Two Time Polka: September-October gigs

Ray Barron of Two Time Polka sends news of the band's forthcoming gigs:

Sun. 17th Sept.: Crane Lane Theatre, Cork city, midnight-2.00 a.m., adm. free

Fri. 22nd: Culture Night, Old Market Bar, Bandon, Co. Cork, 9.45-11.15 p/m., adm. free (but a ticket is required for entry. Booking link - FREE tickets)

Sat. 23rd: Blue Haven, Kinsale, Co. Cork, 10 p.m.-midnight, adm. free

Sun. 1st Oct.: Crane Lane Theatre, Cork city, midnight-2.00 a.m., adm. free (part of Cork Folk Festival)

Sun. 8th: ZydecoSwamp, Molenstraat 58a, Raamsdonk, the Netherlands, 7.00-8.30 p.m. Doors 2.30 p.m.. adm. €7.50

Our next mail will include details of our gigs at the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival. Check our website for all gig details.

Regards & thanks,

Ray & TTP

© Richard Hawkins

Watery Hill Boys at The Moorings, Bellanaleck, 16 Sept. 2023

Thanks to JIm MacArdle of the Watery Hill Boys of Drogheda, Co. Louth, for the news that the band will be playing at The Moorings (also on Facebook), 156 Derrylin Rd, Bellanaleck, Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh BT92 2BA, from 8.00 p.m. to 10.30 p.m. this coming Saturday, 16 September.

The Moorings is an award-winning restaurant on the shores of Lough Erne, where the Watery Hill Boys played earlier this year (see the BIB for 24 Apr. 2023) in memory of John Watson.

© Richard Hawkins

Yonder Boys (USA/AUS/CHL) back in Ireland, 8-24 Sept. 2023

The Yonder Boys (USA/AUS/CHL), who were part of the 2022 Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival and toured for a week in Ireland in January this year, will be back at the end of next week to play at the Séamus Ennis Arts Centre, Naul. Co. Dublin, on Friday 8 Sept. as the first show in a tour lasting to 24 Sept. The full schedule, as it appears on their website, is as follows:

• Fri. 8th Sept.: Séamus Ennis Arts Centre, Naul, Co. Dublin
• Sat. 9th: Monroe's, Galway city
• Sun. 10th: Mullarkey's, Clifden, Co. Galway
• Wed. 13th: The Sunflower, Belfast
• Fri. 15th: Bennigan's, Derry city
• Sat. 16th: Balor Arts Centre, Ballybofey, Co. Donegal
• Sun. 17th: The Red Room, Cookstown, Co. Tyrone
• Thurs. 21st-Sun. 24th: Clonakilty Guitar Festival, Clonakilty, Co. Cork

© Richard Hawkins

The Local Honeys back in Ireland in October

The Local Honeys (Linda Jean Stokley and Montana Hobbs) from east Kentucky, who made a big impact at the 13th Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival (2019) and other appearances in Ireland, will be back in Ireland this autumn. At present their online tour schedule lists only a show in the Sound House, Dublin, at 7.30 p.m. on Thurs. 26 Oct., but the website of the Hawk's Well Theatre, Sligo town, shows them appearing there the following night (27 Oct.) with Niall McCabe. We await details of any other shows they may be playing in Ireland around those dates.

© Richard Hawkins

I Draw Slow at Whelan's, Dublin, Sat. 12 Aug. 2023

Whelan's of Wexford St., Dublin 2, announce the start of their Trad & Folk Festival Free Weekender, covering tonight (Thurs. 10 Aug.) and the two following nights. Of special interest to BIB readers is the fact that the headliners on Saturday night (12 Aug.) will be Dublin's own I Draw Slow, who have taken their spirited brand of neo-old-time-string-band music to the USA with great success in repeated tours. Whelan's announce: 'FREE ENTRY before 10.30 p.m. on Friday & Saturday – No need for a ticket – Walk-ins welcome. Strictly over 18s; I.D. may be required.'

© Richard Hawkins

TSEAC becomes honky-tonk and barn dance venue, 2 Sept. 2023

Yesterday's BIB post announced forthcoming tours arranged by Electric Cave Production and Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival for Water Tower and the Caleb & Reeb Country Band. Today the Séamus Ennis Arts Centre (TSEAC) announces that it is presenting the show by Caleb & Reeb & Co. on 2 Sept. as 'a modern-day honky tonk & barn dance', and as 'an outdoor seated event under our iconic TSEAC canopy. Full bar, food and snacks available'.

The band includes Joel Savoy, Russ Blake, Mike Bub, and Micheal Carroll. Tickets (€20.00) can be booked here.

