Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival, 24-26 June

Thanks to Uri Kohen (left), who sends this press release (29 May 2011):

Painting Westport’s grass blue

Over ten free gigs, one headline event, and a whole lot of foot stompin’.
Who needs a tent when you have Irish pubs?

Top-class local, national, and international folk and bluegrass acts will be playing a plethora of free gigs in venues throughout the beautiful town of Westport, Co. Mayo, over the last weekend in June. Musicians and singers near and far are tuning up their instruments and soaking their vocal cords in honey (or whiskey) in anticipation of the annual Westport Folk & Bluegrass Festival.

THE FESTIVAL
Now in its fifth year, the festival will once again treat music lovers to a host of free gigs, as well as a music workshop, a musical lunch, and a great big dollop of fun.
The Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival began life as one man’s dream to create a unique festival in the town in which he lived. After running into a brick wall when trying to book singer/songwriter Jimmy McCarthy for a one-off gig in the town, Uri Kohen decided enough was enough. Westport needed to be seen as a live music destination, and he would make damn sure it would be seen that way. It might be a small place on the western edge of an island on the edge of Europe – but that didn’t stop Uri from thinking big.

And so it was that the weekend-long festival was born. The Lee Valley String Band from Cork were asked to headline the first festival, and since then the wheels have been spinning faster and faster. As Uri says, 'there was no way back.' Artists from Ireland, Europe, and America were soon lining up to take part in the festival, and bluegrass fans in Ireland pencilled in the last weekend of June as the time to make their way to the west for three days of top-quality music in the great town of Westport.

This year will feature 15 acts from different parts of the world, performing in seven different venues around the town. As the event is all about the music and fun, all the gigs are FREE, except for the main Saturday-night show (25 June), which will feature three top bluegrass bands playing for over five hours. And at €15, the cost is far from prohibitive.

So who’s going to be there? The who’s who of bluegrass and folk, that’s who! Read on…

FRIDAY
Things start kicking early on Friday night with young Irish band the Bluestack Mountain Boys, who will play in Blousers pub at 6.00 p.m.
Monogamous music lovers will find themselves torn between several venues later that night, while the more flighty will do the dirty and wander between them all, flirting with each. Four different gigs will take place around the town at 9.30 p.m. – American singer Jason Serious (seriously) will play in Cobblers Bar; Westport favourites the MacEvillys will play in the Clew Bay Hotel; Geraghty’s pub will host Texan singer/songwriter Jim Keaveny and his Guthrie/Dylan-esque American folk tunes; Little Ass Birds will fill McGing’s pub with wholesome sound and beautiful harmonies; while The Jester will take folk act Louisiana Joyride for a spin – be prepared to feel the wind in your hair.

SATURDAY
Saturday’s entertainment begins with a lunchtime gig at the Clew Bay Hotel by David Hope and Tom ‘T-Bone’ Lyons (AKA 'The Colonel') with guests. David Hope is a fine Shannon-based folk singer and popular Westport visitor. Considered one of the west’s greatest ambassadors for bluegrass music, Tom organises a bluegrass festival in Balla and is a regular member of the MacEvillys. This gig promises to be a lively one. For those who love to learn, fiddle-, banjo-, and mandolin-player Tim Rogers will host a workshop in the festival’s main artery, the Wyatt Hotel, at 2.00 p.m.

Later that afternoon, at 4.00 p.m., the Festival Session – an established festival highlight – will take place. This involves most of the festival acts converging in McGing’s pub on High Street for a big old session – and everyone is welcome to join in. Also at 4.00 p.m., fans will have another chance to catch Jim Keaveny, this time in the Pantry and Corkscrew restaurant, which will put together a special menu to fill your belly and fuel your soul. A great afternoon of folk music, flowing wine, and fabulous food.

The evening’s early-bird 6.00 p.m. gig will see Mad Uncle Harry play in the Wyatt Hotel. The finest of folk tunes, jug music, ragtime, old-time music and sea shanties will spill from the stage, all delivered with redolent bluegrass/Americana harmonies and skillful musicianship.

That night it’s the big gig. The mojo show. THE WESTPORT FOLK AND BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL MAIN EVENT. For five hours (yes, five hours) the walls of the Wyatt Hotel will reverberate with the sumptuously spirited sounds of Tim Rogers & the Clew Bay Critters, the Dust Busters, and A Band Like Alice. The show starts at 9.00 p.m. (doors open at 8.30 p.m.).

Tim Rogers, who was the fiddler for the Rough Deal String Band in a previous incarnation, plays the fiddle, the five-string banjo, and the mandolin. His Critters all sing and variously play the fiddle, the string bass, the guitar, the mandolin. A match made in heaven, together they play a good-timey mix of old-time songs, wild fiddle tunes, acoustic swing, and bluegrass standards.

The Dust Busters, a Brooklyn-based band, integrates a wide range of old-time, ballads, fiddle tunes, and jug-band blues into each performance, conjuring that freewheeling, high-energy spirit reminiscent of early string bands like the Skillet Lickers, Dyke's Magic City Trio, the Mississippi Sheiks, and J. E. Mainer’s Mountaineers. Influences include the fusion of Scots-Irish and African music set in Appalachia, the Western states and Deep South, from the earliest colonial times through the second world war – yet their upbeat sound is contemporary and creative.

The night will culminate with the festival’s headline act, A Band Like Alice. For bluegrass purists, this is about as good as it gets. One of the most popular bands on the bluegrass circuit and one of the best in the business, A Band Like Alice play traditional, exciting bluegrass led by the astounding tenor vocals of genre devotee Gary Payne. The band also boasts the leading bluegrass fiddle player in the UK (Bob Winquist, originally from Vancouver Island), a top bluegrass banjo player and singer (Richard Collins), a brilliant bass player and accomplished singer (Sherryl Payne), and a renowned mandolin and fiddle player (Alan Ward).

SUNDAY
Sunday’s proceedings start early, at 12.30 p.m. Music lovers looking for a lunchtime fix can head to the Clew Bay Hotel for a special performance by the Molly Hicks. This band played at last year’s festival and brought the house down. Back by popular demand, this Galway band is a tight vocal and string group revered across the country for their delectable delivery of traditional, original and contemporary bluegrass songs. The Molly Hicks are a singing tour de force. A lively show is guaranteed, with everyone taking turns at lead and harmony and doing call-and-response in the fine traditions of American Appalachian, bluegrass, country and gospel.

The last of the festival’s gigs sees Tim Rogers and friends gather at 4.00 p.m. in Geraghty’s Bar for an out-with-a-bang session. In what is now becoming a veritable festival of conviviality in its own right, a host of musicians come together to wind down, drink up, and sing out three days of top-class folk and kick-ass bluegrass. A fitting full stop if ever there was one.

For further information, contact Uri Kohen (phone 087 757 0958; e-mail), or visit the Festival website.