David Hope & the Henchmen at Westport

(L-r) Donal Heavey, Eoin Jordan, David Hope, David Murphy

Uri Kohen reports from Westport, Co. Mayo:

Last Saturday (27.2.2010) we struck gold in Westport once again. As part of the unfinished music series in Geraghty's pub we invited to the stage David Hope & the Henchmen. David performed in the pub several times in the past with different outfits, and proved to be well loved by the Westport people.

Recently David joined forces with the Henchmen, and together they master their own unique sound, playing at least ten different instruments between them. They perform original music and classic folk numbers by the likes of Dylan, Young, and Cash.

We in the Electric Cave Production like their show so much that we invited them to be the opening act on the main stage of this year's Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival.

Bending the Strings at the Greville Arms Bluegrass Sessions

The weekly Saturday night Bluegrass Sessions at the Greville Arms Hotel in Mullingar continue with great success.

Last Saturday (20 Feb.) saw Bluegrass and Western Swing trio Bending the Strings (above) take the stage to a very warm welcome from a large audience. Bluegrass is a very new and different music in the Mullingar venue, and the audience loved the high-energy set from the trio.

Martin Cooney's amazing chops on 5-string banjo thrilled the crowd, who made it clear that they loved every minute of Martin's brilliant delivery on tunes as well known as the Scruggs classic 'Foggy Mountain breakdown' to the Deliverance theme 'Duelling banjos' to his own composition of 'Hesitation', and left no one in any doubt as to why this man is so often hailed as one of the greatest exponents of the 5-string banjo.

On guitar, Vinny Baker played some great Doc Watson tunes like 'Black Mountain rag' and the Monroe classic 'Roanoke', which went down a storm; and then of course the band member who never fails to impress with her unique mastery of the music is Moyra Fraser on piano - which in itself is an unusual part of a bluegrass band, but very much the sound associated with Bending the Strings, and it's this difference which makes the trio stand out from other bluegrass outfits. Moyra, being no ordinary piano player, makes the music her own on her instrument and her high vocal harmonies add the very sound so necessary for this style.

All in all it was a great performance by the trio and their return in a couple of weeks will be looked forward to by the large crowd.

Next Saturday, 6 Mar., sees Athy band Woodbine at the Greville Bluegrass Sessions and this promises to be a great night - Woodbine made a big impression on the Mullingar audiences when they played The Stables recently with Bending the Strings. If you are looking for a great night out with great music, don't look any further than the Greville Arms Bluegrass Sessions every Saturday night.

As noted earlier this week, Tom Hanway & his Bluegrass Pals are playing the Greville Arms tonight (27 Feb.).

Alan Lomax films on FolkStream

A while ago, Jan Michielsen of 4 Wheel Drive (who will be playing in Ireland in just over a month's time) drew our attention to the treasury of films available on the FolkStreams website. Now FOAOTMAD, in its latest mailout, has noted that one of these, filmed by the late Alan Lomax, is Appalachian journey, which traces the development of mountain music from ballads and fiddle-and-banjo duets (both black and white) through to the emergence of bluegrass and team clogging.

Also among the Lomax films available is Dreams and songs of the noble old, which includes ten minutes or so of the immortal Tommy Jarrell among its many other treasures. Both films are about 57 minutes long and very much worth seeing.

Update 27 Feb. By chance, today another film on FolkStreams has been drawn to our notice: It ain't city music, shot by Tom Davenport in Warrenton, VA, at the National Country Music Contests of 1971 and 1972. Practically everything heard is bluegrass, mostly from offstage jams. This 15-minute film has already influenced the BIB editor's approach to playing 'Foggy Mountain breakdown'.

New releases on Rural Rhythm

Rural Rhythm Records continue their programme of releasing some of the best bluegrass to be heard today, as well as reissuing on CD some of the classic LPs that appeared on the label (and elsewhere) decades ago. Two current or imminent releases, for instance, are Southern by Bill Emerson & Sweet Dixie and Cryin' heart blues by Audie Blaylock & Redline, while reissues include Reno & Smiley, the Stanley Brothers, Mac Wiseman, Lester Flatt & Chubby Wise... the list goes on. The latest news from Rural Rhythm can be seen here.

