Fog Holler's experiences in Ireland

Kianna Mott-Smith, manager of Fog Holler, has been compiling a chronicle of the band's two-month tour of Europe, and the BIB has reported the appearance of previous instalments on Bluegrass Today. Yesterday the fourth instalment of the chronicle was published; it describes at length and in detail their time in Ireland, and is headed by the photo above, which (though not captioned) will be recognised by all who know the Red Room, Cookstown.

While Fog Holler and their manager seem to have had good times throughout their European tour, this instalment is an outstanding endorsement of the Westport festival and the Red Room - the latter considered not just as a venue, but as the whole environment that Arnie and Sharon Loughrin have created. The instalment includes two videos (one from the Westport concert, and one from an earlier show in the Netherlands) and sixteen photos.

© Richard Hawkins

Detached notes

Table for Two (right), who impressed many music-lovers in Ireland during their visit in January 2020, consists of Thierry Schoysman (Belgium) and Signe Borch (Denmark). Both are multi-instrumentalists, though they played their nine gigs here (five of them as support to Seth Mulder & Midnight Run) primarily as a mandolin duo. For more about them, see the BIB for 30 Dec. 2019.

Thanks to Bluegrass in Belgium for the news that Thierry and Signe played their most recent show on Sunday (15 May), a house concert in Schoten, near Antwerp.

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Ken Perlman, master of 'melodic clawhammer' banjo, announces that the last online live instructional banjo workshop in his current 'Clawhammer Clinic' series will be 'Up-the-neck "melodic" fingering forms that feature 5th-string fretting' on Mon. 23 May. All Ken's past Clinics are available as videos from his website at $25 each, and he can also be contacted for private lessons by Zoom.

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The Often Herd (Rupert Hughes, guitar, vocals; Evan Davies, mandolin, vocals; Niles Krieger, fiddle, vocals; Sam Quintana, bass) from Newcastle upon Tyne (UK), toured Ireland in June 2015 in their previous five-piece configuration as 'The Kentucky Cow Tippers', performing at the Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival and other venues.

Since their rebranding, they have won the Best European Bluegrass Band award at the 2018 La Roche Bluegrass Festival. Their new full-length album, Where the big lamp shines, has been featured by John Lawless on Bluegrass Today. The official video of a single from the album, 'Inner peace', can be seen on Bluegrass Today and on YouTube.

© Richard Hawkins

All 'Quarantine Happy Hour' videos easily accessible

Uri Kohen of the Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival sends this welcome news:

Many fans of bluegrass and old-time music will be familiar with the Quarantine Happy Hour, a series of daily house concerts on Facebook which started in April 2020, founded by Barry Southern and Gabrielle Macrae of The Horsenecks, and has been running continually since then.

Now, thanks to Josh Larios, there is one website which includes all the videos in an easy-to-find way.

BIB editor's note: A link to the Quarantine Happy Hour series, under the image shown above, has been in the sidebar of the BIB since the series began. We have now added a link to the new directory.

© Richard Hawkins

Dorney Bridge programme to December 2019

Early this year John and Hilda Watson announced the launch of their house concert venue Dorney Bridge, at Ballinamallard, Co. Fermanagh (see the BIB for 3 Mar.). We're now delighted to  publish their report on a very successful start and a powerful programme for the rest of this year:

We have had a tremendous first year providing a house concert venue for the music we love. Never could we have imagined such a fabulous lineup for our concerts. Ample car parking is available and anyone wishing to attend should get in touch to indicate their interest. Supper is served and a donation of £12.50 is collected which goes entirely to the Band. All the shows listed below start at 8.15 p.m. sharp.

18th October (Friday): Level Best, USA

Level Best comprises three members of East of Monroe - Lisa & Wally Hughes and Terry Wittenberg (banjo) - Joe Hannabach (bass) and James Field (guitar), a widely experienced musician in bluegrass, James took part as a Charles River Valley Boy in the historic Beatle country album (1966) and has played festivals in Ireland as a member of the fine French band Blue Railroad Train. Really looking forward to meeting these lovely folks again, this will be a tremendous night of music and song along the old time country and bluegrass flavour.

13th November (Wednesday): Jeff Scroggins & the Scroggdogs, USA

Jeff is one of the top banjo players to be found anywhere in the world. The band boasts an all-California lineup, featuring some of the hottest pickers and singers from the Golden State, with Scott Gates (mandolin and guitar), Yoseff Tucker (guitar), Jan Purat (fiddle) and 'The Wingman' Zach Sharpe (bass). The music is rooted and steeped in the hard-driving bluegrass tradition, although it will also feature great songs from other genres as well. You will absolutely be enthralled with these guys.

29th November (Friday): Bawn Folk Group, Norin Iron

Dorney Bridge Charity Night - Collection for Chest Heart & Stroke. A night of well known country songs with a bluegrassy twist and also some comedy acts! (*DONATION to CHARITY only tonight) Hosts will pay the band tonight, we are asking everyone to give generously to charity.

13th December (Friday): The Horsenecks, USA

What a way to finish our first year! Gabrielle Macrae from Oregon who is a fiery fiddle player herself, is accompanied by a great guitar, mandolin player and singer, Vera van Heeringen along with the Horsenecks on this tour. This will be a night to remember with very talented musicians.

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Some bookings have already been confirmed for 2020, along with a few more in the pipeline. We are always interested in hearing from bands looking for a house concert venue.

