Fri. 24th Oct. 2014 – Hawk’s Well Theatre

Ireland’s Folk, Roots & Indie Festival celebrates 10 years of quality music on the Wild Atlantic Way
22nd – 27th October 2014

www.sligolive.ie

One of the most exciting acts on the contemporary British folk scene; Belinda O’Hooley and Heidi Tidow (O’HOOLEY & TIDOW) will feature in an exciting double bill with eclectic Irish folk band, NoCrows as part of Sligo Live Festival on Friday 24th October 2014. The concert, co-produced by the Hawk’s Well will commence at 8pm and tickets are on sale from www.sligolive.ie at €18.  Weekend tickets for all Sligo Live performances, including headliner, Sheryl Crow are on sale from the same site at €116

O’HOOLEY & TIDOW:
O’Hooley and Tidow have forged an enviable reputation in the UK since their formation in 2009. Now extending their reach around Europe, they are accomplished interpreters of everything from Massive Attack to traditional Irish ballads, but it’s their own boundless songwriting and exquisite harmonies that truly shine. They have the originality and skill to invite comparison with celebrated North American harmony duos, from early Simon and Garfunkel to the iconic Kate and Anna McGarrigle. Lyrically and musically, Belinda and Heidi’s powerful, deeply moving, and at times spine-tingling performances are infused with an honesty and empathy that will disarm even the hardest of heart.
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Line-up Includes Scotland Music Showcase and Several Must-See Acts
www.irishfest.com

Milwaukee Irish Fest, the world’s largest celebration of Celtic music and culture, announces their entertainment lineup for the 2014 festival taking place August 14-17 along Milwaukee’s lakefront. With more than 100 acts ranging from fan favorites to emerging talent – plus a Scotland Music Showcase – festival goers will be treated to the “ultimate Celtic playlist.”
“To assemble the ultimate Celtic playlist, we travel the world in search of the finest in Celtic entertainment,” said Patrick Boyle, executive director of Milwaukee Irish Fest who visited Scotland earlier this year. “After seeing many phenomenal bands perform in their home towns, we cannot wait to share their talent with our guests.”
Entertainment highlights for the 2014 festival include:
Fan Favorites
Featured fan favorites back by popular demand include:
·         The Red Hot Chilli Pipers have fast become a global phenomenon, taking their signature “Bagrock” sound to the masses.
·         Gaelic Storm, who is celebrating their fifteenth anniversary of appearing at Milwaukee Irish Fest and is famed for their rousing, energetic shows.
·         The Willis Clan, a family of artists and musicians who merge their Irish roots with other music and dance genres to create a unique blend of the old and new.
·         Carlos Núñez, a master showman and groundbreaking artist from the Galician region of Spain who remains undisputed as the tradition’s greatest piper.
·         Award winning Irish banjo band, We Banjo 3 is renowned for their incredible technical virtuosity and musical innovation.
·         Glasgow-based Manran brings a powerful blend of Gaelic and English traditional music and is the only band to use the Highland and Uillean pipes in one lineup.
·         Scythian, classically trained musicians who began as a group of street performers and went on to become one of the most energetic groups around.
·         The High Kings come from accomplished musical pedigrees and showcase their incredible versatility and skills while bringing a rousing acoustic flavor to new songs as well as old favorites.

Other fan favorites include: Beoga, Black 47, Creel, Different Drums of Ireland, Donal Lunny and Andy Irvine, John Carty, Liz Carroll, Seamus Kennedy, Sean Callaghan, McLean Avenue Band, Skerryvore and Tallymoore.

Bands from Ireland and Northern Ireland
Special bands coming from Ireland and Northern Ireland range from emerging artists to true legends in Irish music. Performers include: Andy Irvine and Donal Lunny, The High Kings, John Carty, Sean Callaghan, Sharon Shannon (new), Socks in the Frying Pan (new), We Banjo 3, Beoga, Different Drums of Ireland and Gráinne Holland (new).
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www.dervish.ie

Legendary Sligo band will perform at the iconic music festival for the first time in their 25 year career

Approaching their 25th year in the music industry Dervish are confirmed to perform live at Glastonbury for the very first time.   The North West based dynamic ensemble have been a formidable festival attraction worldwide for almost a quarter of a century sharing stages with some of the world’s most noted artists.

