New video from Pilgrim St

Congratulations to Pilgrim St of Navan, Co. Meath, who announce:

We're very happy to announce the release of our second official video - 'How can a man be happy (when happiness costs so much)'. Enjoy!

The video can be seen on YouTube. On their Facebook the band also announced on 5 Sept.:

We're going back to basics, folks - back to where it all began for us, the session. From next Friday [11 Sept.] until Xmas we will be popping up in different taverns all over Meath and Louth, starting in Hamills, Ardee. If your local would like Pilgrim St, In Session, send us a message; more dates to follow.

Their next date, as shown on the band website, is at Beggy's in Navan, starting at 10.00 p.m. on this coming Friday - 2 Oct.

Special C. news

The Special Consensus, the US band most welcomed to Ireland over the past twenty years, will celebrate forty years as a full-time touring and recording band in a special concert to be held on 24 October. In those forty years, the Special C. has had 41 regular members (not to mention many fine pickers who have stood in on occasion), and 24 of these will be taking part in the show. More details are on the band's news web page.

Bluegrass Today announces that Dustin Benson (second from right above) will be leaving the band two weeks after the concert - on 7 November. Dustin has been the Special C. guitarist for four-and-a-half years, including two tours in Ireland. Band founder and leader Greg Cahill is reported to have a replacement in mind.

Ramble back in the limelight

IBMA's World of Bluegrass began yesterday in Raleigh, NC, and Ramble the Banjo-Picking Squirrel (above: photo by Becky Johnson) was there at the end of a five-month journey (see the BIB for 27 April). He looks lean and fit (if a little tousled) after the trip.

Attentive readers will see that he has not just changed strings and bridge since the spring: he has a new banjo with gold-plated hardware, more brackets, a scalloped tension hoop, and a fingerboard that overlaps what looks like a Renaissance head. This instrument, like the other, is distinctly old-time in style, an impression emphasised by the new sling. Is this a message about the direction that IBMA is taking?

Bluegrass and Barcelona: now, Nov. 2015, and Mar. 2016

Plenty of people in Ireland have been to Barcelona; plenty have also (without going to that magnificent city) enjoyed the music of banjo maestro Lluís Gomez and the Barcelona Bluegrass Band at previous Johnny Keenan Banjo Festivals in Longford and Tullamore, where they became regular favourites with concert audiences.

You can now enjoy a combination of Barcelona ambiance and the music of Lluís and his friends in a video just published on Bluegrass Today, which shows a quartet composed of Lluís Gomez (banjo), manouche guitarist Valentí Moya, Oriol Gonzàlez (mandolin), and Maribel Rivero (upright bass) performing the waltz-time 'Indifference' by Tony Muréna and Joseph Colombo in the bar L'Anima del Vi in central Barcelona. A tablature of the tune appeared in the March 2015 issue of Banjo NewsLetter.

Bluegrassers who fancy a break in Barcelona in the coming months can look forward six weeks to the annual one-day Al Ras Bluegrass & Old Time Festival (Sat. 14 Nov.), and another four months to the first Barcelona Bluegrass Camp (Sat. 5 Mar. 2016).

Sean McKerr at IBMA WOB

On Friday (25 Sept.) the BIB mentioned that during this year's IBMA World of Bluegrass (beginning tomorrow) at Raleigh, NC, the Tír na nÓg bar will be hosting bluegrass musicians from Co. Armagh - Cup O' Joe and Sean McKerr (of KingBlue, the Tennessee Hennessees, and other previous bands in Ulster). Sean will be in an international band led by fiddler Jan Johannson.

Today Sean is mentioned in a feature by Richard Thompson on the international band in Bluegrass Today. In a long quoted passage, Jan Johansson outlines how he came to form friendships with musicians from different parts of the world. The band includes Toshio Watanabe (Japan) on mandolin, Scott McBride (USA) on fiddle and vocals, Jens Kruger (CH/USA) on banjo - and Sean on bass, who is described thus:

... a fine fella and a soul mate in music. He played with me last year at IBMA and I asked him to join me again this year. A very fine bassist and mandolin player and a great sense of humour.

