Kiltha River Trad Fest – Thursday 29th July – Sunday 1st August 2010

Comedian Pat Shortt called into the local radio station CRY here in Youghal yesterday (Tuesday 27th July 2010) to promote his own traditional music festival this weekend in Castlemartyr. The funny man was special guest on the Youghal @ 5 with Stanley Knott. Pat told YoughalOnline.com that he hopes to join the musicians on stage during the weekend and may even tell a joke or two!
Photo: Michael Hussey www.youghalonline.com Email: news@youghalonline.com

An accomplished musician with a particular grá for and interest in traditional Irish music, Pat Shortt has played, toured and recorded with many bands and loves nothing better than a good session. No better host, then, or venue for the inaugural Kiltha River Trad Festival than Pat Shortt’s Bar, in the pretty Cork village of Castlemartyr.

Kiltha River Trad Fest runs in the Marquee at Pat Shortt’s Bar, Castlemartyr, from Thursday 29th July to Sunday 1st August, in association with Guinness, and also sponsored by Castlemartyr Resort, GHQ Design, Ticketmaster, John & Geraldine McGrath and Host PR.

Pat’s pub has a long affiliation with some of very biggest names and best people in music, even up to and including the Rolling Stones, who appeared there back in 1965! The line-up for the Kiltha River Trad Fest is no less impressive, bringing together legendary traditional performers such as John Spillane, Frankie Gavin and the new De Dannan, Stockton’s Wing and the Abbey Céilí Band.

Kicking off proceedings on Thursday 29th July at 8 p.m. is John Spillane, twice winner of the Meteor Award in the best folk/trad category, who has toured the country and the world with his inimitable mix of melodic tunes, entertaining stories and poetic lyrics. His emotive tunes and dynamic, playful Cork wit mean John Spillane is not to be missed! Tickets, priced €18, are available through all Ticketmaster outlets (plus Ticketmaster booking fee where applicable) and directly from Pat Shortt’s Bar, as are tickets for all of the acts playing at the Kiltha River Trad Fest.

Legendary band Stockton’s Wing perform their exciting blend of traditional and contemporary Irish music and song on Friday 30th July at 8 p.m. Performing with power and precision, Stockton’s Wing from Ennis, Co. Clare, have enraptured audiences for decades and tickets cost just €20.00 for an unforgettable evening.

On Saturday 31st July Frankie Gavin & the new De Dannan take to the stage at 8 p.m. One of the genuine legends of Irish music, Frankie Gavin established the new De Dannan in 2009, assembling a group of fiercely talented performers, possibly the best incarnation yet, and he is really looking forward to performing at the festival: “we’re very excited about performing at Kiltha River Trad Festival. This is the first time the new De Dannan line up will perform in the region and we are already looking forward to it. I know that Pat Shortt has gone to great lengths to ensure that the entertainment and facilities for the festival goer will be top calibre and you can be assured that when we get to the stage we will raise the ‘bar’ as high as we possibly can!”. Tickets for this show also cost €20.00.

The Abbey Céilí Band play at 8 p.m. on Sunday 1st August. From Co. Cork, the Abbey Céilí Band started out in 1995 and consists of Ger Murphy (box), Micheal Creedon (keyboard), Liam Forde (banjo) and Andrew O’Connell (fiddle). This popular band now play all over Ireland and have received high praise for energetic, enthusiastic and exciting renditions of polkas, slides and other dance music. This band makes an immediate and lasting impression on the minds (and feet) of everyone who hears them. Tickets are just €10.00 and like all the Kiltha River Trad Fest tickets, are available from Ticketmaster (plus Ticketmaster booking fee where applicable) and directly from Pat Shortt’s Bar.

Pat Shortt’s Bar is an extraordinarily intimate space in which to enjoy some of the most entertaining and exciting traditional Irish music around. The inaugural Kiltha River Trad Fest could be like an early Rolling Stones concert as an event – the first in a long, illustrious series, and you can tell your kids, yes, I was really there!

