Long Way Home in 'Bluegrass & Poetry' evening, this coming Monday (3 May 2021)

Long Way Home: Kylie Kay Anderson, Owen Schinkel

The BIB first mentioned Owen Schinkel, the 'Sliding Dutchman', in July 2017, when he won a music scholarship to East Tennessee State University. In January last year, after moving to Ireland with his partner Kylie Kay Anderson from Utah, Owen took part in the 2020 Shannonside Winter Music Festival as a guest on the sets by the Sons of Navarone, and he and Kylie prepared to launch the career of their bluegrass-and-roots-music duo Long Way Home (also on Facebook). Thanks to Owen for this latest news, sent yesterday (30 Apr.):

We had a great time in Bunratty 2020 and just finally started to meet fellow bluegrass fanatics in Ireland. Little we knew back then that the rest of 2020 was going to be a disaster for all musicians and live music events... Our musical endeavors with Long Way Home had to be put on hold for unfortunately an extended period of time.

When the pandemic hit we decided to get out of Cork city and we are now enjoying life in Kanturk, a lovely rural town in the Duhallow region of north County Cork. A few days ago we were approached by the local arts festival here in Kanturk. They asked if Kylie and I would perform a little bluegrass with Long Way Home for their bank holiday zoom event 'Bluegrass & Poetry' on 3 May at 8.00 p.m. We got the details worked out, and the free event is taking place at 8.00 p.m. and we will be performing a 20-30 minute set of bluegrass songs and some new material we wrote during the several lockdowns we've been in.

We received permission from the organization to spread the word and let all people in all counties know about the event. We take this to heart because we love to promote the music that we love to play! We figured we would update you in case you think this is something fun to attend for the BIB readers. People are being asked to register with their e-mail address so they are being allowed access to the zoom event. All the info is on this page: https://kanturkarts.ie/an-evening-of-bluegrass-poetry. I was being told this morning that 50% of the virtual zoom 'seats' have been taken, so there are still plenty available.

So again, hope all is well Richard, and we're looking forward to the day when in-person cultural events will be allowed again.

Videos by Long Way Home can be seen on their website and Facebook, as well as on the Kanturk Arts Festival website.

© Richard Hawkins