No disagreement from this quarter...

Bunratty Bluegrass Festival, 9-11 Oct. 2015

Two weeks from now, the Bunratty Bluegrass Festival will be in its busy final day at Bunratty, Co. Clare; of the fourteen events scheduled for Sunday, eight will take place in the Folk Park adjoining Bunratty Castle. The festival begins on Friday evening (9 Oct.), with a lineup including the Corn Potato String Band (USA), Maple Tree Circus (CH), The Grove Bluegrass Band (UK), the Oldtown Rounders (Galway), the New Breadwinners (Dublin), and JigJam (Tullamore).

Full details of the lineup, the schedule, and bands taking part can be found on the events page of the Bunratty website. Thanks to Brendan Walsh, director of the annual Shannonside Winter Music Weekend and leader of the Sixmilebridge Folk Club, for developing this full-blown event from its predecessor, the Bunratty Banjo Festival (2013-14).

Sara Grey, Kieron Means, & Ben Paley in Ireland, 23-8 Oct. 2015

The celebrated old-time trio composed of Sara Grey (banjo), her son Kieron Means (guitar), and Ben Paley (fiddle) will be playing the following dates in Ireland four weeks from now:

Fri. 23rd Oct.: The Front Bar, McGrory's, Culdaff, Co. Donegal, 9.30 p.m.; tel. Rory, 0044 7926971125

Sat. 24th-Sun. 25th: South Roscommon Singers Festival, Knockcrogherty, Co. Roscommon; tel. Declan Coyne, 087 966 7029; e-mail

Mon. 26th: Roadside Tavern, Kincora Road, Lisdoonvarna, Co. Clare, 9.00 p.m.; tel. Peter Curtin, 087 830 0069

Tues. 27th: Buttevant, Co. Cork, venue TBC; tel. John Nyhan, 087 792 1771

Wed. 28th: DC Music Club, 20 Camden Row, Dublin 2; tel. Paul Lee, 087 682 5306

Sara, who moved back to the States a few years ago after long residence in Britain, is featured in the recent book Wayfaring strangers: the musical voyage from Scotland and Ulster to Appalachia by Fiona Ritchie and Doug Orr (see the BIB for 8 Nov. 2014), to which she made important contributions.

Co. Armagh at IBMA WOB

Picking in front of the statue of Sir Walter Raleigh in the centre of
Raleigh, NC; the canopy is formed from Deering banjo parts

The International Committee of IBMA has issued this news of bands and organisations from outside the USA taking part in the coming World of Bluegrass (29 Sept.-3 Oct.) at Raleigh, NC. The programme includes (like last year) a seminar on touring and gigging abroad, with a panel including Greg Cahill of the Special Consensus and Chris Keenan, organiser of the Johnny Keenan Banjo Festivals.

Also like last year, the Tír na nÓg bar at 218 S. Blount St., Raleigh, which regularly hosts Irish traditional music and dance throughout the year, is one of the main performance venues during WOB. Cup O' Joe from Co. Armagh will be playing there at 8.00 p.m. on Thursday 1 Oct., and again at 10.00 p.m. the following day, as well as playing at the Pour House at noon on Thursday (we hope they have Everett Lilly's 'Over the hills to the Poorhouse' in the set list).

Also playing at WOB, and at the Tír na nÓg for a ninety-minute slot beginning at 6.00 p.m. on Friday, will be an international band led by Jan Johannson, master fiddler from Sweden and long-time resident in the US. One member of the band will be Sean McKerr (right) of KingBlue, veteran of many past WOBs and of a previous World International Blue Grass Band led by Butch Robins.

Sean reports that he is 'looking forward to just having a good time' (which, as the photo suggests, he's well able to do), and hopes to send a few photos from the gig.

