The way it’s usually done, local musicians launch bands here and, if they’re lucky, find success elsewhere. The Olllam is doing it the other way around.

The band, founded recently in Ireland by Ann Arbor multi-instrumentalist Tyler Duncan and Irish musician / uilleann piper John McSherry (of Lunasa fame), will bring songs from a new CD to The Ark Tuesday.

The group also includes locals Mike Shimmin and Joe Dart. And, although not officially in the band, Ann Arbor’s Theo Katzman will be playing guitar for The Ark show.

Duncan, frontman for the currently-on-hiatus Ella Riot, has had a busy summer playing in “Glee” star Darren Criss’ band, working with “The Voice” runner-up Michelle Chamuel on her upcoming CD and also recording another s/he duo project with Chamuel. That’s not to mention a recent stint in Ireland where The Olllam did a few gigs and polished off the new CD, a mix of traditional and more contemporary sounds.

“It is utterly groove-based - we get people dancing when we tour in Ireland,” Duncan said. “Some people call it trance-y. The grooves are funky, but they are not funk. They are rocking but they aren’t rock. They’re kind of dark and pulsing. It’s a cool combination, these simple stark melodies with a pulsing groove machine happening underneath it.”

Listeners may be reminded of modern artists such as Radiohead and Coldplay at one moment and seminal Irish artists such as The Bothy Band and Planxty at another.

Building on their friendship and shared musical history together, Duncan and McSherry collaborated via Skype, email, and cellphone voice memos to write songs for The Olllum’s CD.

Duncan has known McSherry since they met by chance in a pub when Duncan was a kid.

“He was like my hero, my musical ideal. I was over (in Ireland) with my parents for a year when I was 13 and happened, through amazing serendipity the first week we were there, to meet him in a pub in a very small town. We turned into really good friends. John is one of my musical mentors,” Duncan said.

They’ve been talking about a project together since Duncan was 16 (he’s 26 now and just bought a house in Ann Arbor) but college and other projects got in the way. Finally earlier this year they were able to make the band - and an accompanying CD of original music - happen.

And the name?

“It has a few meanings,” Duncan said. “It is a word from ancient court, the king’s bard, who would play music, tell a story, tell poetry. Today it is slang for professor in Gaelic.”