They say “the older the fiddle the sweeter the tune”, Dervish have built their legendary reputation from humble roots playing at Trad music sessions in their native Sligo to becoming one of the most sought after festival bands in the world today.

Liam Kelly from Dervish said, “There is huge excitement in the band at the thoughts of performing at Glastonbury, it seems that the older the band get the more exciting the offers are that come in and the next year is very exciting with lots of different projects developing for us. In fact we were asked to play at Glastonbury about 17 years ago but we could not take the booking as we had another commitment. We are really looking forward to performing at Glastonbury, roll on the next 25 years” Kelly added.

Just recently Dervish spent the weekend at The Orkney Folk Festival with BBC TV’s Glastonbury presenter Mark Radcliffe who featured Dervish on his show on BBC Radio 2.  Radcliffe also presents a show on BBC Radio 6, and he invited Dervish back to the BBC in August to record a special session to mark the band’s 25th Anniversary.

Other noted artists appearing at Glastonbury this year include, Ed Sheeran, Dolly Parton, Arcade Fire, Robert Plant, Paulo Nutini, Metallica, Massive Attack, Lily Allen the list goes on…………

Dervish perform at The Glastonbury Festival on Saturday June 28th on The Avalon Stage at 15.45pm

Watch this space as Dervish are planning lots of surprises to mark a quarter of a century together later this year

For further information www.dervish.ie

MUSIC NETWORK TO HOST DUBLIN LAUNCH EVENT WEDNESDAY 2 JULY 2014

www.webanjo3.com

“Ultra-talented Irish performers … freshness and finesse bordering on magical” Wall Street Journal

To celebrate the recent release of Gather The Good, the second studio album by the award-winning band We Banjo 3, Music Network are hosting a Dublin launch event in Powerscourt Theatre, Dublin on Wednesday 2nd July 2014. The event is free but has limited capacity. Email admin@musicnetwork.ie for tickets.

Consisting of two pairs of brothers from Galway – David and Martin Howley and Enda and Fergal Scahill – We Banjo 3 have been impressing audiences around the world since the release of their 2012 album Roots of the Banjo Tree (winner of The Irish Times Traditional Album of the Year).
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www.FleadhCheoil.ie

Details have been announced in relation to the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann programme, which will take place in Sligo later on this Summer.

From outdoor concerts on the Gig Rig with Sligo favourites Dervish to a series of Fleadh Fusion events presented by Music Generation to gala concerts such as the Boroimhe and De Cuellar Suites, Fleadh 2014 promises to be a superb mix of concerts, sessions, exhibitions and different eclectic events which will appeal to the broad church of Fleadh visitors to Sligo this August 10th-17th.

Speaking ahead of the official Fleadh Cheoil 2014 launch on June 21st, Chairperson of Fleadh Cheoil 2014 Bartley Gavin said that “Sligo is open to visitors from all over the world this Summer. We think that the Fleadh programme offers something for everyone. The musicians will have scope for playing music on the streets or in the pubs, concerts will cater for a wide range of traditional music fans, and we also want to create a carnival atmosphere in the town to make sure that everyone will return home with great memories, not just of the Fleadh itself, but of Sligo.”
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www.thewillisclan.com

The Willis Clan’s highly anticipated sophomore album Chapter Two – Boots is now available. The original songs and tunes will be showcased this year in the band’s live performances at festivals all across America starting with Silver Dollar City and Dollywood’s BBQ and Bluegrass festivals.

Following up Chapter One – Roots, their award–winning Irish album, The Clan presents the other side of their heritage. Straight from Nashville, this album explores their bluegrass and old time country roots. Seeing that bluegrass music originally came from Celtic music, the two genres are really just two brothers separated by time and a pretty big ocean. Each brother has a different way of looking at music. One is not better than the other; they are just different – yet still related. And in keeping with The Willis Clan tradition, they blend some new in with the old. Every tradition needs to breathe to stay alive.

Irish fans will be able to get this new album at Irish festivals this summer where The Willis Clan will be playing. Don’t miss Ohio Celtic Festival in Painesville, OH; Dublin Irish Festival in Dublin, OH and Milwaukee Irish Festival in Milwaukee, WI. The Willis Clan will also be playing many state and county fairs.

