Music and Reviews from Clare, Limerick, Waterford and sometimes further afield

Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Round Up Sept 16-23

Culture Night, Bluegrass


On Saturday, Cork based independent promoter, John Nyhan brought a lively bluegrass band all the way from Tennessee to the Coastguard Station in Tramore. It was good to see the upstairs gallery full to capacity and this was an audience who knew their bluegrass music. The dungaree-clad quartet comprising of  mandolin, banjo, guitar and double bass were on their first Irish tour and played two energetic sets and had an old fashioned charm that won everybody over.  John himself stood in for a guest spot.  Check them out on the Bluegrass Ireland blog here http://bluegrassireland.blogspot.com/2018/09/midnight-run-usa-in-ireland-20-27-sept.html#comment-form
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Culture Night. I was in Waterford Libraries with a big bag of ukuleles and fiddles to run a childrens' workshop as part of their Culture Night programme.  It reminded me of what wonderful inclusive spaces our public libraries are.  It was great to see the Waterford brass and reed bands performing on the streets. The De la Salle Pipe Band were installed outside the Crystal Centre on the Mall. The TF Meagher Fife and Drum Band were across the road at the Bishop's Palace. The Barrack Street Concert Band under Conductor Mark Fitzgerald were in their usual spot on Bailey's New St. Wonderful and all as the Viking Sword is, it did obscure the view of the band.







Cork Orchestral Society: It doesn't often happen that I have two articles published on the same day but Thursday's edition of the Irish Examiner carried my feature on the Cork Orchestral Society. On the same page, there's a piece on the early music tenor John Potter and his "Alternative History" programme. 


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