News digest #30

Events in the next ten days (from the BIB calendar; please check also the 'weekly sessions' section of the calendar)

Thurs. 15th: Tim Eriksen (USA), Fleadh Ceoil, Derry city

Thurs. 15th-Sun. 18th: BroadOak Bluegrass Band (UK) host mini bluegrass festival, Richmond Inn, Clondra, Co. Longford: concerts, jam sessions, barn dance (Sat. 17th)

Fri. 16th: Rocky Top String Band launch new album Tall pines, Mannion's, Balla, Co. Mayo
Two Time Polka, Langtons Hotel, John St., Kilkenny city. Start 10.00 p.m. Adm. free. Tel. 056 7765133

Fri. 16th-Sun. 18th: Jack of Diamonds Rhythm & Roots Festival, venues in Dublin; lineup includes Prison Love, Well Enough Alone, Dublin Bluegrass Collective, Greasy Coat String Band, many more

Sat. 17th: Down and Out Bluegrass Band, Stendhal Festival of Art, Limavady, Co. Londonderry
Two Time Polka, An Tobar Bar, Main St., Ardmore, Co. Waterford. Start 10.00 p.m. Adm. €10. Tel. 024 94166 (Fund-raiser for Cope Foundation)

Sun. 18th: Woodbine, Hollywood, Co. Wicklow; open-air, 9.00 p.m.

Thurs. 22nd-Sun. 25th: 19th Guinness International Bluegrass Festival, Dunmore East, Co. Waterford: Mary Jean Lewis and the Low Men, Land’s End, Well Enough Alone, Tin Box Company, the Pilgrims, Down and Out Bluegrass Band, more TBA

Fri. 23rd: Two Time Polka, Hotel Doolin, Doolin, Co. Clare. Start 10.00 p,m. Adm. €10 (includes free commemorative Doolin Craft Beer Festival glass). Tel. 065 7074111

Other news

Latest news of the Cabin Sessions, 'Acoustic Music at its Finest', at Uncle Tom's Cabin (not far from Dundrum Luas station in the city direction); founder and director Gerry Fitzpatrick announces:

August's Session is on Thursday 29th with the Cabin House Band: Spats Davenport (guitar), Con Butler (bass), Gerry Fitzpatrick (dobro), Cathy McEvoy (fiddle), and Christian Volkmann (harmonica). Special guests: No Direction (country), Taylor's Lane (contemporary), Minnie & the Illywhackers. 9.30-11.30 p.m. Admission FREE.

If you or someone you know would like to perform at the Cabin Sessions, let me know [e-mail]. We are particularly interested in featuring local musicians and singers.

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Thanks to Ray O'Brien for forwarding this request from Elaine Lyons of the Clonmel Busking Festival:

We are looking for some bluegrass bands for next year's Clonmel Busking Festival to play the pubs and maybe do some busking for us in aid of Crumlin Children's Hospital. If anyone is interested, please contact me or Eelco Beckers on Facebook, or leave a message on the Busking Festival Facebook page. The festival is on the second weekend in August next year; we will sort out details of fees, etc., when we speak to you. Thanks, everyone.

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Thanks to Des Butler for these photos from last weekend's 3rd Mohill Bluegrass Festival: above, the memorial to Vinny Baker, to whose memory this year's festival was dedicated; below, dancing to the music of the Down and Out Bluegrass Band. The festival organiser, Tommy Kelleher, deserves all the support and assistance he can get from bluegrass enthusiasts in Mohill and the surrounding area. Many more photos taken by Des at the festival can be seen here.



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Thanks to Colin Henry for drawing attention to the Earls of Leicester, an all-star Flatt & Scruggs tribute band in the US. Many videos of them in action at the Station Inn in Nashville can be seen on this YouTube channel, and they're a real tonic and inspiration.

In a further tip of the hat to the first generation of bluegrass musicians, award-winning banjoist Noam Pikelny of the Punch Brothers has had released on Compass Records his remake of the classic Kenny Baker plays Bill Monroe album (1976). You can hear the new version of 'Sandy River Belle' here.