MusicAmos Garrett
Amos Garrett has been playing for more than 40 years. He has played on over 200 albums, including the guitar solo on Maria Muldaur's Midnight At The Oasis, once named by Stevie Wonder as his favourite guitar solo of all time. Richard Thompson, Chet Atkins and Mark Knopfler have all professed to being heavily influenced by Amos and his longer term projects included stints with The Paul Butterfield Band, Geoff Muldaur and Doug Sahm's Texas Tornadoes. For the last 15 years he has been fronting his own band in Calgary, Canada where he now lives. Amos Garrett's band includes Ted McKenna on drums, Alan Thomson on bass and slide guitarist Jim Condie.
Venue: Warwick Hotel At First Light
John McSherry, Tony Byrne, Francis McIllduff and Donal O'Connor with guest vocalist Tina McSherry. John Mc Sherry is hailed as one of the finest exponents of the art of uilleann piping in the world today. Described as being at the forefront of modern innovation he has taken piping and whistle playing to new heights with his unique style. With his new band featuring Tony Byrne's percussive guitar style, Donal O'Connor on fiddle and pipes and Francis McIlduff?s exceptional piping and low whistle playing, At First Light present an endless variety of instrumental approaches.
Venue: Róisin Dubh Breda & Cora Smyth
Two of Ireland's leading traditional musicians, sisters Cora and Breda Smyth have come together to record an exciting new album presenting music they've loved and shared from their rich musical heritage. Both Breda and Cora have toured and performed worldwide as lead violinists with Lord of the Dance and Feet of Flames, performing at venues including Radio City and Madison Square Gardens, New York, Hyde Park and Wembley Arena London and the Kremlin Palace, Moscow. Cora has performed with Druid Theatre and has recorded with The Chieftains while Breda presents the annual RTE TV series The Fleadh Programmes. Her highly acclaimed debut album Basil and Thyme was released in 2003.
Venue: Róisin Dubh Bronagh Gallagher & Maria Doyle Kennedy
Maria Doyle Kennedy began her singing career with The Hothouse Flowers before going on to record two albums with the Black Velvet Band, When Justice Came and King Of Myself. Maria released her debut solo album Charm on her own label Mermaid Records last year to widespread critical acclaim. As a film actress Bronagh Gallagher has appeared in Pulp Fiction, Star Wars-The Phantom Menace, Sinners and most recently Tara Road. Both she and Maria came to international prominence as two of the principal singers in Alan Parker's film The Commitments. Her debut album Precious Soul, with arrangements and instrumentation by Brian Eno, was released in late 2004.
Venue: Róisin Dubh Cane 141
Having had several BBC Radio 1 sessions including the late John Peel's show and received The Guardian?s single of the month Cane 141 return to Galway for a rare live appearance to launch their third album Moon Pool. This is electronica with a smooth production edge, mixing atmospheric vocals with eclectic instrumentation. The gig will also feature electronica whiz kid Max Tundra among the special guests.
