Ardara 2019
(L-r) James Henry, Janet Holmes Henry, Colin Henry
Thanks again to Des Butler, this time for his report and photos from the 2019 bluegrass festival in Ardara, Co. Donegal:
The 12th Annual Ardara Bluegrass Festival took place last weekend (19-21 July) with the opening night being held in the public bar of the Beehive pub. This amounted to a jamming session, albeit with some fine musicians - Mel Corry, Sean McKerr, et al. - seated in a corner of the bar. The bar was full to capacity with a small group of attendees standing up close to the musicians totally blocking the view of the majority of the bar patrons. The conversational noise level developed to such a pitch that the music became inaudible. The crush became quite intense, so I decided to leave after an hour or so. I met several people during the festival who were also in attendance at the opening and in conversation with them they appeared to have done the same.
However, I thought things can only get better, and indeed they did. From Saturday around noon till well into late afternoon/ early evening a jam took place in the Beehive bar. This was a more orderly session with many fine musicians taking part in what developed into a very enjoyable afternoon.
King Blue: (l-r) Colin Henry, Sean McKerr, Mel Corry,
Charlie Cooper, The Chief
The main event, 'The Gala Concert', took place in the function room of the Nesbitt Arms Hotel, starting at 20.00 hrs on Saturday night with the Henry Family [photo at top] opening the show with some fine soft ballads of her own composition being sung by Janet Henry, accompanied by her own excellent guitar playing. They finished their set with two bluegrass breakdowns with first-class performances by Colin and James Henry. They were quickly followed by King Blue, fronted of course by Mel Corry. We were treated to some fine bluegrass music from this band doing some excellent covers of some Bill Monroe and Osborne Brothers classics. This band is always a pleasure and an enjoyment to listen to.
L-r: James Kee, Beth Lawrence, Alecia Nugent, Gena Britt, Jed Clark
They were followed by Alecia Nugent and her band who seemed to play mostly country ballads and not so much bluegrass - but what more can I say about this band’s harmonies and musicianship that I have not already said after their performance in Athy, always a pleasure to listen to.
Foreground: Alecia Nugent, Gena Britt, Beth Lawrence
Sunday saw another great jam taking place in the Beehive bar starting about noon again and going on well into the afternoon. Alecia Nugent and the two female members of her band arrived and joined in to the great enjoyment of all present.
The final formal event on Sunday night was a Bluegrass Jamboree hosted by Tony O’Brien and what a great show he put together. The first half was taken up with Tony, Liam Wright, Dessie from Donegal on fiddle, an excellent mandolin player whom Tony explained that in another life had played with Joe Dolan & the Drifters, whose name escapes me,* and the bass player from the Alecia Nugent Band. They performed a very lively set that left the crowd wanting more.
Tony then invited Alicia Nugent and her band to take to the stage which they did and performed some excellent numbers leaning more towards the bluegrass genre. The finale saw all the performing musicians take to the stage to give a heart rendering version of 'Will the circle be unbroken'. This finished the formal part of the Festival, but a large number of musicians continued to jam out in the smoking area at the back of the pub to a large appreciative audience.
* BIB editor's note: Thanks to Tony O'Brien, who sends these additional details of the 'Jamboree':
For the first half of the show there was myself, Liam, Dessie Crerand on fiddle, Joe Meehan on mandolin, and Beth Lawrence on bass. Guest appearances from Sean McMonagle and Paddy McMenamin. Second half of show was Alecia Nugent & Band and finale 'Will the circle' with everyone (photo). It was an all-acoustic show with a full house upstairs in the Beehive.
Labels: Bands, Festivals, Jams, Sessions, Venues, Visiting bands
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