We would wish to pay a very sincere tribute to Arnie and Sharon (well known in bluegrass circles) for their help and advice during our first year.

Further details are updated on our Facebook page - Dorney Bridge
e-mail dorneybridge@gmail.com;  mobile 077 1626 7625
Venue location: 36 Dorney Bridge Road, Ballinamallard, Enniskillen, BT94 2DR

The Dorney Bridge Facebook has some tantalising indications of what's coming next year, but the BIB will wait for complete schedules from the tour organiser(s).

The Horsenecks (USA/GB) in Ireland, 6-15 Dec. 2019 [UPDATE]

Three days ago the BIB reported the programme of shows between now and Christmas at the Red Room, Cookstown, Co. Tyrone, ending (15 Dec.) with an evening with the Horsenecks. We can now report that this will be the last date of a short tour in Ireland [but see below].

The core duo (above) consists of Barry Southern from Liverpool and Gabrielle Macrae from Portland, OR. As anyone who saw them at last year's Westport festival can testify, they can expand into a powerful four- or five-piece string band; but in any configuration they play - as their website says - 'hard-hitting and heartfelt old-time and classic bluegrass music'.

Update 26 Oct.: For full details of the tour, which will begin on 6 Dec., see the BIB for 26 Oct., which supersedes the information originally given here. Vera van Heeringen (below), who will be playing bass in the band, will also be opening some of the shows with a set of her own material.

From now till December at the Red Room

The photo, taken in spring last year, says a lot about the character of the Red Room, near Cookstown, Co. Tyrone, the premier house-concert venue in this island. Sharon Loughrin reports:

We have a busy few months coming up: five more concerts between now and the end of the year. First up it's the return of Toronto's Slocan Ramblers on Wednesday 23 October. They were fabulous last time they played here; all are welcome for our show in the Red Room, but if you can't make to us, try to catch one of their other shows. They are a really talented, slightly more progressive bluegrass band, but plenty for traditional bluegrass fans to love. A lively night is guaranteed.

The Lost Brothers return to us on Saturday 2 November; not bluegrass, but with harmonies likened to the Everly Brothers, they have become a favourite with our audience, a lovely relaxed night to look forward to.

We are delighted to have old-time legend Riley Baugus play the Red Room on Friday 15 November. Riley is a native of the southern Appalachians. The Blue Ridge mountains of North Carolina are where his roots lie, and he grew up learning the music and art of storytelling of the region from older musicians in the area. His solo show consists of a focus on banjos, ballads, stories, and songs.

Pilgrim St make their debut in the barn on Saturday 7 December. We're really looking forward to meeting the band and getting our first taste of their unique style of music, I've a feeling it will be a memorable night!

Our last gig of the year, Sunday 15 December, will be a welcome return of The Horsenecks, no strangers to the Red Room from Gabrielle's first visit as one of The Macrae Sisters many years back, to several times as the Horsenecks. The lineup this time will include old-time musician Vera van Heeringen.

All concerts start at 8.30 sharp, seats can be booked by calling/ text 07979742843, e-mail sharonloughrin05@yahoo.co.uk or message our Facebook page, The Red Room, Cookstown. A donation to the band of £12.50 is collected during the interval and tea/ coffee is provided, though feel free to bring a bottle. There's no better way to hear live music than sitting in front of a roaring fire with a like-minded listening group of people.

Molsky's Mountain Drifters: updated UK schedule

Following the BIB post of 22 Apr., thanks again to Audrey Molsky for an updated, augmented schedule of the UK tour later this month by Molsky's Mountain Drifters (also on Facebook) with their new album Closing the gap. The revised schedule is:

Fri. 24th May: Rosehall Village Hall, Lairg, Sutherland, Scotland
Sat. 25th: Arisaig Americana Music Festival, Astley Hall, Arisaig, Invernessshire, Scotland
Mon. 27th: Workshops, Edinburgh, Scotland
Tues. 28th: House concert, Edinburgh, Scotland
Wed. 29th: Victoria Hotel, Menai Bridge, Anglesey, Wales
Thurs. 30th: St Mary's Music Hall, Walthamstow, north London
Fri. 31st: Fire in the Mountain Festival, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, Wales
Sat. 1st June: The Pound Arts Centre, Corsham, Wiltshire, England

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Pharis and Jason Romero (CAN), fine old-time musicians and luthiers, are also touring the UK, from 15 to 21 May; details are on their online schedule. Alas, no dates in Ireland for them either.

Coming SOON at the Red Room

Thanks to Sharon Loughrin of the Red Room, Cookstown, Co. Tyrone (Ireland's premier house concert venue for bluegrass, old-time, and related music), for this news:

2019 is shaping up to be as busy as 2018 despite all intentions otherwise! Our Special C. gig booked up within 24 hours of sending our text message out to the regulars, such is the deserved popularity of the band. I'm glad to hear you had a good time at their gig, I'm looking forward so much to having them back at the Red Room this Tuesday [22 Jan.].

Feel free to advertise our Lonesome Ace Stringband concert on 5 Feb. - anyone who wants to get in touch to book a seat is very welcome. Once the text goes out to regulars in a week or so, I'd expect it to fill up quickly. There's certainly lots of good music planned for this year: we've confirmed bookings right up to November, so plenty to look forward to!