© Richard Hawkins

Nickel Creek at the National Concert Hall, Dublin, 30 Aug. 2023

The National Concert Hall, Dublin, announces the highlights of its programme for August, among which the Nickel Creek concert on Wed. 30 Aug. is prominent. The concert will take place at 8.00 p.m. on the Main Stage, with support by the Guatemalan singer-songwriter Gaby Moreno. Tickets are €45, €40, €35, and €27.50, depending on location, with a 10% discount for Friends of the NCH or for Groups of ten or more. The NCH blurb reads:

Nickel Creek are the trio of Chris Thile, Sarah Watkins, and Sean Watkins. After a nine-year absence, the platinum-selling, Grammy award-winning trio are set to return in 2023 with the highly anticipated album, Celebrants. Together a sum of more than their staggering parts, the trio revolutionized bluegrass and folk in the early 2000s and ushered in a new era of what we now recognize as Americana music. [...]

Celebrants is a bounty of 18 disparate but loosely connected songs written collectively during a creative retreat in Santa Barbara in early 2021. The result is perhaps the most audacious yet accessible release of the Grammy-winning trio’s 34-year career.

The entire enterprise is, naturally, shot through with the trio’s virtuosic picking and shiver-inducing harmonies. The lyrics - addressing love, friendship, time, and the universal travails of travel - combine the poetic and plain-spoken, hitting a sweet spot of ethereal and relatable as bridges are built, crossed, burned, and rebuilt.

© Richard Hawkins

More on the Joachim Cooder tour, 29 Aug.-1 Sept. 2023

Following upon the BIB posts of 19 June and 12 July about the tour a month from now by Joachim Cooder, backed by Mark Fain (bass) and Rayna Gellert (fiddle), the BIB thanks Nigel Martyn, whose Old Flattop agency has organised the tour. Nigel sends the poster image (right) and a link to a five-minute YouTube video about the making of Over that road I'm bound, Joachim Cooder's album of Uncle Dave Macon songs. Nigel also draws attention to Cooder's use of an electric mbira, sounding like the offspring of a banjo and an autoharp. Links for booking tickets are given on the BIB calendar.

Richard Hawkins

Niall Toner and Andrea Booth at Arklow, 22 July 2023

Thanks to Brendan O'Regan for the news that he is back organising gigs, and the first of these will present Niall Toner and Andrea Booth, with support act Brendan O'Regan, at the Ballyraine Cafe, Vale Road, Arklow, Co. Wicklow, Y14 HR53, on Saturday 22 July at 8.00 p.m. Tickets are available from the Ballyraine Cafe and from Beat That Records in Arklow, or can be booked by e-mail.

© Richard Hawkins

Level Best (USA) return to Ireland, 20-28 Oct. 2023 (update)

Level Best (l-r): Ed Lick, Lisa Kay Howard-Hughes, Wally Hughes,

Joe Hannabach, James Field

The end of autumn suddenly seems a good deal brighter. Thanks to Lisa Kay Howard-Hughes of the Virginia-based band Level Best for the news that they will be returning to Ireland late in the coming October for a tour of eight shows:

• Fri. 20th Oct.: The Red Room, Cookstown, Co. Tyrone
• Sat. 21st: The Beehive Bar, Ardara, Co. Donegal
• Sun. 22nd: The Moorings, Bellanaleck, Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh
• Tues. 24th: Gleeson's Bar, Sixmilebridge, Co. Clare
• Wed. 25th: Richhill Castle Marquee, Richhill, Co. Armagh
• Thurs. 26th: Matt Molloy’s, Bridge St., Westport, Co. Mayo
• Fri. 27th: Sligo Bus Station, 3.00 p.m. (part of Sligo Live International Music Festival); Knocknashee Community Hub, Lavagh, Tobercurry, Co. Sligo, F56 W744 (evening show)
• Sat. 28th: Richhill Apple Fayre, Richhill, Co. Armagh

Level Best, who toured in Germany, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic earlier this year, will comprise for the coming tour Wally Hughes (dobro, fiddle, vocals), Lisa Kay Howard-Hughes (mandolin, vocals), James Field (guitar, vocals), Ed Lick (banjo, vocals), and Joe Hannabach (bass) - the same lineup as in their 2019 tour of Ireland except for Ed Lick on banjo in place of Terry Wittenberg.

© Richard Hawkins

Bluegrass Sundays Birthday Bash Jam, 16 July 2023

Thanks to Patrick Simpson of the Bluestack Mountain Boys, hosts of Dublin's two weekly bluegrass open jam sessions, for this news:

The Bluestack Mountain Boys aka Dublin Bluegrass Collective will be celebrating our 1 year anniversary at Mother Reilly's Bar & Restaurant this Sunday from 7.00 to 11.00 p.m. Come join the "Bluegrass Sundays Birthday Bash Jam" for cocktails and bluegrass music! It's been a great year and we've had so many fantastic musicians join us, so I'd like to say thanks to all the musicians that keep it alive, and thanks to the bar for supporting us! Hope to see you there!

