisk. Tomas and Adam have themselves been members of Mabon and Mec Lir and played on the Radio 2 folk show with Barrule last year.

‘The lads from the band hadn’t really heard much Manx music before’ said Tomas. ‘It was good to see how they reacted to it. These guys are the best in the world at what they do. There is some amazing talent sat in the room with me now. You know you have to be on top of your game just to come into a practice. We all push each other along.

‘But its the album I’ve always wanted to make,’ he said. ‘They are a mix of traditional and original tunes, written by ourselves. There are tunes from all over, and loads of Manx stuff.’

It features in songs like Firebird, which Tomas said was written around one his tunes, and is about a favourite bar in Glasgow, where there is always a welcome and the beer never stops, or ‘The Speckled heifer’, which is based around the trad Manx tune ‘Colbaght Breck’.

They took their name from an ancient Viking ruler who was once king of parts of Ireland, the Western Isles, Scotland and the Isle of Man.

‘It’s a good name for us,’ said Tomas. ‘It represents us all as a group. Ryan is Irish, Mohnin is Scottish and Adam is from Suffolk, alongside me and Adam who are Manx. The name ‘Ímar’ really ties us all in together.’

They are to release ‘Afterlight’ at the Celtic Connections festival next weekend. They will be supporting the internationally renowned folk group ‘Four Men and a Dog’, something Tomas is looking forward to.

‘It’s special for me as their fiddle player is a guy called Cathal Hayden, who is one of my heroes. It’s a privilege and a thrill to play with them.

‘But it is great to be promoting and spreading Manx music with this band.’

Imar will also be playing in Peel, on Friday, April 14, as part of their UK tour.