Matt Darriau (*21 February 1960, Bloomington, Indiana, USA).
Matt Darriau was named one of the most influential jazz musicians of the past 15 years by Jazziz Magazine for bringing Balkan rhythms and melodies into jazz.
He grew up “in an arty household where my father held international folk dance parties featuring Israeli, Balkan, Greek and Scandinavian dance music.”
He was a jazz fan first and foremost, but once he arrived in Boston to study at the New England Conservatory of Music
he began looking to world music for new inspiration.
Playing clarinet, saxophone and kaval, Matt Darriau has contributed to the Klezmatics’ music since they released their debut album
in 1988 and became an official member in 1995. He also leads his own Balkan rhythm quartet, Paradox Trio.
Christine Primrose (*17 February 1950, Carloway, Lewis, Scotland).
Gaelic singer Christine Primrose won a gold medal
in sean-nós at the Royal National Mòd in 1974 and an award at the 1978 Pan Celtic Festival, and has been performing all around the world ever since.
She also was a member of the group Mac-Talla and has presented television and radio programmes.
She has been working at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig since 1982, at first as a secretary, later teaching Gaelic and Traditional Music (BA).
[www.templerecords.co.uk]
Peter Gabriel (*13 February 1950, Chobham, Surrey Heath, England).
English singer, songwriter, record producer and activist Peter Brian Gabriel rose to fame as the original
lead singer and frontman of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving the group in 1975, he launched a successful solo career.
In 1980, he released the anti-apartheid single "Biko". He has participated in several human rights benefit concerts, including Amnesty
International's Human Rights Now! tour in 1988.
Gabriel has been a champion of world music for much of his career and co-founded the WOMAD festival in 1982. He has continued to focus on
producing and promoting world music through his Real World Records label.
Paddy Keenan (*30 January 1950, Trim, County Meath, Ireland).
Paddy Keenan hails from a family of travelling pipers, his father had spent many nights playing along the legendary Johnny Doran.
At age fourteen, Paddy played his first major concert at the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin, followed by a few years of touring with a number of
musicians, including his father, as The Pavees. In 1975, he was part of Seachtar which soon morphed into The Bothy Band.
Since the group's dissolution in 1979, Paddy has released a number of solo and collaborative recordings, and continues to tour
both as a soloist and with singer-guitarist Tommy O'Sullivan.
Phil Cunningham (*27 January 1960, Edinburgh, Scotland).
At the age of 16, Philip Martin Cunningham joined his older brother Johnny in the group Silly Wizard, where he played accordion, tin whistle, harmonium,
guitar and synthesizer. He also wrote many of the group's songs. After the breakup of Silly Wizard, Phil and Johnny recorded two albums and
toured with Irish siblings Mícheál Ó Domhnaill and Triona Ni Domhnaill as the quartet Relativity. After Johnny's untimely death,
Phil started a distinctive solo career and a successful collaboration with fellow Scottish folk musician Aly Bain.
Robin Morton (*24 December 1939, Co. Armagh, Northern Ireland).
The Northern Irish born folk musician founded Boys of the Lough in 1967 alongside Tommy Gunn and Cathal McConnell.
During recording and touring the world Robin Morton also produced several albums for Topic and other labels.
He left the band in 1979 and set up Temple Records
to create an outlet for Scottish and Irish music which was being ignored by the mainstream labels.
In 1980, Robin became manager of the Battlefield Band, a relationship that continues to this day.
[www.templerecords.co.uk]
Tom Waits (*7 December 1949, Pomona, California, USA).
Inspired by the work of Bob Dylan and the Beat Generation, Thomas Alan Waits began
singing on the San Diego folk music circuit as a teenager. During the 1970s, he worked primarily in jazz, but
since the 1980s his music has reflected greater influence from blues, vaudeville and experimental genres.
His lyrics are focusing on nightlife, poverty and criminality, delivered in a distinctively deep, gravelly voice.