Venue: Warwick Hotel ConTempo String Quartet Concert Series
Founded in 1995 by students of the Music University in Bucharest, the ConTempo String Quartet has become one of the most celebrated young quartets performing today. Having toured the world extensively and winning many international prizes ConTempo became Galway?s Ensemble-in-Residence in 2003. For this Concert Series many of Europe's most renowned musicians join with ConTempo to perform for Galway Arts Festival to mark the string quartet's 10th anniversary. Concert Season Tickets 58 euro /38 euro conc. Concert No. 1 ConTempo String Quartet Brahms, Op. 67 No. 3 Commissioned work to celebrate anniversary Beethoven quartet (Rasoumovsky), Op.59 No.3 ConTempo in Progress Screening of short film by Bob Quinn. Date:Tuesday 19 July Concert No. 2 ConTempo String Quartet featuring Bruno Giuranna & Martin Lovett Boccherini Cello quintet in C major; Mozart Viola quintet in G minor; Brahms sextet No. 1. Date:Wednesday 20 July Concert No. 3 Georges Enescu Evening ConTempo String Quartet featuring Lory Wallfisch Discussion on Georges Enescu, with Lory Wallfisch President of the Enescu Foundation, USA. Enescu Piano Sonata Op. 24 No. 1; Enescu?s 2nd String Quartet. Date:Thursday 21 July Concert No. 4 Lunchtime Recital Young Irish Musicians Showcase Featuring some of the finest young chamber ensembles performing in Ireland today from the Royal Irish Academy of Music and the Cork School of Music. Date:Friday 22 July Concert No. 5 ConTempo String Quartet featuring Emma Johnson & Hugh Tinney Weber Clarinet Quintet Tchaikovsky's Autumn Song, Scarborough Fair and Johnson?s Geordie; Elgar?s Piano Quintet. Date:Friday 22 July Concert No. 6 ConTempo String Quartet featuring Máirtín O'Connor, Gary Ó'Briain, Cathal Hayden & Guests. Some of Ireland's most talented traditional and classical musicians perform music from all over the world. Date:Saturday 23 July
Venue: St Nicholas' Collegiate Church Damien Dempsey
The intricate, hard-hitting social commentary of Damien Dempsey's words and music reflects the influence of traditional Irish Sean- Nós as well as his musical heroes Bob Marley and Elvis Presley. Damien Dempsey has earned the support and respect of fellow musicians Shane MacGowan and Morrissey and those who feature on his new album, including Sinéad O'Connor and Brian Eno. His just released third album Shots follows up on his double platinum-selling album Seize the Day
Venue: Radisson SAS Hotel Entertainment Centre Django Bates'Human Chain with guest vocalist Josefine Lindstrand
A celebrated creative maverick, right from the early days with Loose Tubes, Django Bates has become a major voice in European music. His wry sense of humour and gift for melody takes the virtuoso jazz players in Human Chain twisting and looping through new material from his stunning new album You Live and Learn?Apparently.
Venue: Radisson SAS Hotel Entertainment Centre Duke Special
Duke Special has recruited a small collective of musicians, including drummer and percussionist Chip Bailey, Réa Curran on trumpet and harmonium and Ben Hales on guitar and backing vocals, along with his own bruised romanticism and soft Northern tinged vocals, to bring the Duke's antique songs of confused love to life. Duke Special has just released his debut album Adventures in Gramophone. Using cheese graters, wardrobe doors, pianos, harps, brass, strings and an old gramophone to record the twelve-track debut, Adventures in Gramophone is truly a musical spectacular.
Venue: Cuba Jim White
When Jim White's debut Wrong-Eyed Jesus appeared in 1997 on David Byrne's Luaka Bop label, it was instantly acclaimed as a classic of the newly burgeoning alt country scene. No Such Place followed in 2001 with White fans Morcheeba producing several tracks and the term trip hop Americana was born. Drill a Hole in That Substrata and Tell Me What You See appeared in 2004 and with co-producer Joe Henry and guests Aimee Mann, Barenaked Ladies and Bill Frisnell produced an album which received glowing reviews on both sides of the Atlantic.
Venue: Cuba Josh Rouse
Singer, songwriter and guitarist Josh Rouse is one of America's finest young artists. His fifth and latest album Nashville is a homage to the place he called home for almost ten years. Beautiful and complex, Nashville follows critically acclaimed records like 1972 and Under Cold Blue Stars and marks a honing of his craft towards a semi traditional singersongwriter album. The songs on the album successfully encapsulate the different sides of Nashville pulling in many of the myriad elements of the city's scene ? roots, folk and the Brit-influenced guitar pop of Nashville's indie scene.
Venue: Róisín Dubh June Tabor with Andy Cutting, diatonic accordion Mark Emerson, viola, violin, piano
June Tabor's voice is one of the few genuinely unique vehicles of the folk world: haunting and powerful with a deep feeling for the song. From her early musical career she developed a simple vocal style as she moved in the direction of the exquisite, controlled singing that today is her trademark. In more than 30 years of performing, Tabor has made several daring raids across the traditional boundaries of English folk music, pushing the genre to places where some would not dare ? bringing jazz standards into her sets, collecting songs from Germany, the Appalachian mountains and Derby, and wrapping them all in a warm, deep, dark and inimitable voice. The result is compelling musical storytelling.