Bluegrass and Irish music in Bulgaria for St Patrick's day

Lilly of the West, the only bluegrass band in Bulgaria, will perform at the Sofia City Art Gallery on 16 March, joined by Paul O'Shaughnessy (fiddle) and Larry Egan (accordion) as special guests from Ireland. Paul O’Shaughnessy has been a member of Altan for several years. Larry Egan is featured on the acclaimed Kitchen recordings.

Lilly of the West will feature Lilly Drumeva (vocal, guitar, fiddle); Yasen Vasilev (guitar); Svoboda Bozduganova (upright bass); Michail Shishkov (piano, dobro guitar). Lilly Drumeva has visited Ireland often and has performed at the Athy festival and other events.

The concert is part of the Sofia Municipality Chamber Concert series. For further information please see Upcoming Events on the Irish Embassy website or contact Lilly Drumeva by e-mail. Lilly's original announcement (with band photo and St Patrick's Day decorations) can be read here.

Tom Hanway & his Bluegrass Pals return to the Greville Arms, Sat. 27 Feb. 2010

Tom with the Father of Bluegrass

Tom Hanway & his Bluegrass Pals play the Greville Arms Hotel – Ulysses – in Mullingar on Saturday 27 February, 10.00 p.m. The band plays their unique blend of bluegrass, newgrass, and alt-country music. This is their second appearance at the Greville Arms and they are expecting another packed house in Mullingar's premier hotel. Two weeks ago the band played two sets, stretching their second set an extra half hour, then an encore, then another. The band is building a loyal following one show at a time. Big fun!

Tom's MySpace
Major download stores: shown here

Gerry O'Connor - tour to launch new CD

Thanks to Chris Keenan for reporting the following:

BANJO TOUR! Hailed by the Wall Street Journal as 'the best ever banjoist in the history of Irish music', Gerry O'Connor will be on tour beginning March, in support of his most recent recording, High up - low down. The new CD features Gerry's unique treatment of Irish traditional music, American bluegrass, and ground-breaking new compositions.

Gerry's tour begins on Tues. 2 March at Whelan's in Dublin. Performing with him at Whelan's will be well renowned guitarist Tim Edey. Tickets €22. Doors open 8.00 p.m. Not to be missed!

The above photo shows Gerry O'Connor (standing, centre) in the finale of the 2008 Johnny Keenan Banjo Festival in Longford; other banjoists visible are Barney McKenna, Peter Wernick, and Bill Whelan of the Rough Deal String Band. Chris Keenan, who founded and organises the festival, was among those taking part in the recent European Bluegrass Summit.

Bluegrass jam sessions on video

Thanks to Denis Hayes, who writes:

Readers might be interested in this link to Eddie Adcock's site, where there are about 50 videos of jam sessions on of this year's bluegrass shows. Some nice playing in it.

Dangem Banjo Camp, 26-28 Feb. 2010 - and more

The BIB editor reports:

Well, our Dangem Banjo Camp prize quiz, announced on the BIB last Saturday, appears to have been successful in frightening off any potential contestants. Or perhaps the questions were too easy? Either way, no one ventured to send in an entry.

This has, fortunately, absolutely no effect on the Dangem Banjo Camp itself, which will be held next weekend (26-28 Feb.) at Corr's Corner Hotel, Newtownabbey, Co. Antrim, with John Dowling and Michael Ash as the teachers. Full details are on the Dangem website. As the Camp is being held this month, the next Lisburn monthly bluegrass get-together hosted by Dangem will be on Saturday 27 March 2010, beginning 9.30-10.00 a.m. and running to 12.00 noon.

************

Answers to at least one of our questions could have been found in Jim Mills's fine book Gibson Mastertone flathead 5-string banjos, which should be in every banjo geek's library. The publishers, Centerstream, have kept editing to a minimum (so the reader is in effect hearing Mills's own voice throughout), the photos are splendid, and the details of these historic instruments are invaluable. Several long-standing myths are overturned or challenged.

My only doubt at present (and it's a very minor one) comes in the chapter on the 'African Queen', a 1936 RB-3 which has spent most of its life in South Africa being played plectrum-style. It was sold in Johannesburg in 1944/5 for 'around 45 pounds (approx. $40 US)'. Now: I gather that the South African pound was then equivalent to the pound sterling, and £45 would have been worth just over $180 US in 1944/5. Even so, not a bad price for such an instrument, which was in excellent condition over sixty years later...

************

Other goodies: Tower Records in Wicklow St., Dublin 2, now has a display stand specially for Smithsonian Folkways records, whose catalogue includes many distinguished bluegrass and old-time recordings at good prices.