Although attracting little commercial success at home, he attracted an international cult following and has been widely covered by other
singers. In 2011, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and included in the 2015 Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time.
[www.tomwaits.com]
Bonnie Raitt (*8 November 1949, Burbank, California, USA).
During the 1970s, singer-songwriter-guitarist Bonnie Lynn Raitt released a series of roots-influenced albums that incorporated
elements of blues, rock, folk and country. Eventually,
after several years of critical acclaim but little commercial success, she had a major hit with the album Nick of Time (1989).
Raitt has received 10 Grammy Awards and is listed as number 50 in Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time and
number 89 on the magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.
[www.bonnieraitt.com]
John Cohen (1932-2019).
John Cohen, who has died aged 87, was an American folk musician and musicologist, as well as a founding member of the New Lost City Ramblers
who inspired a generation to investigate the old-time music recorded in the 1920s/30s.
The New Lost City Ramblers Song Book (1964) became the bible of the American folk revival.
As a photographer and filmmaker he documented the old-time musicians of Appalachia and the
young Bob Dylan's arrival in New York.
His field recording of a Peruvian wedding song was included on the Golden Record attached to the Voyager spacecraft. In 2011,
The Library of Congress acquired John Cohen's archive, which includes his films, photographs, music recordings and other historic ephemera.
Joseph Shabalala (1941-2020).
Born Bhekizizwe Joseph Siphatimandla Mxoveni Mshengu Bigboy Shabalala in the town of Ladysmith in the KwaZulu-Natal region of South Africa,
the singer formed his own isicathamiya (a cappella) group in 1959, Ezimnyama (The Black Ones). He renamed them Ladysmith Black Mambazo,
"Mambazo" meaning axe, referring to how the group chopped down other choirs by winning almost every time in the isicathamiya competitions.
In 1986, Paul Simon collaborated with Shabalala for his Graceland album, and the group's popularity spread all over the world.
Arty McGlynn (1944-2019).
Born in Omagh, County Tyrone, the Irish guitarist had collaborated with different notable groups such as Patrick Street, Planxty,
Four Men and a Dog, and De Dannan. He played guitar on the critically acclaimed 1989 Van Morrison album, Avalon Sunset.
He also played duo performances and recordings with uilleann piper Liam O'Flynn, and his wife, fiddle player Nollaig Casey.
Robert Castle Schoen (1934-2020).
Hawaiian born singer and guitarist Bob Shane was a founding member of The Kingston Trio.
The group's success (including four albums simultaneously in the Top 10 in 1959)
took acoustic folk-based music out of the niche market and moved it into the mainstream of American popular music in the late 1950s through the mid-1960s.
After the break-up in 1967, Shane experimented both with solo work and different configurations. He eventually asked permission
to lease the group's name. His New Kingston Trio relied heavily on a "greatest hits formula".
In 2004, Shane suffered a heart attack that forced him into retirement from touring and performing.
Philip Lamar Grier, Jr. (1938-2019).
Lamar Grier was a member of Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys from 1965 to 1967.
During those years, the band consisted of Monroe, Lamar, Peter Rowan, James Monroe, and Richard Greene -
widely praised as one of Bill's finest lineups, thanks in part to Lamar's stout banjo playing.
Lamar also performed and recorded with Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard and Peter Rowan.
David Olney (1948-2020).
Folk singer-songwriter David Olney died after suffering a heart attack
during a performance onstage at the 30A Songwriter Festival in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, on January 18, 2020.
In 1973, Olney had moved to Nashville after briefly studying English and fell in with a group of like-minded songwriters that included
Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, Rodney Crowell and Richard Dobson.
Over his five-decade career he recorded more than twenty albums.
His songs have been covered by and co-written with Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Linda Ronstadt, Del McCoury, and Laurie Lewis, among many others.
[www.davidolney.com]
»Anytime anyone asks me who my favorite music writers are, I say Mozart, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Bob Dylan and Dave Olney.« – Townes Van Zandt (www.townesvanzandt.com)
»The world lost a great artist on January 18th. We songwriters lost a dear friend. David Olney was a man with genius and wide-reaching vision. He was the master of perspective. Point of view in his songs was forever original and brilliant. Unparalleled Mastery.
