Bending the Strings open Longford festival and get airplay on BBC radio

Thanks to Vinny Baker for the latest BTS news:

Bending the Strings opened the 2010 Johnny Keenan Banjo Festival on Thursday last (23 September) to a tremendous reception from a packed venue. Compere Frank Galligan (shown left with BTS) announced the band, telling the audience that the new Bending the Strings album All keyed up was one of the most popular albums on his radio show on Radio Highland in Donegal.

The band did a 45-minute set which went down a storm with the audience, who loved the high-energy instrumentals and showed huge appreciation of the individual instrumental breaks from each member of the band. Bending the Strings are still having great success with their latest album, which continues to get regular plays from Ronan Collins, John Creedon, Maxi, and the Late Date programmes on RTE Radio 1.

Our piano player and vocalist Moyra Fraser was in London recently with Mick Foster, of Foster & Allen, who was doing the BBC TV show 'Never mind the buzzcocks', and Moyra met presenter Phill Jupitus (right), of whom she has been a longtime friend. He is a major fan of Foster & Allen; and Moyra, who is musical director of the F & A band, has known him for many years. Phill told her that he was playing the Bending the Strings album on his BBC radio program and getting numerous requsests for the title track, 'All keyed up'. Phill Jupitus is a huge fan of bluegrass music and insisted that Moyra give a copy of the album to a number of the BBC radio DJs, as he said it has huge potential for the British market. So the band are keeping fingers crossed that the album could possibly make an impression on the English radio listeners.

Bending the Strings extend many thanks to all our many fans who have requested and bought our album and continue to support us at our gigs. The band look forward to meeting all their friends and followers in Bruff Bluegrass Festival on the first weekend of October.