Hot off the bow

Thanks to Sharon Loughlin for the above photo of Betse Ellis and the Foghorn Duo in action at the Belfast Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival last night; all three are playing today at the Baltimore Fiddle Fair in Co. Cork. Sharon writes:

Just writing to recommend Betse Ellis and the Foghorn Duo to any BIB readers down in Cork. We had a great night last night in Belfast, lots of old-time fiddle music and a mix of material from their new albums. Betse will be touring June/July with the Wilders, and the good news from Caleb is that the Foghorn String Band will be back together in May next year, they have dates organised in England but as yet nothing over here - hope someone can get a few gigs organised, they would love to come back to Ireland. Best wishes for now, wish we could get to Baltimore tonight...

Also at Baltimore are Dirk Powell, Joel Savoy, and Nadine Landry, who were making another classic night last night at the Village in Dublin. Hosted by Prison Love (who deserve the thanks of everyone who was there), the evening was driven by Dirk Powell's powerhouse Cajun accordion playing and singing - he played banjo also on half a dozen old-time numbers.

Powell is a supreme example of the ground shared by the old-time, Cajun, and bluegrass communities; other examples last night were Vera van Heeringen, playing indispensable, self-effacing rhythm guitar (she was on the old-time fiddle course at Sore Fingers Week last month), and Nadine Landry, who was here last autumn as bass player and lead singer with Hungry Hill (Canada). On this trip, Nadine will be joining Sammy Lind and Caleb Klauder to make up the Foghorn Trio.