If you are on our way to Cork and wants to know which music bar to go to next, don’t forget to visit de Barras. Situated in Clonkilty the West of Cork, it boasts a one of a kind venue that already housed artists like Christy Moore, John Spillane and new up and rising acts. Feel its ne of a kind intimate ambience and diverse acts that make de Barras stand out as one of the best pubs in Ireland. Quotes ” Mark Mc Devitt, (Irish Examiner 2000) It is the presence of an unlikely musical venue that makes Clonakilty truly special however, to cross the well worn threshold of the shy and rather retiring de Barras Folk Club, is to enter into a world full of possibilities. The possibility that anyone, literally anyone, might ramble in of the street and do a few tunes.” Contact: DeBarras, 55 Pearse St.,Clonakilty, West Cork, Ireland Phone : +353 (0)23 8833381 Booking Enquiries: +353 (0)23 8836549 TUES email: eolas@debarra.ieCheck out www.myspace.com/debarras and www.debarra.ie for this month’s gig guide……………………….There is one site directory that will tell you the best bars in town. www.irishpubs.com has not only the lists of categories, it also has a user friendly interface that will guide you while you click for the pubs near you. It says Your Guide to the best pubs in Ireland and Irish pubs around the world. It includes categories like Entertainment, live Music, Trad Music, Disco Bars. Sport, Food. Smoking facility, Accommodation, Parking. Job opportunities etc.(Job opportunities? Hmmm…) You can even add your pub to the list or sell it!
And now for some music news……….
Clockwise from top: Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh, Alan Stivell, Pierrick Lemou and band, Lily Neill, Eddi Reader with band and Julie Fowlis (Pictures courtesy of their respective websites).
The 15th Hebridean Celtic Festival has a line up of interesting artists. From 14th to 17th of July, expect to be enchanted, possessed and stirred up by some of the most beautiful music in the world. Here are the artists to play in the event:
Runrig (Mainstage Saturday) Breabach Mainstage Saturday) Treacherous Orchestra (Mainstage Friday) Imelda May (Mainstage Friday) Julie Fowlis (Mainstage Friday) Afro Celt Sound System (Mainstage Thursday) Blazin’ Fiddles (Mainstage Thursday) Adrian Edmondson & The Bad Shepherds (Mainstage Thursday) Iain Morrison’s Ceòl Mor / Little Music (An Lanntair Saturday) The Poozies (An Lanntair Friday) The Fox Hunt (Breasclete Wednesday / An Lanntair Thursday) Anniversary Concert (An Lanntair Wednesday 7.30pm) Oidhche Chiadain (An Lanntair Wednesday 3pm) Alasdair White & Jane Hepburn (An Lanntair Thursday 3pm) Mhairi Hall Trio (Harris, Thursday 8pm / An Lanntair, Friday 3pm) Mànran (Clan MacQuarrie, Friday 8pm) Ceilidh Bands Norrie acIver’s Dance Band (An Lanntair, Wednesday) Anna Fraser Dance Band (Breasclete, Wednesday)
Deoch an Dorus (Stornoway & Borve, Friday)
According to the site news: Thousands Expected as Festival Sales Reach Milestone
People from countries as far away as the USA, Canada and Australia are expected to visit Stornoway this summer as the Hebridean Celtic Festival announced it has already sold more tickets this year than it did for the entire event last year…
Add HebCelt Fest in facebook follow the feeds and also in twitter and myspace
Julie Fowlis , our Scottish lass is in the midst of a tour to promote her new album Uam. According to Folk Radio Uk, Uam is an extraordinary moving album. Her best and most beautiful work to date. Julie has also been made ambassador for Hebridean Celtic Festival according to her myspace blog:
The fabulous folks at the reknowned Hebridean Celtic Festival have been kind enough to make me an ambassador for the festival and one of the first three inductees to their newly formed Hall of Fame.
I am most chuffed and honoured. See the official info below! (then go and buy tickets – it’s a fab festival!!) love Julie x
Sounds like she is not only winning our hearts, she is winning the whole of UK and the world. Bless you Julie! Check her blog and music at www.myspace.com/juliefowlis and www.juliefowlis.com her tour schedules:
Cuirmean-ciùil
Tour Dates
12th Jun
St Albans
St Albans Arena Civic Centre St Albans Hertfordshire AL1 3LD
13th Jun
Southwell
Southwell Folk Festival Nottinghamshire
15th Jun
Cardiff
St Davids Hall, The Hayes, Cardiff CF10 1AH
17th Jun
London
Union Chapel, Compton Avenue, Canonbury, London N1 2XD
20th Jun
Salisbury
Salisbury City Hall Malthouse Lane Salisbury Wiltshire SP2 7TU
26th Jun
Sedburgh
Near Sedburgh, Cumbria
View further details
Add Julie on facebook, twitter and bebo.