Click on image to enlarge, All photos www.youghalonline.com

Thanks to the very kind services of Cork Prison, concerts at St Mary’s Collegiate Church will be a lot more comfortable.  Regular monthly concerts have been held in the church over the last few months, organised by Sacred Root Productions,  with acts such as Mick Flannery, John Spillane, Liam O’Maonlaoi, Kila and only last weekend Declan O’Rourke.

As part of their education programme, Cork Prison take on sewing projects in communities to keep the prisoners occupied and at the same time teaching them a new skill. Oona Colin, Events Co-ordinator of St Mary’s Collegiate Church contacted  Colm O’Herlihy, Education Officer and asked him if he would be interested in taking on a project of making almost 60 cushions for the pews above at the church.  After speaking with his colleagues, Colm was delighted to take on the project collaborating with Orla Hannon, Industrial Supervisor and Mary Mulholland, Health Education Officer with certain prisoners, in the making of these cushions.  Measurements were taken of each pew, as they all vary in size and the result is beautifullly coloured, thick cushions for the enjoyment of concert goers and tourists alike. The foam and fabric were very kindly supplied by Cork Prison.

The church is currently undergoing a little facelift, making it much more pleasing to the eye.  The very old and used plastic partition separating the chancel from the nave is also due to be replaced by a beautiful royal blue velvet curtain, more appropriate to the setting of this beautiful 13th century church.

A fundraising concert is planned for the end of May, with the collaboration of local community groups, in the hope of raising funds towards installing a heating system.  Heating an ancient stone building such as this, with high ceilings is quite a task and quite costly.  We hope that the people of Youghal and surrounding areas will come along and support this good cause, making concerts more enjoyable and comfortable for all.

St Mary’s Collegiate Church is available for rent for weddings, exhibitions, concerts and  shows by calling 083 360 6507.

JOHN SPILLANE, Cork’s finest songwriter and charismatic performer, played to a capacity audience of music lovers at St Mary’s Collegiate Church in Youghal. Sacred Root Productions promoted the event to raise funds for their excellent work with youth and community groups. Australian singer/songwriter Grayson played support. The concert is the first in a series to be staged in the historic Church with Mick Flannery coming at the end of November. Local photographer Bronwen Howley recorded the event for Youghalonline.com
Photo: Bronwen Howley and Michael Hussey Email: news@youghalonline.com

Click on link to read full interview with John by Youghal’s own Eanna Dowling

http://www.youghalonline.com/2009/10/23/john-spillane-comes-to-youghal/

Click on image to see more of Bronwen Howleys photos of John during rehearsals and live at St. Mary’s Collegiate Church, Youghal.

John Spillane, Cork’s finest songwriter and charismatic performer, plays St Mary’s Collegiate Church in Youghal on Friday October 30. Sacred Root Productions are promoting the event to raise funds for their excellent work with youth and community groups. The concert is the first in a series to be staged in the historic Church with Mick Flannery coming at the end of November. -Interview with Youghal’s Eanna Dowling

Sacred Root conducts songwriting and performance workshops with youth and community groups throughout East Cork. The series of concerts will raise funds to enable CDs to be recorded and give participants access to top class tuition and studio experience.

John Spillane is a well-loved performer and recently released a career retrospective called “So Far So Good, Like”, his seventh solo album. With two Meteor awards on the mantelpiece and a reputation as one of Ireland’s best songwriters, the album compiles some of the outstanding songs from his career. I interviewed him recently about the album, the new tracks, singing in the kitchen with Christy Moore and the Irish Songs he learned at school

INTERVIEW

Eanna Dowling: John, you’ve just released a new album, can you tell us about it?
John Spillane: The new album is called “So Far So Good, Like”, released on EMI records. It’s available from good record shops and online.

ED “So Far So Good, Like” is a “best of” compilation – What’s on it, and are there any songs left out that you would have wanted on it?
JS I’ve recorded two new songs and re-recorded one old song. Then there’s two songs from each of my six albums to date. The one song that’s left out that I would have wanted on is “Prince’s Street” from “Will We Be Brilliant or What?” It was one of my earliest successes. But my manager, Lorcan Ennis, he picked the tracks, you have to give him something to do, you know, like?