Bill Andrews

Barbara Andrews sends from Belfast this sad news of one of the most dedicated supporters of bluegrass music in Ireland:

It is with deepest regret that I have to tell you about the death of my father Bill Andrews. He passed peacefully this morning (24 Sept.) at 6.00 a.m. His funeral is to be at Roselawn Crematorium, Belfast, on Tuesday 29 September 2015 at 3.00 p.m.

The cancer had spread from the lungs into the lung fluid and his bones, so he is at peace now and is back with Mum where he belongs. His funeral is arranged for the first anniversary of Mum's death last year on 29 September.

The family request please no flowers; if anyone would like to make a donation to the Marie Curie Cancer Hospice, please forward to Wiltons Funeral Home, 324-326 Woodstock Rd, Belfast, Northern Ireland BT6 9DP.

They both loved their bluegrass, but especially Dad.

If anyone wishes to contact us, please ask Richard for our details and we will be honoured to hear from Dad's friends.

Barbara (Daughter) and Megan (Granddaughter)

Annie Staninec fiddle book out now

The BIB editor writes:

Other commitments stopped me from getting to see and hear Annie Staninec and John Kael (USA) during their time in Ireland that began a month ago and included performing at the Dunmore East and Omagh festivals. Anyone who did see and hear them, however, will be glad to learn that Annie's book Traditional bluegrass fiddle solos is now published and available from her website at $30 plus postage (post-free in USA).

The book comprises 46 solos from many master fiddlers including Curly Ray Cline, Chubby Wise, Kenny Baker, Mac Magaha, Vassar Clements, Bobby Hicks, Glen Duncan, and James Price, with downloadable recordings of all the solos, as well as helpful tips. A sample is given on the website: a break on 'Careless love' as played by Kenny Baker, with two recordings - slow, and faster with guitar backing - and a pdf transcription. Thanks to the Prescription Bluegrass Blog for the news.

Update 1 Oct.: Bluegrass Today announced yesterday the names of this year's IBMA Momentum Award winners. Annie Staninec is one of the three instrumentalists - all fiddlers - receiving an award; the others are Nate Lee (not to be confused with Nate Leath, who was here in July as one of the Patuxent Partners), and Patrick McAvinue, who has also been here as a Patuxent Partner.

NT documentary - news on Bluegrass Today

A feature by Richard Thompson on Niall Toner appeared yesterday on Bluegrass Today, focused on the coming documentary on Niall's life in music that is being made by Dublin-based New Decade TV.

The documentary is planned for a full 70-minute length, aimed for showing on TV in Ireland, Britain, and the US, as well as at independent film and music festivals. New Decade's founder and director/producer Ciaran O’Connor is quoted as saying that it

... is something that myself and Niall have decided to embark upon together. I decided not to shoot down at the bluegrass festival [the BIB assumes this is the Omagh festival earlier this month] primarily because of resources and timings.

Instead, 'actual film work will begin with shooting at a gig at the Harbour Bar in Bray, Co. Wicklow'; though some may have been done, as announced earlier, on Saturday 12 Sept. during the NTB show at the Riverbank Arts Centre in Newbridge, Co. Kildare.

Niall is now about to travel to the States as compere and guide on the Topflight package tour of the bluegrass heartlands (26 Sept.-4 Oct.).

AP Toman Twintone banjos: part 4

Thanks to Jonathan Toman for this news of the latest instrument in the series:

The fourth current banjo model was commissioned by Peter. Currently in construction is an 'AP Toman Granada' model, inspired by the famous Jack Cozart Gibson Granada prewar flathead banjo [9530-4 - one digit before Wade Mainer's Granada]. Check out the Earnestbanjo.com website - you'll see this banjo!

Patsy Toman turning the maple pot
for the new Granada model, 17 Sept.

The 'AP Toman Granada' features:

*All high-quality gold-plated hardware sourced in the US to match that of current USA Mastertone-style banjos
*Hand-built rock maple block rim
*Steve Huber gold-plated Vintage style tone ring
*Neck and resonator to match spec. of Jack Cozart Gibson prewar model; hand-made by Robin Smith of Heartland Banjos, Hendersonville, TN

Patsy hand-builds the rims and sources all high-quality metal parts to construct and finish the banjos off. All final banjo setup, head tuning, and neck sets are done by Patsy in his home workshop in Lurgan.