He wrote from the viewpoint of the Iceberg in Titanic. From the point of view of the huckster ripping people off on the hill next to Jesus in
Jerusalem Tomorrow. From the viewpoint of the dummy, talking to the ventriloquist, in Who's The Dummy Now?
I cannot pick a favorite Olney song, but I do come back to this one over and over, written from the viewpoint of a French prostitute, in 1917.
Godspeed, David. I love you.«
– Mary Gauthier (www.marygauthier.com)
Women lead the way in this year’s Gradam Ceoil TG4 accolades, as ‘Musician of the Year’, ‘Young Musician of the Year’ and ‘Composer of the Year’ are awarded to highly-talented female musicians.
Harper Laoise Kelly from Westport, Co. Mayo is announced as TG4’s ‘Musician of the Year’, and is one of the youngest recipients of the main award to date. Laoise will be awarded the title at TG4’s Gradam Ceoil gala concert which will take place in Belfast’s Waterfront Hall next February. She is one of Ireland’s most significant harpers of her generation and uses a style of playing combining the techniques of fingerpads in the bass and fingernails in the melody on a thirty-four gut strung Paddy Cafferky harp. Laoise was a founding member of the traditional group Bumblebees, who recorded two albums, Bumblebees (1997) and Buzzin (1999) and who toured extensively across Ireland, the UK, Europe, the US and Canada. She was also a founding member of Fiddletree, a folk group from the US, Ireland, Cape Breton and Scotland, who all play instruments made from the same tree and who have released two albums, The Fiddletree (2011) and The Unfathomable Menagerie (2013).
Fiddle and Cello player, Sharon Howley, from Kilfenora, Co. Clare has been selected as this year’s Young Musician of the Year. Sharon was immersed in traditional music from a young age with a rich musical lineage; her father sings and plays and both her grandfathers, Micky McCormack and Michael Slattery sang and played music. Her wider relations include the Mulqueeney’s and McCormack’s who played with the older formations of the Kilfenora Ceilí Band.
Lillis Ó Laoire, two time winner of the premier sean-nós singing competition Corn Uí Riada in 1991 and again in 1994 is to be awarded the title of Singer of the Year.
The other award recipients are Lifetime Achievement Award to Séamus Connolly, Outstanding Contribution Award to Nenagh’s Ned Kelly and Composer of the Year to Josephine Marsh.
TG4 Director General, Alan Esslemont, says:
‘Gradam Ceoil TG4 is 23 years in existence, and recognises the best of traditional Irish music, an initiative that TG4 is immensely proud of. I would like to congratulate all of this year’s winners. They are the embodiment of traditional Irish music and song, and we are delighted to award them the highest honour in Irish music.’
The new music documentary The Songpoet about singer-songwriter Eric Andersen had its U.S. debut at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival in January 2020. The film was part of the festival’s Cinesonic Series featuring iconic musicians and their legacy.
By 1967, the stage had been set for Greenwich Village folk musician Eric Andersen to be catapulted to international fame, rising above his contemporaries of the time. But the death of his newly acquired manager, famed Beatles impresario Brian Epstein, turned his career upside down. Five years later, he found himself again on the brink of commercial success only to suffer another devastating blow that threw his future into uncertainly. And yet, more than 50 years later, Eric Andersen continues to write and perform. The Songpoet dives deep into conflicts of career, family, ego, relationships and the unrelenting pursuit of one’s purpose as it explores what it takes to keep moving forward.
Film director Paul Lamont says, “It took more than eight years to make this film, and a lot of that time was spent with Eric at his home in the Netherlands where he opened a very private world to me. I feel that what emerged was a film about an artist, but more importantly, the man came into sharp relief allowing the artist to be understood.”
