16 June 2016

Ickes & Hensley headline 22nd Dunmore East Bluegrass Festival

Thanks to Karen Cheevers of B2B Communications for this release on the 22nd Guinness International Dunmore East Bluegrass Festival just two months from now:

Now in its 22nd year, the Guinness International Bluegrass Festival at Dunmore East is still attracting top international music acts to the Co. Waterford coastal resort. Fans of bluegrass, honky-tonk, blues, country, rhythm ‘n’ roots are in for a real musical treat as the 22nd Guinness International Bluegrass Festival, which takes place from Thursday 25 August to Sunday 28 August, will feature Grammy nominees Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley [above].

Trey Hensley is well known and well regarded on the bluegrass music scene. Raised in Tennessee, Trey began playing guitar and singing when he was 10 years old. Invited by Marty Stuart and joined from the wings by Earl Scruggs, he landed on the Grand Old Opry when he was only 11. To date, Trey has played with Johnny and June Carter Cash, Charlie Daniels, Ricky Skaggs, Steve Wariner, the Oak Ridge Boys, and Janie Fricke. He’s appeared on bills with Sara Evans, Charlie Daniels, Peter Frampton, Randy Owen, Steve Wariner, and Marty Stuart, and has even appeared before former President George W. Bush, former First Lady Laura Bush, and Vice-President Cheney.

Rob Ickes has been playing bluegrass with his much-decorated band Blue Highway for over twenty years, during which time he has been adjudged Bluegrass Dobro Player of the Year fifteen times. Rob has played on countless sessions, recording with artists such as Merle Haggard, Dierks Bentley, Patty Loveless, and Alison Krauss.

Last year the duo was nominated for a Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album, Before the sun goes down.

Along with the cream of the US country and bluegrass music crop, the festival lineup includes a host of Irish, European, and American big name bluegrass acts including US bands Foghorn String Band and Betse and Clarke; from the UK, Doctor Bluegrass, Northern Ireland’s Mons Wheeler Band and Cup O’ Joe, and Irish acts One Horse Pony, Rackhouse Pilfer, Barefoot, and New Breadwinners.

Mick Daly, festival organiser, is looking forward to this year’s broad range of high calibre international acts and said: 'Twenty-two years on, the festival lineup is as exciting and eclectic as ever. We’re looking forward to seeing the return of some of the festival’s perennial favourites such as the Mons Wheeler Band and Barefoot, and are particularly excited about Ickes and Hensley.

'Rob and Trey are Grammy nominees and regulars to some of the biggest bluegrass festivals in the world, so we can’t wait to see them in August, particularly in light of their new album release The country blues in July. The duo is coming to Dunmore East on the back of their European tour, where they will be playing at Tønder, Denmark’s biggest folk music festival.'

Ickes and Hensley will play two ticketed gigs (€20) at the Marquee at the Lighthouse Bistro, Dunmore East on 27 and 28 August. All of the other events are free to attend and will take place at the Strand Inn, the Three Sisters, the Spinnaker, Powers Bar, and Azzurro.

The 22nd Guinness International Dunmore East Bluegrass Festival kicks off on Thursday 25 August and heralds the start of three days of dozens of bands, playing almost fifty gigs in the villages’ pubs, restaurants, and hotels.

For more information about the 22nd Guinness International Dunmore East Bluegrass Festival in Co. Waterford, visit the website. Tickets for Ickes & Hensley are available on www.ticketmaster.ie. Mick Daly is available for interview on 051 878 832 / 087 256 2899 or by e-mail.

BIB editor's note: Compass Records has announced that The country blues will be released on 8 July. Long I ride, by the Special Consensus, who will be here in six months' time, was released by Compass on 10 June.

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