Left, the stained and finished block-built rock maple pot with gold-plated tone ring; centre, the pot with flange, stretcher band, and hooks installed; right, the full pot assembly with resonator

The Burns Sisters Band (USA) in Ireland, 27 Sept.-10 Oct. 2015: UPDATE

Thanks to Wendy Connolly and 'Bluegrass in Ireland' for the news that the Burns Sisters Band (also on Facebook) will be making their 'Songbirds Wild Atlantic' tour in Ireland in the very near future. Wendy relays this message from them:

Ireland here we come!!! We hope you can come out to our shows. We will feature Stephan Flaherty on guitar and one of the best dobro players in the USA, Kevin Maul.

Thanks also to John Nyhan, who sends the press release shown below and adds a further date (10 Oct.) to those shown when this post was first published. The gigs so far confirmed are consequently:

Fri. 2nd Oct.: The Hotspot, Greystones, Co. Wicklow; tel. Ailbhe Skay, 087 2917519
Sat. 3rd: Conary Community Hall, Avoca, Co. Wicklow; tel. Pat Nolan, 087 2334714
Sun. 4th: The Rowan Tree Cafe, Ennis, Co. Clare; tel. Siobhan Peoples, 087 9686050
Mon. 5th: Schoolyard Theatre, Charleville, Co. Cork; tel. John Nyhan, 087 7921771
Tues. 6th: Clonmel Folk Club, The Main Guard, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary; tel. Eelco Beckers, 085 8502289
Sat. 10th: Teach Cheoil, Kilrush, Co. Clare; tel. 065 9083022

Press release for Burns Sisters Irish tour Oct. 2015

Siblings Annie and Marie Burns are due to embark on an Irish tour. Based in Itchaca, New York, the Burns Sisters are promoting their latest release, Looking back: our American Irish souls, an examination of their own family history and the true Irish history of the famine and the great migration. Their paternal ancestors originated in Kildare while their mother’s people, the McMahons, came from Co. Clare. They describe the record as a 'Celtic-infused Americana project'.

Veterans of the American folk music scene, the Burns’ have toured on numerous occasions with Arlo Guthrie as backing singers in his band and as an opening act for his concerts. For the past fifteen years the Burns Sisters have performed at the annual Woody Guthrie Festival in Okemah, Oklahoma, that pays tribute to the legacy of the father of American folk music. They have also shared stages with music legends like Pete Seeger, Tom Paxton, Willie Nelson, and Odetta. The sisters have even performed with the Boston Pops.

I think it a truly magnificent, quite superb piece of work. Your beautiful voices blend so perfectly, the vocal performances and the playing throughout is perfect too... and so moving... you have injected new life on to some old classics ('From Clare to here', 'Ned of the Hill', 'Free-born man', and 'Too ra loo' are just excellent versions... and even the sometimes-abused 'Danny boy' is treated with grace and feeling, giving it the dignity it deserves), and your take on 'Kilkelly' is by far the best version I’ve yet heard. And, I believe 'Workhouse' - given the theme - should be heard by EVERYBODY on this island NOW... The engineering/ production is as good as it gets. (P.J. Curtis, record producer, writer, musicologist, and film producer)

Annie Burns (vocals), Marie Burns (vocals, mandolin) will be joined by Steve Flaherty (acoustic and electric guitars) and Kevin Maul (dobro and lap steel).

AP Toman Twintone banjos: part 3

An important point about AP Toman Twintone banjos is that these outstanding instruments are built as a personal venture, not a commercial project.