Appearing in interviews in the film are American record producer and A&R executive Clive Davis, author and music critic Anthony DeCurtis, musicians John Sebastian, Lenny Kaye, Willie Nile, Happy Traum, Robert Aaron, Inge Andersen, Sari Andersen, and the late Debbie Green, American music manager Danny Fields, and music producer Norbert Putnam.
“The camera has always loved Eric Andersen,” says folk legend Carolyn Hester, “and we can be grateful that at long last he has trusted film makers Paul Lamont and Scott Sackett with painting this most personal of portraits … Prepare yourself as layer by layer, in hypnotic sequence, one is bewitched – seeing and feeling every unexpected twist and turn.”
Widely considered the preeminent banjoist of his generation, Noam Pikelny has drawn from his unique experience as a member of Punch Brothers and as a solo artist to create a comprehensive course for banjo players of all levels - launching this Spring! Find Out More @ ArtistWorks!
Whether you're a beginner OR an experienced player, grow as a banjo player with direct guidance from Noam himself. Take music lessons online through their patented Video Exchange Learning® system at ArtistWorks. Watch lessons, practice and submit for feedback.
Legendary banjo player Noam Pikelny has taken home countless awards and accolades throughout his career, including the Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass and two Banjo Player of the Year awards from the International Bluegrass Music Association.
Transglobal World Music Chart Festival Awards 2019
The Transglobal World Music Chart (TWMC) has unveiled the winners of its 2019 Festival Awards. South Korean Jeonju Int’l Sori Festival tops the list.
"After the evaluation of the previous edition, at least one of the festivals that repeated this year has improved, following our assessment. That made us very proud,” said Transglobal World Music Chart co-founder and Festival Awards coordinator Araceli Tzigane Sánchez. “Moreover, this second edition has served us to identify our own areas of improvement. We have not been able to assess two specific festivals that applied and that had fluent communication with us. For the third edition, we will work more closely with the applicants to avoid this situation and to increase the number of applicants.”
The Transglobal World Music Chart Festival Awards were launched in 2018 as part of the goal to increase the appreciation of the music from the cultures of the world, as a tool for the development of people in many areas of life, as well as for enjoyment and pleasure.
Festivals interested in participating can find the procedure, criteria and application form to start the process @
www.transglobalwmc.com/festival-awards-definitions-and-criteria/!
»I wanted to thank the Director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum Dr. Piotr M.A. Cywiński for inviting me to the 75th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz. The event took place on 27th Jan 2020. I was very honoured to be at the ceremony and to pay respects to all Holocaust victims including my best friend Kazik Piechowski RIP who made his infamous escape in the Kommander's Car (as in my song) and my own Polish Grandfather who was a prisoner there from 1941-1942 before finally escaping himself. I look forward to cooperating with the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum this year in 2020 in particular with the 80th Anniversary of the 1st transports to Auschwitz in June 1940. My dream is to work with the Museum on musical workshops and concerts and to help make intergenerational links to the history of WWII Poland. I am also interested in helping create exhibitions worldwide of “Photographic Plates of Memory: Labyrinths by Marian Kołodziej,” for another friend - Marian Kołodziej RIP (www.polandin.com). Drawing pictures of his memories from Auschwitz became a sort of therapy for the former prisoner of the Nazi German death camp. It took 12 years for Mr Kołodziej to create 200 drawings depicting his memories from the concentration camp. A characteristic motif repeated in his work is a figure representing himself as an old man carrying a younger version of himself from the past. This symbolises a life-long struggle of Mr Kołodziej with the past. Marian Kołodziej arrived in Auschwitz with the first transport of Polish political prisoners. He was forced to work gathering corpses into a pile, then throwing them into burning pits or taking them to the crematorium. The unique exposition of over 200 of his works can be seen at the St. Maksymilian Centre in Harmęże near Auschwitz concentration camp.« – Katy Carr (www.katycarr.com)
