The origins of Nightnoise can be traced to the Bothy Band (disbanded in 1979), who made a name in Ireland and internationally with a lively fiddle-based sound that brought Irish music into the mainstream.

He started playing violin at seven and went on to study under Eugen Prokop at the International Academy of Music Palma de Mallorca in Spain.

Nightnoise began as a collaboration between this American violinist and Irish guitarist who sought to create a unique blend of musical forms.

The album represented a real departure from Ó Domhnaill's Bothy Band roots, and the mellow, ambient instrumental style incorporating jazz and classical elements and forms full of spirituality almost defined what would be called New Age music.

[1] Three years later, Mícheál's sister, Irish pianist and vocalist Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill, who performed with her brother in Skara Brae, Relativity, and the Bothy Band, and Irish-American flutist Brian Dunning joined the original duo.

The album also featured original material only available in this live format (the songs "Heartwood", "Do We", and "Murdo of the Moon"), as well as a cover of Van Morrison's classic "Moondance".

This album marked the end of the band's contractual obligations to Windham Hill, and they decided to relocate to Ireland, going on hiatus while they each focused on their own projects.