Tour news - and Ireland at MerleFest 2014

Thanks to Paul Lee of the Musiclee.ie agency for his latest list of shows, beginning with tomorrow night (10 Apr.), when Tumbling Bones, from Portland, Maine, will bring their mix of traditional bluegrass, old-time, country blues, and expert buck-dancing to Whelan's in Dublin; 8.30 start, €15 (€13 reserved in advance).

On this tour (their third in Ireland) Tumbling Bones will have their new album, Loving a fool. The BIB calendar shows all dates for the tour; it lasts till the end of the month, when they go to Germany for the 12th International Bühl Bluegrass Festival (2-3 May), followed by dates in Britain (8-20 May).

Tangled Roots, the 'Folk the Recession' group including Frankie Lane and Paul Kelly, will be playing just up the lane from Whelan's at the Dublin Conservative Club the following night (11 Apr.). Other artists on Paul's list with a special appeal for BIB readers include the highly acclaimed Cahalen Morrison and Eli West (USA), who will be playing at Whelan's on Thursday 8 May as part of a too-brief tour in Ireland - see the BIB calendar for the rest of their schedule.

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Following the news that appeared on the BIB on 10 Feb. and 9 Mar., the Brookfield Knights agency reports that the period for which Zoe Muth & the Lost High Rollers (USA) will be available for bookings in Ireland later this year will be from Tues. 4 Nov. to Sun. 9 Nov..

They will have with them Zoe's third album, World of strangers. Promoters and event organisers who are interested should contact Brookfield Knights. The band's live shows can be sampled in this clip from 2012.

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This year at MerleFest, the world's most prestigious acoustic Americana music festival, Ireland will be very actively represented by Niall Toner and I Draw Slow.

On Friday 25 April I Draw Slow will be performing on the Watson (11.45 a.m.-12.30 p.m.), Creekside (1.15-2.00 p.m.), and Dance (7.00-8.15 p.m.) stages. The same afternoon (2.00-3.30 p.m.), on the Austin Stage in Alumni Hall, Niall will be taking part in judging the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest finals, together with contest chairman Jim Lauderdale and fellow judges Darrell Scott and Charles Humphrey III.

On Saturday 26 April the Niall Toner Band plays at Creekside (10.45-11.30 a.m.) and the Cabin stage (1.45-2.15 p.m.), and I Draw Slow at the Americana (1.30-2.15 p.m.). Later that afternoon (3.45-4.45 p.m.), at the Mayes Pit-Cohn Auditorium, Niall and band, together with Dave and Louise Holden from I Draw Slow, will be part of a workshop entitled 'Irish roots music yesterday and today'.

On Sunday 27 April the Niall Toner Band will be at the Autograph MF Mall (9.00-10.00 a.m.) and the Americana (11.45 a.m.-12.30 p.m.) and Traditional (1.45-2.30 p.m.) stages, the latter with a 'Celtic connections' theme.

Thanks also to Pinecastle Records (the US label that both Niall and I Draw Slow are with) and Kim Fowler of Two Dog Media for the news that I Draw Slow's latest album, White Wave Chapel, will be released in the US on 8 July. For more details, including some of the many nice things that have been printed about their previous album, Redhills, see the Two Dog Media e-newsletter.