www.sligolive.ie

THE LAST BIG FESTIVAL OF 2011

TAKES PLACE OVER 6 DAYS

OCTOBER BANK HOLIDAY WEEKEND

SLIGO LIVE – 26TH – 31ST OCTOBER 2011

·       FRI. 28TH OCT - KT TUNSTALL with Special Guests Rozi Plain and Sam Lewis
·       FRI. 28TH OCT – SEAMUS BEGLEY & TIM EDEY and MAURICE LENNON
·       FRI. 28TH OCT – HAYSEED DIXIE & FESTIVAL ARTISTS

SLIGO LIVE Ireland’s folk, roots and indie music festival returns for its seventh year and will present an exciting programme over 6 days over the October Bank Holiday Weekend, October 26th – 31st bringing together established Irish and international acts with some of the best emerging talent on the scene.

KT TUNSTALL WITH Rozi Plain & Sam Lewis:
Knocknarea Arena, Sligo IT @ 8.00pm.  Tickets €28.00

Special Guests SAM LEWIS and ROZI PLAIN will join KT TUNSTALL for a fully seated intimate concert which will take place in Sligo’s newest venue; IT Sligo’s Knocknarea Arena on Friday, 28th October 2011.   KT Tunstall’s hit songs include “Black Horse and The Cherry Tree” which brought her into the public eye on Later…with Jools Holland and the upbeat and infectious song “Suddenly I See”.  KT Tunstall is the first of many Scottish acts announced to celebrate the Sligo festival’s link with Glasgow’s Celtic Connections.    KT TUNSTALL has enjoyed commercial and critical success since, picking up three nominations before winning a BRIT Award, and a Grammy Award nomination. She is also a recipient of an Ivor Novello Award. She has released three studio albums internationally: Eye to the Telescope (2004); Drastic Fantastic (2007) and Tiger Suit (2010) .  In this show, she is revisiting her roots with a solo performance, bringing out her charismatic character which initially brought her fame.

SAM LEWIS’ music has a unique modern sound; a heady mix of soulful vocals, heartfelt passionate lyrics with tinges of blues, country, folk and soul, all played with a vitality that is fast becoming his trade mark style: truly unique and beautiful.   After being taught to play the guitar at the age of 11 by his musical Father, Sam’s big break came after meeting KT Tunstall in a Willsden Park, a meeting that led to him becoming her guitar player for her world tours 2004 – 2009. He has also performed with Tom Baxter, Duffy and Dani Sicilliano.

ROZI PLAIN:  Behold the wonderfully intimate and human songcraft of Rozi Plain, born Rosalind Leyden in the leafy-greens of Winchester 25 years ago.  Having moved to Bristol, set up the Cleaner Records collective with a collection of musical friends and family and released her debut album “Inside Over Here” on King Creosote’s Fence Records in late-2008, Rozi has been busy bringing her beautiful, enchantingly brittle and understated music to the people.    Whether alone with guitar or joined by an assembly of her regular co-conspirators her songs possess a certain fragile magnetism that can hush the gabblers in the drawing of a breath, and make any room seem like home.     The rare and humble pleasures of Rozi’s live show have led to tours across Europe, the UK & USA with notables including Devendra Banhart (who fell for “Inside Over Here” and named it one of his albums of last year), James Yorkston and Viking Moses, and appearances at festivals such as Green Man, End Of The Road, Shambala and Fence Record’s flagship event Homegame.

HAYSEED DIXIE & FESTIVAL ARTISTS:
3 Stage Festival Club, The Model @ 11.00pm.  Tickets €19.00

Always pushing boundaries in extreme and often absurd ways, Bluegrass Rockers Hayseed Dixie return, full of pith, vinegar and a redneck appetite for destruction.  Having bluegrassed the hell out of AC/DC and Kiss, to name but a couple of mighty desecrated rock institutions, the Appalachian Hellraisers aim to “drink, cheat, kill and earn our place in hell”.  Hayseed Dixie created the musical genre “Rockgrass” fusing hard rock covers from the likes of AC/DC, Kiss and Motorhead with seriously good Bluegrass picking and harmonies.  Hailing from the Appalachian Mountains of the Southeastern United States, the band consists of Barley Scotch – vocals, guitar and fiddle; Reverend Don Wayne Reno – bango and vocals; Deacon Dale Reno – mandolin, guitar and vocals, and Jake “Bakesnake” Byers – bass and vocals.  Having sold over 500,000 records worldwide the band has played almost every major European festival, including a Main Stage appearance at Glastonbury.  The perform a mixture of cover versions of hard rock songs and original compositions in a style that is a unique fusion of bluegrass and rock music.  Their set ranges from the Metal bands listed to Queen, The Beatles, and their own original music which is a whole different and very funny take on life.

Sligo Live Festival Club is an exciting new concept this year with three separate music areas occupying the full ground floor of Model off the atrium bar.  The Black Box will rock to the Club headliners, followed by roots mixes.  On the Acoustic Stage Billy Fitzgerald will host a stream of festival artists who have played in other venues, giving a flavour of the breadth and depth of talent on offer in Sligo Live.  The Session Space anchored by the three Friel Sisters from Glasgow, will welcome a host of Irish and Scottish musicians and festival goers whose interests are more traditional.  The real craic will be moving from area to area sampling the variety of sounds on offer.

Masters of Tradition: SEAMUS BEGLEY & TIM EDEY and MAURICE LENNON:
Model Acoustic Stage @ 9.30pm.  Tickets €10.00

Accordion player and singer Seamus Begley hails from the west Kerry Gaeltacht.  A farmer, Seamus has a puckish sense of humour and an indefatigable love of music and song who can light up any room with his personality and presence.  He plays the polkas, slides and jigs of his native region and can silence a room with his heartrending songs.  Begley is a man secure in his own sense of self and place to imbue the tunes with his own stamp and colour them with his personality.  He is joined by the dynamic guitar player Tim Edey, whose musical understanding of Seamus’ music is informed by his own excellence as an accordion player.  Their combination makes for exhilarating entertainment.

Leitrim fiddle player Maurice Lennon, (Stockton’s Wing) has always had a very strong connection to Sligo.  After leaving Summerhill College in 1977, Maurice became one of the youngest ever All-Ireland Senior fiddle title winners.  He joined Stockton’s Wing and has remained a professional musician ever since, working with legendary artists like John Prine, Sean Keane, Liam Clancy, Sharon Shannon and Donal Lunny.  As a composer, Maurice Lennon’s music has been recorded by numerous performers including Lunasa, Solas, The Nova Scotia Symphony Orchestra, Cherish the Ladies, and Four Men and a Dog.

Weekend tickets are the perfect solution for those making a weekend of it as they guarantee admission to Elvis Costello and KT Tunstall, as well as Hayseed Dixie, Oddsocks Revival, The Barley Mob, Matt Molloy, John Carty, Arty McGlynn, and THE UNWANTED and Rachel Sermanni Band and Admiral Fallow, The Staves, The Dirty Beggars, Rura, The JPTrio and Blue Murder Emerald Noir and all Sligo Live performances for only €95.