Thanks to Jonathan Toman for photos and details of the special 'Granada' model now under construction, which will be appearing on the BIB tomorrow. Meanwhile, here are more photos of the three Twintones that have been built so far:

The three block-built walnut pots, with tone rings, flanges, and other hardware installed

Left: Pete Toman's personal Twintone; centre, its resonator, showing purfling rings; right, Patsy's Twintone and (with its back to the camera) Jonathan's, without purfling

Dangem Bluegrass Get-Together returns - 26 Sept. 2015

A reminder from DanGem Bluegrass in Craigavon, Co. Armagh, that their next monthly Bluegrass Get-Together - the first one after the summer break - will be held on Saturday 26 Sept. at the usual place and time (the Lagan Valley Island Civic Centre, Lisburn, Co. Antrim BT27 4RL, from 9.30/10.00 a.m. to noon); and with the usual schedule:

10.00-10.30 Warm-up
10.30-11.00(ish) Break out time for beginners; rest of players, jam time
11.00(ish) to 12.00(ish) All back together

Howard Walker of the Down and Out Bluegrass Band will be there to give lessons to beginners on 5-string banjo, thanks to the support of the Lagan Valley Arts Centre.

The DanGem Get-Together combines a jam session for those who are already active pickers, with the opportunity to learn for those who are beginners or just want to listen. DanGem add: 'Bring along your banjos, guitars, mandolins, fiddles, dobros, and bass, or just come along and enjoy. Look forward to seeing as many of you who can attend.'

DanGem's e-newsletter includes a reminder that they have the largest range of banjos for sale in this island.

AP Toman Twintone banjos: part 2

In part 1 Jonathan Toman, banjo player for Northern Exposure, explained how the 'AP Toman' headstock logo (left) and 'Twintone' name derived from his grandfather Arthur Patrick Toman, banjo collector and banjo player, who passed his love for the instrument on to his twin sons Peter and Patsy. Patsy's engineering background led naturally to building the banjo, 'a mechanical instrument'. Jonathan continues:

My dad Peter's involvement in the process was more coming up with the concept and design ideas for the four one-off 'Twintone' models. His background is also mechanical in nature, which helped with the construction and design process.

The process began after Patsy and I were in Nashville at an IBMA conference a number of years back. We spent several hours playing and studying various banjo models, and met and chatted with the various builders and luthiers of the 5-string banjo world - too many to mention! Huber, Robin Smith, Deering, Cox, Burlile, so many more!

Three Twintones have so far been built, with another under construction.

The first three Twintones

Two of these are identical walnut banjos; one [left above] is Patsy's and the other [right] is Pete's. The neck and resonators are hand-made by master luthier Robin Smith of Heartland Banjo, Nashville, who we know and have built up a working relationship with over the last ten years. The wood rims are hand-built and turned by Patsy Toman in his own workshop.

Walnut Twintone pot, showing block construction
and Deering tone ring

The tone rings in the walnut models are high-quality Deering rings. All hardware metal parts are outsourced, just like most of the banjo companies in the States do. Most people don't realise, but a lot of the makers and builders outsource and use each other to come up with a final product - the classical Gibson Mastertone banjo construction allows this, as metal parts are interchangeable!

The third is my banjo - it's a mahogany wide curved-neck model with a walnut wooden rim hand-built by Patsy, and a Steve Huber nickel-plated tone ring.


Jonathan's Twintone, showing wide neck and radiused fingerboard. Note 'straight-line' tailpiece, now on all three original Twintones - the coming 'Granada' will have a more traditional tailpiece

Jonathan playing the AP Toman Twintone wide-neck model
at Omagh 2015; Pete on bass (photo: Chris Brennan)

Balla Bluegrass Festival - poster issued

The 7th Balla Bluegrass Festival published yesterday this poster on its Facebook page, with photographs of the six bands who will be taking part during the four days of the Festival (23-6 October 2015). A nice piece of work - though in the main image, the three banjos shown all definitely need neck replacements as a matter of urgency. Fortunately Tom Lyons (whose photo appears in the bottom right-hand corner) is available to handle such matters at his Music Hut...