ED One of the new tracks is called Passage West. How did that come about?
JS I’ve lived in Passage West for the last 12 years and one day a man approached me in the street and gave me a book on the history of the place. He asked me to write a song about it, so I did. It’s a song for the town and it’s a love song. People left Passage West to go to America and Queen Victoria visited in 1849. There’s still places in Passage called after her, Victoria Terrace and the like. There’s also a strong republican tradition in Passage West so I included that in the song too.

“The famine Queen stood tall and proud
On either bank the people bowed
From Passage West came a Fenian yell
‘Rule Britannia, rule in hell’”

ED Why did you re-record The Dance of the Cherry Trees?
JS Well I got a lot of slagging over the production on that song, people thought it was like Eastenders or the theme song from Bosco, the production was a bit poppy. So I’ve re-recorded it with my live band, it has a more acoustic sound, including some lovely cello.

ED You’ve written a lot of songs about places – Johnny Don’t Go to Ballincollig, Gortatogart and now Passage West. Is a sense of place important to you?
JS All my songs seem to be geographical now.

ED Christy Moore recently recorded your song Gortatagort, written about your family farm in West Cork. How does that feel to have Christy recording your songs?
JS It’s my proudest moment. He came out to visit the farm at Gortatagort, he walked the fields with me. My cousin has the farm now. We had high tea in the kitchen and I sang the song. Aunty Mary played the fiddle and Christy sang the Cliffs of Dooneen, it was marvellous, beautiful altogether. He recorded it for his new album “Listen” and he calls it “the emotional heart of that album.”

“I sing the field, I sing the farm
I sing the house my mother was born
In Gortatagort, Colomane
A green jewel.”

ED That’s the third of your songs that he’s recorded after Johnny Don’t Go and Magic Nights in the Lobby Bar.
JS Yes, I’m very proud of that, we’ve a bit of a mutual appreciation thing going on now.

ED You recently played in the Lobby Bar again, or the Crœib’n as it’s called now.
JS Yes, another great night, the gig was sold out. They were like lambs to the slaughter, we played brilliant.

ED “Irish Songs We Learned At School” was a success for the Gaelic Hit Factory last Christmas.
JS Yes, it was a great success, and I have to thank Ray D’Arcy and Ryan Tubridy. They picked up on it and it was like in the movies where a DJ hears a song and makes it a hit. It sold over 30,000 copies in Ireland and was number 7 in the Christmas chart, battling it out with BeyoncŽ, Brittany Spears and Joe Dolan in the top 10. It was largely on the back of that success that EMI, the record company, wanted to release a “best of” package and that’s what’s out now.

ED Will there be a follow up to “Irish Songs We Learned At School”?
JS Yes, there’s loads of great songs there, Eamonn an Cnoic, Mo Ghile Mear, loads of great Irish songs. I’ll be doing my homework and putting the tracks together. The record company wants us to do “Irish Songs We Learned at School Volume 2″, it’ll be out for Christmas. That’ll be my second album this year and I released two last year too.

ED The music scene in Cork is very strong. Are there any local artists you admire?
JS I’ve a lot of time for Ger Wolfe, who’s a very poetic songwriter. He’s well worth a listen. And Niwel Tsumbu, he’s a rare talent.

“There were magic nights in the Lobby Bar
when Ger Wolfe would sing like a lark,
singing ‘winter hung her coat
on a hanger of dark’”

ED You do a weekly radio show – Rogha John Spillane ar Radio na Gaeltachta – a diverse mix of contemporary and classic tracks from cŽil’ to reggae.
JS It’s kind of a sideline thing, I play for a couple of hours on a Sunday night. I play music I like myself and, as you say, it’s very diverse. I play Irish music but I like to throw in a little AC/DC to wake up the Gaelgeoir’, or a bit of Deep Purple, or something like the Ace of Spades.

John Spillane plays St. mary’s Collegiate Church Youghal on Friday October 30, starting at 8.00. Tickets €18, door €20. Support from Grayson. Contact Sacred Roots at 087 9957102 for tickets or details.

See www.johnspillane.com for more information about John, including gig listings, his career to date and up to date news.