Tupelo at the Village, Dublin, TOMORROW

Thanks to Kevin Duffy, fiddler for Tupelo, who reports:

We played the Vibe of Philo tribute at the start of January and supported Finbar Furey in Kilkenny a few weeks ago.

Coming up we've got our big gig in the Village [26 Wexford St., Dublin 2] on 20 February, tomorrow night. It's the biggest venue we'll have played by ourselves, so we are looking at ways to get as much promotion as possible. Doors open at 7.30, and if it's anything like the last time we've played there when we played the week we had the Top 10, it's going to be some night... We've got the River Valley Band [Kilkenny] supporting us, so it promises to be a great night regardless.

BIB editor's note: If the late Jimmy Martin, 'King of Bluegrass', had seen Tupelo in action, he would probably have said something like: 'Now what those boys are playing is not bluegrass music. But they know how to give everything they've got and make the people glad they're there, and that's what I've always tried to do.'

2nd 'Berklee in Dublin' - apply SOON!

Thanks to Nick Balkin of Berklee College of Music, Boston, Mass., for this welcome news:

Boston's renowned Berklee College of Music presents its second annual 'Berklee in Dublin' event, a week of improvisation workshops and scholarship auditions, 5-11 April 2010, at Newpark Music Centre, Newtownpark Avenue, Blackrock, Co. Dublin.

The application deadline is Friday 19 March. Apply here.

Ties between Berklee and Ireland have never been stronger. Dublin native Matt Halpin is the recipient of Berklee's highest honor, the full-ride Presidential Scholarship, and is an inaugural member of the Berklee Global Jazz Institute, the college's new center for musical creativity and global activism. Grammy-winning Riverdance composer Bill Whelan serves on Berklee's board of trustees. In 2007, U2's The Edge was awarded an honorary degree by the college.

Nick Balkin
Publicist
Berklee College of Music
+1-617-747-2247
Twitter
e-mail

As mentioned in the BIB posts of March and April 2009, Berklee covers improvisation in all genres of music and has a distinguished and strongly bluegrass-friendly faculty.

Update 23 Feb.: The teenage mandolin phenomenon Sierra Hull is now in the first year of her presidential scholarship at Berklee. A snatch of her new DVD on AcuTab is on the Bluegrass Blog today.

Niall Toner Band to take part in '65s for Burma' concert

Thanks to Niall Toner, who reports:

NTB will be playing the National Concert Hall in Dublin on Saturday 19 June 2010, along with Christy Moore, Deirdre Purcell, Keith Donald, and others as part of the '65s for Burma' concert, celebrating the 65th birthday of Aung San Suu Kyi.

NTB will also be doing three nights at Bewley's Cafe in Grafton Street around the same time, and I'll confirm those dates as soon as they are carved in stone.

Aung San Suu Kyi is a Nobel Peace Prize winner (1992) and Freewoman of Dublin and Galway. The concert will include performances and readings from those Niall mentions plus Eamon Dunphy, Fiachra Trench, Carmel McCreagh, Brendan Graham, Noel Eccles, and more. Tickets €45/€35/€20 from the National Concert Hall box office, by telephone (01 4170000) or on-line.

All proceeds from this concert will go to Burma Action Ireland to aid their continuing efforts to raise awareness for the violent military oppression suffered by the people of Burma.

Keith Donald explains: 'As a member of Burma Action Ireland, I always felt a connection with Aung San Suu Kyi because we are the same age. Then I realised that I knew several people who would also be 65 this year. The idea for a concert to support her and the cause of a free and democratic Burma was then a no-brainer, even for an ould fella! The fact that her birthday falls on a Saturday when there's not much on in the World Cup means that the gods are smiling on this concert!'

Further information on Burma Action Ireland is here. For a deeper insight into the issues in Burma, see Burma VJ, 2010 Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary Feature.

Homespun's latest sale extended 24 hours

The latest in the ongoing series of sales from Homespun Tapes is their President's Day sale: fifteen DVDs - by artists including Mike Seeger, Bob Carlin, Dan Crary, Chris Thile, and Jay Ungar - are going for $10 off their regular price. Full details are here.

The President's Day sale has now been extended a further 24 hours and ends at midnight on Tuesday 16 Feb. 2010. (It does not apply to downloads.) It's worth keeping informed of what's on the Homespun website.