AP Toman Twintone banjos: part 1

In the post on Northern Exposure a few days ago, the BIB mentioned that 'Patsy and Pete [Toman] are also producing banjos of outstanding quality'. Details and photos of these instruments are now available, thanks to Pete's son Jonathan, who explains:

To date my uncle Patsy has built and set up between twenty and thirty banjos, including tenor, open-back, and long-neck models, using various hand-made rims and classic banjo designs, using outsourced hardware and high-quality parts. Patsy's being from an engineering background and banjo-building seemed to go hand-in-hand, as it's a mechanical instrument.

... There are a few special banjos among these with the 'AP Toman Twintone' name attached [see photo above]. The first three were made in honour of my grandfather Arthur Patrick Toman, who played and collected banjos all his life.

The 'Twintone' on the neck block [right] is named after Patsy and Peter Toman being twins - it was an obvious choice!

More about these banjos, and how they came to be built, will be appearing on the BIB over the next few days.

7th Balla Bluegrass Festival, 23-6 Oct. 2015 - UPDATE

Following last Saturday's post on the 7th Balla Bluegrass Festival at Balla, Co. Mayo, Uri Kohen announces that a few changes and adjustments have been made to the schedule. Here is the full and confirmed lineup:

Fri. 23rd Oct.: 8.00 p.m. Mannion's: The New Breadwinners
10.00 p.m. The Olde Woods: The Hubert Murray Band*

Sat. 24th : 8.00 p.m. The Olde Woods: Cup O'Joe
10.00 p.m. Mannion's: The Watery Hill Boys

Sun. 25th : 8.00 p.m. Mannion's: Woodbine

Mon. 26th: 8.00 p.m. Mannion's: Colonel Bullshot Rides Again

In addition to the concerts, the pubs will open their doors for all musicians for sessions during the days of the festival.

*The Hubert Murray Band are being put together specially for the festival, comprising Hubert Murray (guitar), Paddy Kiernan (banjo), Simon Guy (mandolin), and Niall Hughes (double bass).

This year's festival is produced by Uri as an extension of the Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival's ongoing programme of concerts, tours, and other events throughout the year. All news and added information will be at the Balla Festival's new Facebook page, which includes a location map. Videos of the bands taking part have been recently added.

Autoharp news - belated

The BIB apologises to autoharpists here for giving no advance news of the UK Autoharps Autoharp Weekend in Suffolk, England - three days of tuition and jamming in Woodbridge, Suffolk, on last weekend, Friday 11-Sunday 13 September. Saturday was tuition day, with workshops for every level of autoharp player starting with total beginners to advanced, plus song workshops. Loaner harps were available for anyone who wanted to try out the instrument.

And we now learn - too late for anyone here to join in - that the 44th Annual Walnut Valley Festival has begun at Winfield, KS. Held every year on the third weekend in September, the Festival is the home of many national and international instrument championships, including an international championship for autoharp.

The autoharp championship was held this morning (17 Sept.) at 11.30 a.m., and the first-place winner is George Haig of Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, who is shown above between Cindy Harris (2nd) of Pennsylvania and Marti Knauer (3rd) of Missouri. All three win instruments as prizes, with George receiving a d'Aigle Cascade SP G-D diatonic autoharp (photo right).

Update 21 Sept.: Winners of the championships for fingerstyle and flat-pick guitar, mountain and hammer dulcimers, mandolin, bluegrass banjo, and old-time fiddle have now been announced and can be seen on the Walnut Valley Festival newspage.

*

Scotland has a further presence in the US this autumn - the Moniaive Michaelmas Bluegrass Festival will have a booth in the Trade Show at the IBMA World of Bluegrass in Raleigh, NC, at the end of this month, just after this year's MMBF takes place.

New Breadwinners release live recordings from French tour

Thanks to John Denby of the New Breadwinners, now back from their tour in France, for this welcome news which also appears on their Facebook page:

Every week for the next few weeks we'll release some of the best moments of the tour, recorded in digital sound for all eternity on our SoundCloud page. Here's five tracks, taken from two concerts hosted in churches in Valjouffrey and Moulin Vieux on 13 and 14 August.

