Jack of Diamonds Rhythm & Roots Festival in Dublin, 17-19 Aug. 2012

Thanks to Christina Quill for news of the first Jack of Diamonds Rhythm & Roots Festival, scheduled to be held in eight closely spaced venues in central Dublin on the weekend 17-19 August 2012 - Sweeney's Bar, the Grand Social, the Mercantile, the Stag's Head, the Button Factory, the Odessa, the Dame Tavern, and the Workman's Club. A location map is on the venues page of the Festival website.

The lineup is practically a Who's Who of Irish bands in the Americana and related fields - among those more familiar to BIB readers are Prison Love, I Draw Slow, the Cujo Family, N.C. Lawlor, Well Enough Alone, the Larkfield Four, Gypsy Rebel Rabble, the Blood Red Mountain Band, Slim Pickins, the Annulments, and Hanway, Taggart, & Sheehan. There will also be a busking trail, where all money collected will go to the Musical Youth Foundation.

A notable feature of the Festival is the ample programme of instrumental and vocal workshops, for all of which the admission is €5 per person. At present the workshop schedule includes Sacred Harp singing, bluegrass banjo (Tom Hanway), old-time banjo (Bill Whelan), finger-picking guitar (Stefan Galt), blues harmonica (Christian Volkmann), bluegrass mandolin (Aran Sheehan), country harmony (Aoife Ruth), and rockabilly bass (Tim Fernley).

A schedule of events will be posted closer to the Festival dates; meanwhile, this event seems bound to be a very welcome addition to the 2012 calendar.