Clive Barnes at Westport

Uri Kohen of Electric Cave Production reports from Westport, Co. Mayo, on the most recent gig in the series leading up to this year's Westport Folk & Bluegrass Festival:

A few months ago, a friend asked me if I'd heard about Clive Barnes. 'You should check his music; he's brilliant', the friend added. And so I did, and I booked his gig to the 'Unfinished Music Series' in Geraghty's pub.

Last night (Saturday) Clive played a superb gig in Westport. I didn't know how good it was going to be, but I now know it's just as good as it gets. The music was great and left the fans asking for more. Once again we enjoyed great music in Westport, and I would highly recommend going to see Clive in concert.

See you at our next gig on 27 February with David Hope & the Henchmen.

The BIB's Dangem Banjo Camp prize quiz

Thanks to Derek Lockhart of Dangem Bluegrass Banjo of Craigavon, Co. Armagh, who has offered BIB readers the opportunity to win a place on the Dangem Banjo Camp which is due to be held in two weeks' time. Full details of the Camp appeared on the BIB on 1 February and can be seen on the Dangem website.

The prize is full tuition for one person at the Banjo Camp (accommodation not included), and two tickets to the show on the Saturday evening.

Our quiz comprises the following three questions by the BIB editor:

1) One particular bluegrass banjo is as significant an instrument as Bill Monroe's mandolin. Name two of the musicians who have owned it.

2) On which recording was Earl Scruggs first heard playing his 'blues' licks?

3) Who invented 'melodic' bluegrass banjo playing?

Answers must be sent by e-mail to the BIB editor, to arrive not later than 10.00 a.m. (GMT) on Friday 19 February, and must be accompanied by a name and contact phone number. The editor's decision as to the most satisfactory answers is final. The winner will be announced on the BIB within 24 hours after the deadline.

Tom Hanway & his Bluegrass Pals in Mullingar TONIGHT

Tom Hanway (right) with fellow banjo legend Butch Robins at Derry (photo: Denise Hanway)
Tom Hanway & his Bluegrass Pals play the Greville Arms Hotel in Mullingar tonight, Saturday 13 February, 10.00 p.m. The band plays their unique blend of bluegrass, newgrass, and alt-country music. This is their first appearance at the Greville Arms and they are expecting a fantastic night in Mullingar's premier hotel.

Personnel:
Tom Hanway (guitar/vocals)
Well known in bluegrass, folk, blues, country, and rock circles for his ability to shift between styles and instruments, Tom began playing the 5-string banjo in 1985 and soon established himself as one of New York City’s most creative banjo players and composers. He has helped folk, bluegrass, rock, and country artists on dozens of recordings on both sides of the Atlantic.

Barry Coffey (guitar/vocals)
Barry Coffey grew up in the country area outside Mullingar in the '80s and '90s and was involved in music from the age of 16. He has played with many top Irish bands through the years and co-formed the Whiskey River Band in 2004. Barry’s songwriting is decidedly influenced by American music, especially country, bluegrass, blues, southern rock, and jazz.

Howard Whelan (mandolin/guitar/vocals)
Howard is a talented multi-instrumentalist and is adept on guitar, mandolin, and fiddle. He is also a fine singer. Howard is a great exponent of acoustic music ranging from Irish traditional to bluegrass and folk. His influences include Tim O'Brien, Ricky Skaggs, the Saw Doctors, and the Chieftains.

Justin Whelan (bass/vocals)
Justin was a founding member of the Marbles band back in the late 1990s. They received critical acclaim and released several successful albums. His influences include the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, and Led Zeppelin, to name but a few. In recent years he has developed a love for hard-driving acoustic music and especially bluegrass. With his solid rock influence he gives the band a powerful newgrass edge.

Pete Mulkearns (fiddle/vocals)
Pete 'saws' the fiddle with the Pals, also playing mandolin and guitar. Pete has worked with the Firehouse Show Band and the New Smokies. He is an ardent country music fan and one of Ireland’s top exponents of country and bluegrass fiddling.

Contact: Tom Hanway
Home: 043-33-46340
Mobile: 087-204-7926
e-mail

The Lindisfarne guitar

Bill Monroe, with his respect for the 'ancient tones', might approve of this 'Hiberno-Saxon' influence on a modern American instrument.

Larry Robinson of California is an acknowledged master of inlay work on musical instruments. His latest project is inspired by one of the art treasures of the so-called 'Dark Ages' - the Book of Lindisfarne, a copy of the Four Gospels, written and illuminated by Bishop Eadfrith (d. 721) of Lindisfarne, north-east England.