Stay tuned for plenty more recordings!
Love,
Breadwinners xxx

Northern Exposure

Northern Exposure on stage at Omagh 2015: (l-r) Brendan Hendry, Patsy Toman, Jonathan Toman, Pete Toman (photo: Chris Brennan)

Northern Exposure from Lurgan, Co. Armagh, have been pillars of the bluegrass scene in Ulster for over twenty years. With a sound embracing modern and traditional forms of bluegrass, they are perennially in the lineup at the Bluegrass Music Festival in the Ulster American Folk Park, Omagh, Co. Tyrone (see photo above).

The band's core consists of the twin brothers Patsy Toman (lead vocals, guitar) and Peter Toman (double bass, vocals) with Pete's son Jonathan on 5-string banjo and guitar. (Jonathan has been an exceptional banjo player since his early teens, and since 2006 he and Steve Scullion have performed and recorded as the duo Cat Malojian.) Northern Exposure's sound is now further augmented - Jonathan explains:

Our fiddle player is Brendan Hendry: he's a trad player but has a great ear for country and old-time sounds too. Myself and Brendan are releasing a banjo/fiddle album in January, all being well; trad and some old-time flavours in some tracks. I'm producing it myself and doing all the instrumentation in the home studio at Lurgan.

Thanks to Jonathan for these YouTube clips of duets that will feature in the forthcoming album: 'Return to Clinch Mountain' (with an Irish twist) and 'The Boyne Hunt set' (hornpipes and reels). More videos are on their YouTube channel.

Patsy and Pete are also producing banjos of outstanding quality; the BIB will publish more on this subject in the near future. Northern Exposure can be contacted at present through Pete's Facebook page; a band page may be set up to promote the new CD in the coming year.

Irish Steel Guitar Festival, 17-18 Oct. 2015

Thanks to Roger Ryan of the Country Music Association of Ireland for a reminder of this year's Irish Steel Guitar Festival 2015, which will be held on the weekend 17-18 October at the Green Isle Hotel, Newland's Cross, Dublin 22. Pedal steel guitarist Joe Wright (USA) will be the featured player; the Irish Steel Guitar Association website lists many other musicians from the USA, England, Scotland, France, Finland, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Wales as taking part, including the legendary home-grown dobroist Frankie Lane (below).

Commemorating Bill Monroe

Niall Toner draws attention on the Niall Toner Band Facebook to the 104th anniversary of the birth of the Father of Bluegrass, Bill Monroe, which came two days ago (13 Sept.), on the day following the NTB's concert at the Riverbank Arts Centre in Newbridge, Co. Kildare (see the photo, taken by Kyle O'Neill during the show).

Since Mr Monroe's death in 1996, Niall has composed and recorded three commemorative songs - 'Bill Monroe's mandolin', 'The Master's resting place', and 'William Smith Monroe', which broke airplay records when it was released in the centenary year, 2011. An updated version of 'Bill Monroe's mandolin' is on Niall's latest album, Working on love, released earlier this year.

Sue Cunningham

We learn with regret of the death on 3 September of Sue Cunningham, an outstanding fiddler who performed in Ireland several times - notably at more than one Dunmore East Bluegrass Festival - as a member of the powerful Pennsylvania band Hickory Project.

This, however, was only the fraction we saw of her musical career. Much more detail can be found on the Prescription Bluegrass Blog, which also gives information on commemorations and celebrations of her life.

Update 15 Sept.: A post on Sue Cunningham has also appeared on Bluegrass Today.

Cup O' Joe on Bluegrass Today

Congratulations to Cup O' Joe, who are featured on Bluegrass Today with a video of the trio playing 'Handsome Molly'. It can also be seen on their Facebook page and on YouTube; and it's a pleasure to watch and listen to.

The video was shot by John Breese of the British Bluegrass Music Association during the band's tour last week in England, beginning with the Didmarton Bluegrass Festival in Gloucestershire.

