Countryfest review

Thanks to Sharon Loughrin, who sends

... a wee taste of what we heard yesterday at Countryfest in Dungannon. The festival was a real treat for fans of Irish country, but the only significant bluegrass presence was Ricky Skaggs.

During the 1 hr 20 min. set we listened to country and bluegrass favourites such as 'How mountain girls can love', 'Uncle Pen', and 'Cajun moon'. Tribute was paid to the legacy of Bill Monroe, and Skaggs performed several songs from his recently released CD, Honoring the fathers of bluegrass (I can reccomend this one to bluegrass fans, my copy has been well played!)

Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder put in a very polished performance, well received by the crowd, who didn't let the heavy rain dampen their enthusiasm for the music (Ricky did say he was considering moving to Ireland to make his fortune selling umbrellas and wellies; I'm sure BIB will be first with the news should this happen!)

We did feel the performance was a little more geared towards the country fans: it didn't have that full-blown bluegrass sound with banjo and fiddle solos and lots of mandolin pickin' that we heard at Midlands last year. Despite this, it was great to see one of the big bluegrass names in Ireland again; maybe we'll get a bit more next year if Countryfest is repeated.

By the way, the Ulster American Folk Park girls had a stand this weekend in Dungannon, they tell me tickets are selling fast for the Saturday night concert at the festival up there in Omagh. This concert in particular is a sellout every year; anyone wanting to hear Michael Cleveland etc. should book with Marion soon. Even those travelling up for the weekend pass need to sort this to be sure of a seat on the Saturday night.