Robinson studied Eadfrith's style and technique in minute detail before translating the scribe's artistry into inlay on a guitar. Part of the back is shown in this photo; more photos of the work in progress are here. Thanks to the Bluegrass Blog for this news.

Pinecastle Records

The Pinecastle Records company has now ceased operation, as a result of the ill-health of its founder, Col. Tom Riggs. Arrangements are in progress for transferring the sale of existing Pinecastle recordings to other hands.

The label had an impressive roster of recording artists, of which the best known to Irish audiences is the Special Consensus, whose 35th anniversary album was scheduled to appear on Pinecastle this year. Today the original Bluegrass Blog carries a report on the closure, including a statement by Greg Cahill on his long tenure with the label. Greg's statement and the rest of the Bluegrass Blog report can be read here.

I Draw Slow at the Cobblestone, Dublin, 12 Feb.

Dave Holden of I Draw Slow reports:

Following their highly successful Scandinavian tour, I Draw Slow play their first Irish show of the new year in the Cobblestone, Smithfield, tomorrow (Friday 12 February) Hope to see you there. Doors 8.30 p.m.; €10.

KAM Mardi Gras update

Following the BIB post of 30 Jan., Pete Lamb reports from Kinvara, Co. Galway, on behalf of KAM, the Kinvara Area Music Collective:

Just a brief Mardi Gras update: Clare FM's Pat Costello came down to Connolly's pub in Kinvara last night to record a session to promote the KAM Mardi Gras this Saturday, 13 Feb. The session featured Gone To Grass, who are on the bill on Saturday, and Mad Uncle Harry, an old-timey/folk band who aren't playing the Mardi Gras, but will be playing a regular KAM gig soon; details below. Highlights of the session will be broadcast on Pat Costello's regular Friday evening Clare FM show 'Wheels of the World' this Friday (12 Feb.) at approx. 7.30 p.m.

Other upcoming KAM gigs listed below. Apart from the Mardi Gras, which will take place in Kinvara Community Centre, all other KAM gigs will take place in Johnston's Hall, Main St., Kinvara. Further details available on KAM website.

Sat. 20 Mar. Haiti fundraiser featuring The Lantanas (songwriting duo) and Ain't Misbehavin (jazz trio) plus others TBC
Sat. 3 Apr. Mad Uncle Harry
Sat. 17 Apr. The Molly Hicks
Sat. 1 May 'A haven of song': Paul Mulligan presents 'Songwriters in the round' (benefit gig for the Haven Partnership, a building programme in Haiti); songwriters TBC
Sat. 15 May Errol Walsh
Sat. 29 May Jackie Daly and John Faulkner

4 Wheel Drive in Ireland, Easter 2010 - and L'Angelus

Andy Peters is bringing those perennial favourites 4 Wheel Drive (D/NL/B) to Ireland over the Easter period and is looking to book some additional shows for them. They are already scheduled to play the Bronte Music Club in Rathfriland, Co. Down, on Good Friday, and the Ulster American Folk Park at Omagh, Co. Tyrone, on Easter Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Dates are sought for them for the rest of the week. Promoters, club owners, and event organisers wishing to book this outstanding band should contact Andy by e-mail.

Andy adds:

If you get a chance, go and see L'Angelus [left] from Layfette, Louisiana. They are a Cajun band and just incredible. They are playing the Seamus Ennis Centre in Naul on Sat. 20 Feb., the Crane Bar in Galway on Wed. 24 Feb., Colfer's Bar in Carrig-on-Bannow on 25 Feb., Knocklofty House in Clonmel on 26 Feb., and then it's back up the road to play the Lodge in Castlewellan, Co. Down, on Sat. 27th and the Bronte Music Club in Rathfriland, Co. Down, finishing off the tour on Tuesday 2 Mar. at the Hawk's Well Theatre in Sligo.

They have free dates on Monday 22 Feb., Tuesday 23 Feb., and Mon. 1 Mar.

Sore Fingers Week (5-9 April 2010): latest news

If you're thinking of attending Europe's premier bluegrass/old-time instrument instruction course, here's an update from the Sore Fingers Week organisers:

The old-time classes are doing reasonably well but are still low on numbers, especially the fiddle. If you are planning to book, please let us know of your commitment as soon as possible please. We could do with about seven fiddle students and five banjo students to make things work out.