Mother Reilly's is at 32 Rathmines Rd Upper, Dublin 6. The Bluestack Mountain Boys' Facebook recently displayed these two attractive new images for the Sunday and Tuesday sessions:

©Richard Hawkins

Further dates in Ireland for Joachim Cooder (USA), 28 Aug.-1 Sept.

On 19 June the BIB noted that Joachim Cooder will be playing at Whelans of Wexford St., Dublin 2, on Thurs. 31 August, backed by Mark Fain (bass) and the splendid Rayna Gellert (fiddle). Tickets (€27.50) can be booked here.

Joachim Cooder's online tour schedule now shows that in the course of a European tour, including festivals in Denmark and Britain, he (together with Rayna Gellert and Mark Fain) will be playing the following shows in Ireland:

• Tues. 29th Aug.: Campbell's Tavern, Headford, Co. Galway, 7.30-11.30 p.m.
• Wed. 30th: The Black Box, Belfast, 8.00-11.00 p.m.
• Thurs. 31st: Whelan's, Wexford St., Dublin 2, 8.00-11.00 p.m.
• Fri. 1st Sept.: Hawk's Well Theatre, Sligo town, 8.00-11.00 p.m.

Online booking links are on the tour schedule.

© Richard Hawkins

Niall Toner at the jam in Mother Reilly's, 2 July

More good news from the Dublin weekly bluegrass jam sessions! Thanks again to Patrick Simpson, who writes:

We had a great night of music and craic and a very special visitor join us for a listen. Many thanks to Niall Toner (Niall Toner Band) for dropping in on our jam session, which took place in the beer garden of Mother Reilly's last night.

This was the first night we decided to play outside, as the weather was great and there were a few more people to play for than inside the pub. It was a bit noiser in the beer garden, but we can't say for certain we will be out there for the rest of the summer. We like playing indoors at the fireplace as you can hear everything a bit better. So we will see next week if we will do it again, depending on how busy the bar is.

Also thanks to Camille Champarnaud (fiddle), Aiden Mollloy of Sun Shakers (guitar), Carl Lombard of Whistle (banjo), and of course Simon Humphries and TJ Screene respectively. We really appreciate the love and support we receive from all the talented musicians who make it out for Bluegrass Sundays from 7.00-11.00 p.m., and we look forward to doing it again for Bluegrass Tuesdays in The Oarsman, 8.00-11.00 p.m.

On stage in the photo ((l-r): Patrick, TJ, Niall

© Richard Hawkins

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

Ian Alexander at the Dufferin Arms, THIS FRIDAY (30 June)

Thanks to Ian Alexander for the news that he will be playing and singing at the Dufferin Arms, 35 High Street, Killyleagh, Co. Down BT30 9QF (also on Facebook), from 8.00 p.m. tomorrow night (Friday 30 June), with the same two-man lineup as at Bluegrass Omagh a month ago. Ian's press handout reads:

Ian Alexander serves up a feast of bluegrass songs ranging from the uplifting to the darkest murder ballads. As a young fella he took his mandolin and travelled the southern states, playing festivals and jamming with the old hands, while keeping his ears firmly open. Personal encounters with Bill Monroe, Doc Watson, Peter Rowan, and a Who’s Who of bluegrass legends left their mark on the young Ian Alexander. Catch him on Friday June 30th at 8.00 p.m. playing original songs and classic bluegrass favourites.

On the basis of experience at Omagh, the Dufferin Arms gig can be warmly recommended. Ian's Facebook is also well worth a visit, if only for a look at his 1993 Lowden guitar, O32 ('Old Faithful').

© Richard Hawkins

Dublin bluegrass jam sessions in full vigour!

Thanks to Patrick Simpson of the Bluestack Mountain Boys for the news that the two weekly Dublin bluegrass open jam sessions (Sundays at Mother Reilly's, 32 Rathmines Rd Upper, Dublin 6, 7.00-11.00 p.m., and Tuesdays at The Oarsman, 8-10 Bridge St., Ringsend, Dublin 4 (D04 N294), from 8.00 p.m.) are continuing in vigorous life.

The photo above (which now heads the Bluestack Mountain Boys Facebook page) was taken at The Oarsman by a family from the USA with Patrick's phone camera. The photo below was taken on the June Bank Holiday weekend in Mother Reilly's, when Irish singer/ songwriter Mundy (seated with back to the camera, with 12-string guitar) dropped in and finger-picked songs in Doc Watson style.

