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Westport Folk & Bluegrass Festival 2014
June 13, 2014 - June 15, 2014
THE EIGHTH WESTPORT FOLK AND BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL
FRIDAY, JUNE 13 TO SUNDAY, JUNE 15, 2014.
Once again, the beautiful seaside town of Westport, Co Mayo, Ireland will attract bluegrass and folk lovers from near and far, music will fill the bars and streets and the whoops and hollers of appreciative audiences will bounce off the walls.
Building on the massive success of last year’s festival, we’ve been hard at work, pulling together yet another fabulous line-up featuring the best bluegrass and the finest folk for your listening pleasure! And it’s shaping up to be another fantastic three days of music, fun and frolics, with phenomenal concerts, free gigs galore and shed loads of sessions …
This year, acts from the UK, mainland Europe, America and Australia, as well as plenty of Irish acts from all over the island, will be attending the much-loved multi-venue festival.
THE GIGS
THE 6 O’CLOCK KICKOFF SESSION WITH THE COLONEL, TOM “T-BONE” LYONS
Date: June 13, 2014 @ 6:00 pm
Venue: Blousers
Price: FREE
Hosted by Tom ‘T-Bone’ Lyons (AKA The Colonel), willing inmate of the townland of Prison, Balla one of the west’s greatest ambassadors for bluegrass.
JOCK & VERA
Date: June 13, 2014 @ 9:00 pm
Venue: Cobbler’s Bar
Price: Free
Jock Tyldesley and Vera van Heeringen play Southern Appalachian tunes, songs, fiddle and banjo breakdowns, old-time country, traditional Cajun music and original songs
THE CORN POTATO STRING BAND
Date: June 13, 2014 @ 9:00 pm
Venue: Westport Coast Hotel
Price: Free
Multi-instrumentalists who are dedicated to continuing the traditional fiddle and banjo music and dance of the Central Southern US.
THE SULLIVAN BROTHERS
Date: June 13, 2014 @ 9:00 pm
Venue: Clew Bay Hotel
Price: Free
Now, alongside The Brand New Companions, The Sullivan Brothers have gone back to their roots playing original music that is being described as ‘contemporary folk’.
THE DOWN AND OUT BLUEGRASS BAND
Date: June 13, 2014 @ 9:00 pm
Venue: The Jester
Price: Free
Hard driving banjo and three part vocal harmonies evoking the golden age of bluegrass, heavily influenced by artists such as Bill Monroe, Flatt and Scruggs and the Stanley Brothers
BATTENKILL RAMBLERS
Date: June 13, 2014 @ 9:00 pm
Venue: McGing’s
Price: Free
Germany’s Battenkill Ramblers’ music is rooted in acoustic folk, with a sound that branches out into a combination of old time, blues, bluegrass and country.
LUTHIERS’ SHOWCASE
Date: June 14, 2014 @ 11:00 am
Venue: The Wyatt Hotel
Price: FREE
Four local instrument makers: Brian Lofthouse, Gary Leahy, Graham Wright and emerging talent Derek McLoughlin, will display their craft in The Wyatt Hotel.
THE ROCKY TOP STRING BAND
Date: June 14, 2014 @ 12:00 pm
Venue: Clew Bay Hotel
Price: Free
Perennial festival favourites, Mayo’s own Rocky Top String Band are a five-piece who share a common love of the Bluegrass ‘Tongue’
FIDDLE MASTERCLASS – AARON JONAH LEWIS
Date: June 14, 2014 @ 2:00 pm
Venue: Blousers
Price: €5
Champion fiddler Aaron Jonah Lewis, who plays with The Corn Potato String Band, won acclaim in ‘Old Time’ and ‘Bluegrass’ styles at Clifftop and Galax
THE BIG ASS BLUEGRASS SESSION 2014
Date: June 14, 2014 @ 3:00 pm
Venue: McGing’s
Price: Free
As usual, most of the festival acts will converge in McGing’s pub on High Street for a big ol’ session – and everyone is welcome to join in.
MIRIAM DONOHUE
Date: June 14, 2014 @ 3:30 pm
Venue: The Pantry and Corkscrew
Miriam is a songwriter from Galway with a beautiful voice and an ability to write quirky, catchy folk tunes, making for enchanting live performances
MANDO MHAIGH EO
Date: June 14, 2014 @ 6:00 pm
Venue: Cobbler’s Bar, The Wyatt Hotel
Price: FREE
Mayo maestros Tony Reidy, Brian Lofthouse, Richie Hickey, Derek McLoughlin and Tim Rogers play a quintet of mandolin-family instruments
THE BIG BLUEGRASS GIG – THE LOOSE MOOSE STRING BAND, THE CORN POTATO STRING BAND, JOCK & VERA
Date: June 14, 2014 @ 8:30 pm
Venue: The Wyatt Hotel
Price: €15
More than Four Hours of top-notch folk & Bluegrass
THE WATERY HILL BOYS
Date: June 15, 2014 @ 12:30 pm
Venue: Clew Bay Hotel
Price: FREE
Hailing from the Watery Hill of Drogheda, Ireland, these boys specialise in Old Time Country and early Bluegrass
TIM ROGERS AND FRIENDS
Date: June 15, 2014 @ 3:00 pm
Venue: Blousers
Price: Free
Every year on the last day of the festival, Tim invites a wide selection of the artists appearing at the festival to join him in an old-timey session of music and craic.
HAT FITZ & CARA
Date: June 15, 2014 @ 8:00 pm
Venue: Matt Molloy’s
Price: 10
A special show of old-timey music that the duo have lovingly put together, original writings of tunes that are steeped in hill country with a taste of Australian and Irish bluegrass flavours
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