Bluegrass fiddle is looking a bit sad as well this year, and if you fancy learning how to play the fiddle without retuning every five minutes (no offence intended towards the OT fiddlers!), why not have a go with Brian Wicklund on the bluegrass fiddle course. Brian is a great teacher.

Other courses that could do with a boost are singing (Chris Stuart and Janet Beazley), Bass (with Eric Thorin) and Autoharp (with Cathy Britell).

Stewart Williams has had to pull out of teaching this year due to personal reasons outside of his control. We will be replacing him with a small team of tutors but the course will be taught as a group.

Finally, I’m pleased to announce that Mike Compton has agreed to take on a second class of mandolin players. Mike is probably one of the best exponents of 'old-time' mandolin playing around; and if you play the instrument in an old-time setting, he comes highly recommended.

In closing, I just want to remind people that we are able to run classes with low numbers as those that fill up (like bluegrass banjo for instance) allow us to offset the losses. That is what has happened in the past when old-time classes have not attracted enough students. But with a recession and people quite understandably worried about their jobs, bookings are generally down across the board, that cross subsidy is less available to us. So we do need your continued support.

Thanks in advance,

John & Moira

Slade stomp

The current tour by guitar wizard Beppe Gambetta (I) culminates this weekend at the 1st Inishowen International Guitar Festival. Anyone who has seen and heard him during the tour will appreciate what Clem O'Brien said on stage last weekend at the Colfer's American Country, Bluegrass, and Roots Music Festival - that he is one of the outstanding guitarists who have taken flat-picking to the heights it has now reached.

Beppe remains very conscious of the music's roots and the sounds that first excited and influenced him. This emerges both in his stage shows and in his 'most bluegrassy album', Slade stomp (2006), each track of which is dedicated to one or more of his guitar heroes - including Doc Watson, Charles Sawtelle (the title track), Woody Guthrie, Charlie Waller, Mark O'Connor, Norman Blake, and Clarence White. More details are on the Beppe Gambetta website.

The far edge of bluegrass

Thanks to Ry Cavanaugh (left), from New England and currently living in Culdaff, Co. Donegal, through June 2010, who writes:

I'm running an acoustic event called 'Shindig Thursdays at McGrory's'.

I'm also in a band called Session Americana which will be touring in Ireland 29 April-10 May, venues and dates forthcoming. We're pretty far out on the rock/pop edge, but with some bluegrass credibility in the lineup - the mandolin player is from The Resophonics and The Benders. He also wrote 'I want to be ready' from a Ronnie Arbo record. I was briefly in the Wayfaring Strangers with Tony Trischka, Matt Glaser, Andy Statman... and a tune on their first record. The Session is a rock band with elements of country, pop, r+b, jazz, and Texas swing - but we do sit around 'one mic', play acoustic instruments, and sing a lot!

Athy 2010 lineup announced

High Plains Tradition

The Athy Bluegrass Music Association website is now being refurbished and will be fully operational again next week. Thanks to Tony O'Brien for sending the lineup for the Twentieth Athy Bluegrass Festival (8-11 July 2010): High Plains Tradition (USA), Woodbine, Niall Toner Band, Bending the Strings, Southern Bluegrass Union, Bluestack Mountain Boys, Tom Hanway & his Bluegrass Pals, Well Enough Alone, and the Sullivan Bros & Brand New Companions. Tony adds:

This is the full and final lineup, and all details will shortly be on the website.

As the photo shows, the fiddle and banjo players for High Plains Tradition are Bobbie Vickery and Mark Leslie, who played at Athy 2009 as members of the Bluegrass Patriots, the senior band in their home state of Colorado.

Brian and Noreen McGrane in road crash

We learn with great regret that Brian and Noreen McGrane, of the McGrane Family of Booterstown, Co. Dublin, were returning by car a week ago from a show at Ballymore Eustace, Co. Kildare, when they were involved in a road accident at Brittas and suffered severe and extensive injuries, including broken and fractured bones. They are under treatment in the Tallaght Hospital.

Brian will have an operation soon, and both he and Noreen will need long recuperation. Messages of sympathy can be sent to them at the hospital (official title: The Adelaide & Meath Hospital Dublin, Incorporating The National Children's Hospital, Tallaght, Dublin 24; general phone number (01) 414 2000). Brian is in Franks Ward, and Noreen in the adjacent Lynn Ward. Visiting hours are 2.00-4.00 p.m. and 6.30-8.30 p.m.