© Richard Hawkins

Joachim Cooder (USA) at Whelan's, Dublin, 31 Aug. 2023

Thanks to Whelans of Wexford St., Dublin 2, for the news that Joachim Cooder will be playing there on Thursday 31 August, backed by Mark Fain (bass) and the splendid Rayna Gellert (fiddle). Tickets (€27.50) can be booked here.

Joachim Cooder, as son of Ry Cooder, has been immersed in roots and world music all his life. His 2020 album Over that road I'm bound was a 'repurposing' and 'reimagining' of the music of Uncle Dave Macon. A single from the album, 'Come along buddy', can be seen on Whelan's press release and on YouTube, with his father playing 5-string banjo. The title track, 'Over the road', is on YouTube in two versions: one showing the song being recorded, and a brief version with animation (and banjo).

A brief note to Whelan's - Uncle Dave was not exactly an 'Appalachian banjo picker'; he was raised in central Tennessee, and the time his family (of French Huguenot descent) had spent in the mountains was passing through on the journey from North Carolina.

© Richard Hawkins

Ardara Bluegrass Festival, 21-23 July 2023

Thanks to Tony O'Brien for details of the Ardara Bluegrass Festival, which will be held in the highly agreeable town of Ardara, Co. Donegal, from Friday 21 July to to Sunday 23 July. The lineup includes Woodbine, Henry, Mules & Men, and Kevin & Geraldine Gill. The schedule of events is:

Fri. evening/ night: Opening jam session
Sat.: afternoon, jam session; evening, concert with the above artists, 8.00 p.m.
Sun.: afternoon, jam session; evening, Jamboree hosted by Woodbine, 8.00 p.m.
All events will take place in The Beehive Bar, Main St., Ardara.

© Richard Hawkins

Double Header concert at Dungarvan, 13 June 2023

Thanks again to John Nyhan for this poster image and information on the Double Header concert to be held at the Copper Buoy Bistro & Wine Bar, 86 O'Connell St., Dungarvan, Co. Waterford, on Tuesday 13 June at 8.00 p.m. John adds these details of the musicians:

The Demolition String Band, based in Hoboken, New York, feature:
Elena Skye on mandolin, guitar, and vocals.
Boo Reiners on banjo, mandolin, guitar, and vocals.
Sam Barnes on fiddle.
Their music is rooted in bluegrass, country, and mountain music.
_________________________________
Ray Barron is the wonderful mandolin player and leader of the excellent Two Time Polka.
Hank Wedel is a great guitarist and singer. He is one of the finest exponents of roots music and a fabulous entertainer.
Robbie Barron (Ray's son) is a great guitarist and is much in demand as a session musician.
______________________________________
This double act should make an incredible concert. Booking is advisable.
Tel. 087 604 0542 or 087 792 1771

BIB editor's note: The Demolition String Band have often played in Ireland in the past. More information about them, with a video of their 'Sailor girl', is on the Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival website. The dates for their current tour here (8-18 June) are on the BIB calendar.

© Richard Hawkins

News of US bands coming to Westport

Fog Holler, from the vigorous acoustic music scene in Portland, OR, will be playing at the Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival three weeks from now, as part of a tour of Europe that began on 2 May. Earlier this week their manager Kianna Mott-Smith contributed to Bluegrass Today the first instalment of a commentary on the progress of the tour, together with eight photos taken during travel or shows. In the first week they played in the Netherlands, Germany (including Bühl, the main south German bluegrass festival), and Switzerland.

From tomorrow, Fog Holler will be playing ten dates in Belgium and six in the Netherlands (including the Rotterdam Bluegrass Festival), five in Germany (including Grevengrass, the main north German bluegrass festival), two in Britain, and three in Ireland:

• Fri. 9th-Sun. 11th June: Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival
• Tues. 13th: The Red Room, Cookstown, Co. Tyrone
• Wed. 14th: The Moorings, Bellanaleck, Co. Fermanagh

The photo above right shows Lilian Sawyer (fiddle), Tommy Schulz (guitar, vocals), Casey James Holmberg (banjo, vocals), and Noa (bass).

*

Thanks to 2911 Media for the news that the Kody Norris Show, who close the Saturday night concert at Westport, will be hosting this coming September the Mountain City Fiddlers' Convention in Johnson County, TN - the first time the convention has been held since 2019. Kody Norris, a native of Johnson County, says: 'Growing up in Mountain City, the fiddlers’ convention has always held a special place in my heart. Some of the greatest fiddlers in history got their start right here. Mary Rachel [Kody's wife and the band's fiddler] and I never dreamed we would be hosting this event but are super excited to breathe some new life into this Northeast Tennessee treasure.'

© Richard Hawkins