Venue: St Nicholas' Collegiate Church Lucky Dube
Few global superstars who have racked up close to 20 years in the music business are still able to lay a claim to real inventiveness - and one can certainly count Lucky Dube amongst them. Soul Taker is the new album by one of reggaes frontline stars - a recorded work that is compelling in its musicianship, intriguing in its lyrical themes, and, perhaps most importantly, shot through with a creativity and sonic daring that will surprise Dube's devoted fans.
Venue: Róisín Dubh Luke Haines
Luke Haines has been described as one of the greatest of English contemporary songwriters. As part of the Auteurs, Baader Meinhof and Black Box Recorder, along with his own solo work, he has been a crucial part of the British music landscape over the last fifteen years. A new Black Box Recorder album, Passionoia, has recently been released, followed by a final Auteurs album Das Capital. This live appearance will be solo acoustic and will cover songs from his broad catalogue.
Venue: Cuba Marianne Faithfull
Like all great song interpreters, Marianne Faithfull has that rare ability to transform any lyric into something compelling and utterly personal. Marianne Faithfull became an icon of the Swinging Sixties firstly through the Jaggers/Richards penned hit As Tears Go By, the first of four top ten hits in a row, and the association that followed with Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones. In the seventies her second solo outing Broken English established her as a unique voice with the new husky drawl turning The Ballad of Lucy Jordan into a major hit. Over the next twenty five years she produced eleven albums and collaborated with a number of songwriters including Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Damon Albarn and PJ Harvey.
Venue: Radisson SAS Hotel Mavis Staples
Legendary rock n roll hall of famer and gospel soul singer Mavis Staples brings her unmistakable rich, earthy contralto voice to Galway Arts Festival. Her eigth solo album Have A Little Faith was released last year and she has since toured with Al Green, performed at the Americana Music Awards and appeared in the Martin Scorsese produced feature film Lightning in a Bottle. Mavis received a Grammy nomination for Best Gospel Performance for her collaboration with Dr. John on the song Lay My Burden Down and was also nominated for the Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals Grammy for her duet with Bob Dylan on Gotta Change My Way Of Thinking. Pops Staples' Father Father, which Mavis sang on and co-produced, won the 1994 Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album. Most recently she was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award, as a member of The Staple Singers, at the 2005 Grammy Awards.
Venue: Radisson SAS Hotel Michelle Shocked & The Mighty Sound
2005 is a big year for Michelle Shocked, who released a new trilogy of albums on June 27th. The two-time Grammy nominee will present her Threesome, continuing the American Trilogy concept of her first three Mercury albums. The first album Don't Ask Don't Tell is a rock album produced by Dusty Wakeman. The second album Got No Strings features Disney classics done in a Western style swing. The third album, Mexican Standoff is half-Latin, half blues. Her Threesome is executed with humour, imagination and irony - and in voices most have never heard from Michelle. There's rock and after-hours blues, hardcore punk and twang shading her sly lyrics.
Venue: Radisson SAS Hotel Entertainment Centre Pauline Scanlon & Donogh Hennessy
Pauline Scanlon has entranced audiences the world over with her distinctly delicate vocal intensity, capable of making the oldest ballads sound immediate and fresh while granting newer material a timeless resonance. Her stunning debut album, Red Colour Sun, recorded with Donogh Hennessy, was released last year. Donogh Hennessy is one of the legendary figures of contemporary Irish traditional music. A founding member of the Irish supergroup Lunasa, Donogh has performed and recorded with most of today's leading Irish musicians.
Venue: Róisín Dubh Richie Havens
Richie Havens' poignant and soulful singing style has remained unique and ageless since he first emerged from the Greenwich Village folk scene in the early 1960s. His voice has inspired and electrified audiences from his legendary appearance at Woodstock in 1969 to the present day. In 2003, The National Music Council of America awarded Richie the American Eagle Award for his place as part of America's musical heritage. Grace Of The Sun, his latest release, exemplifies his signature percussive strumming and rich, melodic vocals.
