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Thanks to Gill Williams for an e-newsletter on the 27th North Wales Bluegrass Festival in Conwy, North Wales, which is now only four weeks away (2-5 July 2015). Conwy is a World Heritage town in idyllic surroundings, easily accessible from Ireland, and the Festival has been attended by bluegrass fans from this island for many years (see the BIB editor's report on 20 July 2012). And it always has two Appalachian dance teams - a feature still sadly missing from Irish bluegrass events. Read the detail of this year's Festival here.

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'Dissecting and de-mystifying the music of Bill Monroe' will be done by mandolin maestro Mike Compton (the best qualified person for the job on this planet) in a series of seven fortnightly concert-cum-demonstrations beginning this coming Monday (8 June) on Concert Window, where you can find the full details and sign on.

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Prepare yourself for the Compton course by listening to Sunday's 'Criffel Creek' radio show presented by C. Paul Lyttle, organiser of the Moniaive Michaelmas Bluegrass Festival; the playlist consists of songs and tunes from Bill Monroe, covered by the best of US bluegrass musicians.

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Looking further ahead: thanks to Kate Lissauer for news of the autumn old-time music workshop week (26 Sept.-3 Oct.) in southern Spain. We regret using the term 'idyllic surroundings' twice in the same post, but there seems no alternative. Full details are here.