The editor requests...

... the pleasure of your company if you're in Westport, Co. Mayo, on this coming Friday and feel like hearing live music before the Festival's first Grand Concert begins at 8.00 p.m. The 6.00 p.m. session at Blouser's, billed as 'Richard Hawkins & friends', is not the very first on the programme - Pat & Ricky Kelleher play at Friday lunchtime - but it provides a 'Welcome' mat for anyone who hit town in the afternoon.

The fare on offer is old-time tunes from the southern States canon, played by Tim Hawkins (fiddle), Cathal Cusack (guitar), and me (5-string banjo). It's an open session, so anyone can play along with us. Tunes we're most likely to be playing are listed here, but spontaneous additions are not ruled out; and other tunes may be dropped into the pot by visiting pickers. Above all, enjoy the Festival!