Southern Welfare at Bruff, 1-3 October

Thanks again to Ray O'Brien of Southern Welfare for this report and photos from the 2nd Bruff Bluegrass Festival a week ago:

Southern Welfare would like to say a big 'thank you' to everyone in Bruff, Co. Limerick, for making it a very enjoyable weekend. We played some fantastic gigs over the weekend, kicking off the Friday night in Derry's Bar to a huge crowd, then on Saturday we enjoyed yet another gig in Derry's Bar at 3.00 p.m. which was fantastic and the crowd were great.


We were joined on stage by the man we renamed as The Singing Hat, Mr Sean McManus [above], who sang a couple of fantastic bluegrass numbers with us, then that night we took to the stage in Clancy's Bar where we again were greeted by a huge crowd. After that we went on to a small bar at the top of the town called Glynn's, where we sat and chatted with the locals into the early hours and we had a lovely quiet picking session for a few hours; then it was off to bed until Sunday.

The Sunday morning jam in Clancy's, including members of three visiting bands

We awoke Sunday morning by the sound of bluegrass music from downstairs Clancy's Bar on the radio. So we appeared for our breakfast in Clancy's and we were greeted by Vinny, Moyra, and Martin from Bending the Strings and as we ate our meal we were delighted to hear the guys have a lovely picking session in the corner, so - breakfast finished - we grabbed the instruments and joined Bending the Strings for a few songs. Then as we came close to the afternoon the crowd started to increase and we were joined by members of Woodbine; then it was time for the final gig of the weekend to close the festival in Clancy's Bar.

Woodbine at Clancy's: the last concert

First to the stage were Woodbine, one of the best bands on the bluegrass circuit, and they played some lovely bluegrass music; then we took to the stage for the last hour to entertain the huge crowd, which we did for just over an hour. Then, to finish the festival off, we were joined on stage by Woodbine for the last twenty minutes. Our Gerry closed the festival with a fantastic Irish bluegrass song, 'When you and I were young, Maggie'; then it was over for another year. We hope to see you all again next year. Thanks again from Southern Welfare.

Some intense harmony on 'Maggie'

Southern Welfare will be performing on the opening night of the Balla Bluegrass Festival on 22 October. Also, we will be doing a live gig in the Lady Belle Bar, Dungarvan, Co. Waterford, on 29 October. Hope to see some of you there for those gigs!