The photo above shows Cup O' Joe in Raleigh, NC, at last year's IBMA World of Bluegrass, where they were the first band from outside the USA to perform on the World of Bluegrass Youth Stage. They will be returning to Raleigh for this year's WOB (29 Sept.-3 Oct.).

'Handsome Molly' is 'an old song thought to be of Irish origins', says Bluegrass Today. Yes, of course; if you were in Ireland and wanted a seaport, London would be the first you'd think of.

The Cabin Sessions - next on 24 Sept. 2015

Thanks to Gerry Fitzpatrick for this news of the Cabin Sessions series, 'Acoustic Music at its Finest', at Uncle Tom's Cabin in Dundrum, south Dublin (not far from Dundrum Luas station in the city direction):

We're back with you on Thursday 24 September at the Cabin. Guests this month are Mark Lysaght & Joe Toolan (trad), Emma Butler (contemporary), and Jak Jones (contemporary). The house band will have all your favourites: Spats, Con, Gerry, Enda, and our feature musicians, Cathy McEvoy (fiddle), Christian Volkmann (harmonica), Richard Hawkins (banjo), and Dave Hardy (sax/clarinet). 9.30-11.30 and admission is FREE. Hope to see you there!

If you or someone you know would like to perform at the Cabin Sessions, let Gerry know by e-mail. The Sessions are particularly interested in featuring local musicians and singers.

7th Balla Bluegrass Festival, 23-26 Oct. 2015: full concert schedule

Thanks to Uri Kohen for details of the complete concert lineup of the 7th Balla Bluegrass Festival at Balla, Co. Mayo, held as usual on the bank holiday weekend of late October - with an important new development.

This year's festival is produced by Uri as an extension of the Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival's ongoing programme of concerts, tours, and other events throughout the year. All news and added information will be at the Balla Festival's new Facebook page, which includes a location map.

Fri. 23rd Oct.: 8.00 p.m. Mannion's: The New Breadwinners
10.00 p.m. The Olde Woods: Cup O'Joe

Sat. 24th : 8.00 p.m. The Olde Woods: [confirmation imminent; watch this space!]
10.00 p.m. Mannion's: The Watery Hill Boys

Sun. 25th : 8.00 p.m. Mannion's: Woodbine

Mon. 26th: 8.00 p.m. Mannion's: Colonel Bullshot Rides Again

In addition to the concerts, the pubs will open their doors for all musicians for sessions during the days of the festival.

Update 18 Sept.: Changes and adjustments to the schedule have now been made, and the full and confirmed lineup can be seen here.

Bunratty Bluegrass Festival (9-11 Oct. 2015): full schedule

Following our post of Tuesday this week, thanks to Brendan Walsh for the above schedule for the first Bunratty Bluegrass Festival, starting four weeks from today (9-11 Oct. 2015). The full schedule can also be seen in black and white (with yellow highlighting for concerts) on the Events page of the Bunratty, Co. Clare, website. In the image above, green highlighting marks events in the Folk Park at Bunratty.

Music at Naul, 11-12 Sept. 2015

The Seamus Ennis Arts Centre at Naul, north Co. Dublin - a good friend to bluegrass and related music in the Dublin region - has not been hosting many bands of this type in the past few months. In the next two nights, however, the Centre will be presenting acts with at least a tenuous connection to American string band music.

Tomorrow (Friday 11 Sept.) the visiting artists will be Matt Cranitch and Jackie Daly, masters of the musical traditions of Sliabh Luachra (corresponding to Round Peak, NC). Matt Cranitch, who literally wrote the book on Irish traditional fiddle, has also played for years with the Lee Valley String Band, Ireland's senior band in bluegrass and old-time music.

The following night (Sat. 12 Sept.) the eclectic, multi-genre, multi-national string band No Crows (see photo above) will be performing, with bass, guitars, mandolin, cello, and fiddles. The Centre advises early booking, as the band's previous shows there have sold out. The Centre's schedule up to 17 Sept. is here.