For the complete schedule check www.thewillisclan.com

www.cranmusic.com

A mere 12 years since the release of Music from the Edge of the World, musical Jedi Knights CRAN strode fearlessly into the studio this spring of 2014. They stumbled back out a fortnight later, exhausted and bleary–eyed but content, grasping the master CD of Dally and Stray – the 5th in their series of white–knuckle musical adventures which began in 1993 with the cult CD The Crooked Stair.

On this outing, their adventure spoils include such gems as northern songs Next Market Day, The Forger’s Farewell & Tá Mé ‘Mo Shuí, a clapping song from the Scottish waulking song tradition O Cò Bheir Mi Leam and interestingly, the first modern–day recordings of two songs collected by Patrick Lynch and Edward Bunting around 1800: Tú Fhéin is Mé Fhéin & Giolla na Scríob which both display an open non–salacious attitude to sexual matters uncommon even now in our so–called modern liberal society!

As ever with CRAN, the melodic material on this CD is no less interesting – haunting slow airs Úna Bhán & Barbara Allen, ancient marches Hunt the Squirrel & Drocketty’s, perky single jigs Ask my Father & Pat Ward’s, the rousing Knockaboul single reel and the pipes ‘piece’ The Humours of Glin along with electrifying jigs and reels. As with their previous 4 CD’s, Dally and Stray displays copious amounts of the 3 W’s: Warmth, Wit and Wonder…!

Distributed by Claddagh Records, it is available on www.cranmusic.com and can be downloaded from iTunes, Spotify & Amazon etc.

The Online Academy of Irish Music
www.oaim.ie

The Online Academy of Irish Music is pleased to announce a series of beginner Irish music courses taught through the French language. Tutors Jean Damei (Guitar) and Gwenn Frin (Whistle)  clearly present how to play their instruments in a series of twelve tutorials to a French audience. Gwenn has studied Irish music at Ballyfermot Senior college for two years and Jean Damei is currently completing his Masters in Irish Music Performance at The University of Limerick. More French tutorials are coming soon as well as a brand new Concertina course taught by Edel Fox.

Online Lessons also available for flute, fiddle, whistle, accordion, harp, mandolin, bouzouki, song, uilleann pipes, banjo, bodhrán, piano and concertina.

Join OAIM’s global community of Irish musicians, log on to www.oaim.ie and sign up today!

www.kevinmaddenmusic.com

Manchester fiddler Kevin Madden has recently launched his debut album The Sugar Loaf in the month of May. Kevin is an All–Ireland Senior champion from 1996 and has been very busy over the years on the Comhaltas scene both playing in sessions and competitions, as well as teaching many children in his hometown of Manchester.

The tune listing on the CD includes some great traditional standards as well as some of the more modern tunes but keeping to a very traditional style. This has clearly been influenced by the people he listened to whilst growing up in the big traditional scene in Manchester. The inspiration for the CD came as he had been playing for 40 years and thought it was about time he put something down. Tradconnect have had the pleasure of listening to the album and have stated “it is something special with a classic sound reminiscent of some earlier albums by Kathleen Collins and Josephine Keegan and this sets it apart from anything released of late.”
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Chris Stout (fiddle), Catriona McKay (Scottish harp) and Séamus Begley (accordion, voice) (Scotland/Ireland)

September 16th – 25th, 2014

www.musicnetwork.ie

“Sonically exquisite” – The Guardian on Stout and McKay

“The interplay between Stout’s fiddle and McKay’s harp was frequently dazzling and complemented by a palpable delight in the music, as tunes whizzed off into mercurial excursions…”  – The Scotsman

“This master of the squeeze box… The Cuas man’s voice is a joy.”  – The Irish Times on Séamus Begley

For the past 20 years, Catriona McKay and Chris Stout have captivated audiences with their exhilarating and virtuosic live performances: the cascading rhythms of McKay’s harp dovetailing perfectly with Stout’s swooping, soulful violin. Their unique sound, a celebration of music from the Northern Isles, imbues everything from Shetland reels to Swedish waltzes with a wonderfully atmospheric, almost cinematic quality.
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