Venue: Campbell?s Tavern Cloughanover, Headford Roesy
Roesy appeared in the first Other Voices TV series on RTE and was nominated for Best New Irish Act in the 2004 Meteor Music Awards. His song Potosi Mine was included in the Diamond Mountain Session Presents... Compilation CD, also featuring Sinead O'Connor, Steve Earle, Natalie Merchant and Sharon Shannon. Through his career he has shared the stage with Bert Jansch, Paul Brady, Billy Bragg, John Martyn, Davy Spillane, Donovan, Freddie White and Ron Sexsmith. An exhibition of Roesy's paintings runs at Massimo throughout the Festival.
Venue: Róisín Dubh Sharon Shannon Frankie Gavin Michael McGoldrick Jim Murray
Sharon Shannon is one of the most adventurous musical spirits to emerge in Ireland in the past decade, boldly crossing musical borders while remaining true to her rich traditional experience. For this concert she joins forces with the formidable talents of flautist Mike McGoldrick, virtuoso fiddle player Frankie Gavin and oneman rhythm section guitarist Jim Murray, to showcase a host of new material from their recent critically acclaimed CD Tunes, a collection ranging from traditional Irish to traditional Asturian tunes with new compositions by each of the quartet.
Venue: Radisson SAS Hotel The Proclaimers
The Proclaimers made their legendary TV debut on The Tube almost 20 years ago, performing the classic song Letter From America. It was the beginning of a phenomenon. In May 2001, The Proclaimers released Persevere, a critically acclaimed collection of beautiful and exhilarating songs. Their latest album, Born Innocent was released just over a year ago. The Proclaimers are among the most dynamic and energetic live acts in the world.
Venue: Radisson SAS Hotel Entertainment Centre Toasted Heretic
It is exactly 20 years since cult Galway band Toasted Heretic played their first gig, on a truck in Salthill, and were denounced for blasphemy. They went on to release four albums, have a top ten hit, and play their lunatic literary rock to acclaim and bemusement in London, Paris and New York. Later, frontman Julian Gough's novel, Juno & Juliet, was published worldwide. Now, Toasted Heretic return in glory, to celebrate the release of the double A-side, LSD (isn't what it used to be) / Drown The Browns, taken from the forthcoming Now In New Nostalgia Flavour, a lushly packaged reissue of their first two legendary albums.
Venue: Radisson SAS Hotel Entertainment Centre Valerie Smith & Liberty Pike
Valerie Smith and Liberty Pike's live concerts are an explosion of contemporary and traditional acoustic music where Smith's tremendous vocals are perfectly complimented by Liberty Pike's tight harmonies and superb instrumentation. With their soulful, heartfelt delivery of their slower paced ballads to the up-tempo, hard-driven barnburners... it's no wonder Valerie Smith and Liberty Pike have amassed a worldwide fan base. Their forthcoming CD That What Love Can Do is due for release in July.
Venue: Cuba Yann Tiersen
Yann Tiersen is best known for the beguiling, award-winning soundtrack to Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Amelie and he just recently composed the score to the German movie Goodbye Lenin, directed by Wolfgang Becker. In his native France, Yann Tiersen is an integral part of a scene which has been a remarkable hotbed of new talent in recent years with artists such as Air, Daft Punk and Manu Chao. Breton-born Yann is acknowledged as one of the leaders of a vibrant new movement in French indie music dubbed the 'nouvelle generation' or 'neo-realists'. Simultaneously embracing and transforming their own musical heritage, Yann, Miossec, Dominique A and others have taken the classic flavours of Gallic music and mixed them with a host of new ingredients from punk, avant garde and world music, revolutionising French music and the traditional chanson by reinventing them for a contemporary audience.
Venue: Radisson SAS Hotel Entertainment Centre Yungchen Lhamo
Since fleeing Tibet on foot in 1989, Yungchen Lhamo has emerged as the leading Tibetan vocalist on the world stage. From the quays of Sydney to the spotlight of Carnegie Hall, her acappella performances have enchanted audiences in more than 70 countries. Since the release of her award-winning first album Tibetan Prayer, her music has met with critical praise worldwide, alternatively described as 'beautifully evocative', 'mesmerising', spinetingling' and 'transcendent'. Since signing to Peter Gabriel's Real World Records, Yungchen has released two critically acclaimed albums Tibet, Tibet and Coming Home. Yungchen now lives in New York City and is currently at work on her much anticipated third album.
Venue: St Nicholas'Collegiate Church |
