George Kaye at Athy and elsewhere in Ireland, July 2013

George Kaye has been nominated for an EBMA European Bluegrass Pioneer award for his work in Ireland in the late 1960s and '70s, first with the Mitchell County Ramblers and later with the Smoky Mountain Ramblers and a succession of prominent showbands. At a time when the fiddle was uncommon in the folk revival and becoming obsolescent in Irish popular music, George made a powerful and influential impact as an outstanding fiddler, fuelled by his admiration for the pyrotechnic, envelope-pushing playing of Scotty Stoneman. (He is also expert on all the other bluegrass instruments, and a fine singer.)

Last year George, who is now resident in north Germany, returned to Ireland for a tour with the reunited Smoky Mountain Ramblers. We're pleased to announce that he will be in Ireland again next month, visiting family in Dublin and friends elsewhere in Ireland, AND will be taking part in the Athy Bluegrass Festival (12-14 July) in Co. Kildare, sitting in as special guest with the host band Woodbine, and very likely with others as well. The Athy festival this year looks like being a fiddle-friendly environment...