The Wednesday session at the Old Punch Bowl, Booterstown, which Brian, Noreen, and their daughters and friends built up from a monthly to a weekly basis, is expected to continue with their daughters Jenny and Ellen in charge while Brian and Noreen are recovering. Thanks to Dot Callery for sending this news to the BIB.

Update 3 Feb.: The ward names are now confirmed as above. Brian's operation was successful, and he and Noreen are in excellent spirits, despite their ordeal.

The Bluestack Mountain Boys

Thanks to Aran Sheehan of the Bluestack Mountain Boys (formerly known as the Bluegrass Brothers), who reports that the band has

got off to a flying start in 2010 with a very well received gig in Westport for Uri (Electric Cave Productions) and John in Geraghty's pub. They really looked after us and made us feel very welcome.

The BMB played Le Cirk on Dame St., Dublin, at 8.00 p.m. on Sunday 31 Jan., with Tom Hanway on banjo, who was on his way back from playing with the Molly Hicks in Carrig-on-Barrow. Aran adds:

Tony O'Brien very kindly booked us for the Athy Bluegrass Festival on 8 July. That's a gig we are really looking forward to (with a bit of in-trepidation), as we have to get up in front of our bluegrass peers and show what we have been up to over the year. We will have Tom on banjer and Camille on fiddle for that one, and - you never know - we might be lucky and pick up a bass fiddle along the way.

The Bluestack Mountain Boys with Tom Hanway at Westport, 16 Jan.

The Fox Hunt in Ireland, June/July 2010

Thanks to Loudun Temple of the Brookfield Knights agency in Britain for the following news:

We are working with Paul Brown at Earagail Arts to bring up-and-coming young bluegrass band The Fox Hunt over from Virginia for dates in Ireland in June/July... They are playing Cork Music Festival as well as Earagail Arts Festival [9-18 July]... They have a new CD about to be released (their third) and have been making waves in USA. I'm excited to be welcoming them over for their first trip here and will be adding dates in Scotland as well (they have a headline slot confirmed at the Hebridean Celtic Festival in Stornoway [14-17 July]).

You can have a listen to the new material at the band's MySpace site and we have a sample track on our website too - reached via the 'Our Artistes' section.

Contact Brookfield Knights via their website, e-mail, and telephone (tel: +44 (0)1505 706346; mob: 07831 878013).

Mad Uncle Harry rocks Westport

Uri Kohen reports from Westport, Co. Mayo, on the Sat. 30 Jan. show:

As part of the unfinished gigs series run by the Electric Cave Production and hosted by Geraghty's pub in Westport, we were privileged to host Mad Uncle Harry [above]. The Galway band held the crowd in the palms of their hands as they performed their unique style of bluegrass and old-time music. It was a superb gig and I will recommend all bluegrass lovers to check them out at their MySpace.

The next gig is one of Ireland's most talented guitar players - Clive Barnes [left]. He will play Geraghty's on Saturday 13 February 2010.

2nd Dangem Banjo Camp, 26-28 Feb. 2010

Left: the class of 2009

Dangem Bluegrass Banjo of Craigavon, Co. Armagh, announce:

This is a local non-profit event run by 5-string banjo enthusiasts for enthusiasts and is totally self-funding. So don’t sit at home on your own trying to learn to play. Spend a weekend away from the toil and cares of everyday life, with nothing to do but learn about the 5-string banjo from world-famous teacher John Dowling. This year we are also running a clawhammer (old-time) class with expert Michael Ash! Play, jam, and meet new friends!

Michael Ash is one of the best banjo tutors in the country. He has a long and distinguished playing career with many appearances under his belt. He currently is a member of the Broken String Band.

John Dowling is the only European to have ever won USA National Bluegrass Banjo Championships held in Winfield, Kansas. John was involved in the BBC1 series ‘Play it again’, where he had to work closely with comedian Frank Skinner in his attempt to learn to play the banjo in ten weeks.

Again this year we will have the Saturday evening concert featuring the Broken String Band. Limited tickets available: £10.00 each.

When? From Friday 26 Feb. 2010 to Sunday 28 Feb. 2010
Where? Corr's Corner Hotel, Newtownabbey, Co. Antrim
Cost: £120

Contact Derek Lockhart ('phone +44 07521 464 125; e-mail or visit the Dangem website to download a booking form or pay online.