Special gig series at Westport, Co. Mayo

Westport's own: the MacEvillys (Sarah and Hubie), who will appear with Tim Rogers in the new gig series

Uri Kohen, organiser of the Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival (26-8 June 2009), reports:

Electric Cave Productions, in association with Geraghty’s pub (the Octagon, Westport) is proud to announce a series of monthly gigs to promote the 3rd Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival. The gigs will be free to the public, but we hope to raise some very needed funds for the festival.

*The first gig will take place on 13 March: we will host David Hope from Shannon, and he will be joined by one of Mayo's top musicians, Tommy Lyons from Balla. The gig will showcase the unique sound of folk with touches of bluegrass.

*On Saturday 18 April we will welcome the MacEvillys with special guest appearance from Tim Rogers. Together they provide a superb bluegrass concert, and they are sure to bring the house down.

*The next gig will be on Saturday 23 May. For that date we will give the stage to a fantastic singer-songwriter from Derry – Eilidh Patterson. She will come to Westport after a small tour in the USA, and on the back of releasing her first album.

*On Thursday 28 May we will host in Westport for the first time Hat Fitz; he is coming to us after three years in the Castelbar Blues Festival, where he got an army of fans.

*On the last weekend of June we will have Stevie - One Bloke One Mandolin. He will play on Friday 26 June as part of the Folk and Bluegrass Festival.

*When the dust settles after the festival we will host Gary Ferguson (USA), joined by Colin Henry from Belfast. They are touring Ireland for the third year running, and we are very proud to be included in their tour this year.

All these gigs are part of our new movement to bring fresh sounds to Westport and to give the people of Mayo a taste of other voices. Hope to see you turning out in big numbers to support us and help us continue this project!