Breton band TornaoD is in the middle of an exciting tour this month. This band from Kaligan France have been leaving audiences breathless with their astounding, dynamic energy such that, initially bemused, then won over, people are never indifferent. Their site describes the music: In an authentic meeting of tradition and modernity, TornaoD draw inspiration from a mixture of sources, from Alan Stivell to Metallica, Led Zeppelin to Denez Prigent, 70s rock side by side with 80s metal, New Age, the East, and more…From June to August, you can watch them live in the following venues:
http://events.myspace.com/Event/4844372/Festival-Celtic
| If you don’t have an idea who Pierrick Lemou is, then you’ve missed out on life’s great musical pleasures. His fiddle plying is like no other because after all, he walks in two cultures: Breton style meets Irish influences. There is a softer and sweeter style in his playing. His arrangement is also eclectic in a sense that he derives from all sources, including the great jazz bassist Jaco Pastorious. I am personally getting a hang of him and he bleeds magi in every song. Check him out at www.myspace.com/pierricklemou and http://www.pierricklemou.com/Following the release of the much-awaited album Emerald, Alan Stivell is fully booked for the month of July and August. He also conducted an online chat with his fans (in Breton I guess) and |
| yes he will be on one of the biggest Celtic Festival this year , |
FESTIVAL INTERCELTIQUE LORIENT-ANORIANT, Breizh
Upcomming shows: http://events.myspace.com/Event/2301147/Alan-STIVELL
The amazing voice behind Danu Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh continues to soar the heights of musical success as her band promotes their new album “Seanchas” was released in April 2010. Listening to her full voice, it would be hard not to be loved. She has the mastery in the sean nos style of singing as well as great talents on the flute and tin-whistle. She is good friends with Scot Julie Fowlis who collaborated with her on collaborated on the album “Dual”http://muireann.ie/biog.html . Expect to hear more from Muireann .Please read www.myspace.com/muireannmusic and muireann.ie . Beautiful photos courtesy of Bríd Ní Luasaigh
Follow her on facebook, and watch her on youtube.
There is an amazing Celtic harpist in our midst that mixes music of all genres making the sound totally her own. Lily Neill has created such a stir in the music scene after the release of her debut album “Without Words “ in 2004. “Lily Neill speaks to us without words in this gentle and gracious recording. Once again the magic of the plucked string surrounds us and brings us to a place of special resonance and peace. There is something universal in this sound: no less than three of the tracks, for example, bring the Japanese Koto and Irish Harp together as if they were long lost cousins. A shared universal sonic gene comes through her fingers as if the music inside her is truly ancestral”. Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin, November 2006. www.myspace.com/lilyneill and www.LilyNeill.com
If you haven’t got the copy of John Spillane’s latest album (The Best of John Spillane, So Far, So Good, Like), then don’t miss out on this musical gem of an album.
John is a native of Cork, the county he lovingly describes as ‘the centre of the universe’, and it has been a huge influence on this singer/songwriter. Vocally, Spillane is quite unique with an almost sean nos like element and has been described as having a voice ‘full of honesty, commitment and sensitivity’.
…some of the most skillfully crafted, vividly realized songs anyone has written in Ireland over the past dozen years.’ Earle Hitchner, premier writer/reviewer for Irish Echo and The Wall Street Journal. www.johnspillane.com and www.myspace.com/johnspillane .
With the release of the new record Love is the Way, we are greeted by a new Eddi Reader. This one is more breezy, country sounding and free spirited which is a departure from years of seeing her in those glasses and wild hair. I first became familiar with Eddi upon watching the Jools Holland show. Her voice is simply awesome and her personality is vibrant. As she says about the album: I have a passionate love of instinctive, beautiful songs. Also a slightly insane attachment to romantic chord structures. Words that speak of some universal humanist truth. That can be ‘thrown away’ with no regrets. This can be summed up in most of the songs on this record. Tour dates for this month and July:
| Beverley Folk Festival Flemingate, beverley Friday 18th June 2010 |
| West End Festival Glasgow, Scotland Tuesday 22nd June 2010 |
| West End Festival Glasgow, Scotland Wednesday 23rd June 2010 |
| Home Festival Dartington, Devon Saturday 26th June 2010 |
| Draiocht Arts Centre Blanchardstown, Dublin 15, Ireland Saturday 10th July 2010 |
| Glens Centre County Leitrim, Ireland Sunday 11th July 2010 |
| Dunlewey Lakeside Centre County Donegal, Ireland Monday 12th July 2010 |
| Bronte Music Club Rathfriland, Ireland Wednesday 14th July 2010 |
| Celtic Fusion Festival Castlewellan, County Down Thursday 15th July 2010 |
| An Droichead Centre Belfast Friday 16th July 2010 |
More on http://www.eddireader.co.uk/ and
| www.myspace.com/eddireader |
Clockwise from top: Lily Neill’s debut Without Words CD, The Best of John Spillane, Eddi Reader(Myspace) and Pierrick Lemou in motion.
Celtic Music Fan 