»Have you ever walked the famous Abbey Road zebra crossing? If you haven't, I'm sure you've at least thought about doing it... We already walked the cross on 1998, when we visited London to master our first album. A couple weeks ago, however, we walked the zebra crossing, and crossed HEAVEN'S DOORS... Abbey Road Studios' doors that is! I travelled to London with Juanjo Zamorano to London to work on the mastering of "Nebraska" with Miles Showell. Mastering engineers usually concentrate on the technical part and not give their opinion, but we have to say that Miles loved the record. You can see interesting stuff like the Neumann lathe where Miles cuts by hand vinyl masters, like the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band re-release. Also, the Fairchild tube compressor built by Analoguetube, possibly the best in the world, which was used on our record. We also visited Studio One, used mostly on orchestal recordings, like "A Day In The Life", all the orchestral arrangements of "Abbey Road" or the "Star Wars" soundtrack. Including, of course, the worldwide TV broadcast of "All You Need Is Love". On the corridors we found rarities like the REDD.17 tube mixing desk, the oldest model, still in use. And I walked the zebra crossing!« – Jorge Otero (www.stormymondays.com)
»My friends! It’s been another great year in my musical world filled with so many beautiful shows, travels, moments & adventures & I’m so grateful for everyone on this list. You’re all a huge part of this journey. I’ve been able to share bills with brilliant friends & open for legends like The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. In September Alex Wong & I released our EP “Kivalina,” which I’m so proud of. Also in September I recorded a new album with Grammy nominated producer/artist Neilson Hubbard that will be coming out in 2020. I’m over the moon excited about this new album & can’t wait for y’all to hear it! Check out the tour dates coming up below & take a look at my full tour schedule here. I’m always adding new tour dates & I’ll be announcing some exciting tours soon, including my return to Europe in 2020 with Michelle Lewis - So stay tuned!« – Jesse Terry (www.jesseterrymusic.com)
»In recent years I've gotten way more into photography, as digital photography has become so much better, not just cheaper. Most of these photos were taken by me with some form of Google Pixel phone. Quality varies, but I think there are some good ones. The photos tell the story of 2019, as experienced by me. Lots of pictures of family as well as pictures from travels around North America and Europe: www.patreon.com. Here's a new concert review in Final Hours that includes more great pictures, by London photojournalist Guy Smallman: www.finalhours.org.uk.« – David Rovics (www.davidrovics.com)
»P.S.: I'm not dead. That's the main thing I wanted to say. If you were worried, but you're too busy to keep reading, you can stop now. I heard from a couple of friends this morning who had just listened to today's episode of Democracy Now!, and thought they had heard Amy Goodman announce my demise. However, it was not I who died, but another American guitarist, touring performer and recording artist, named David Roback... But I'm still here, anyway, and still making music, every day. You can also read this on my blog.«
»2019 was filled with lot's of hard work but lot's of fun too. I spent most of the year concentrating on The String Revolution. I am still doing some solo stuff but I really wanted to put a lot of attention into the band this past year. I think it proved to be a wise decision. We are grateful for a year that included a new release, a new video, touring, and capping it off with a special performance at The Grammy Museum. What an amazing night that was... We are looking forward to 2020 with more new songs, more touring, and more, more, more! :) Along with The String Revolution, this upcoming year I will forge on with more solo work - new recordings, possible touring, and hopefully releasing my special blues project I've been working on for the past 3 years. Cheers!« – Janet Robin (www.janetrobin.com)
»Hello to you all, I hope you've had a good start to 2020? I'm currently in Nuremberg, Germany where I'm representing my adopted home-city of Glasgow and performing as part of the Glasgow Weekend, a celebration of the now 35 year long twinning of Glasgow and Nuremberg. It's such an honour to represent Glasgow, and the two cities really do have many genuine friendships as a result of the twinning. 2020 is shaping up to being a year that will see Ron and I play in some amazing places throughout the world... we've New Zealand, the US, Japan, Australia and Europe all coming up.« – Rachel Hair (www.rachelhair.com)
»Our friends at NPR Music and Jazz Night in America released this riveting performance from last year’s festival: the first ever live performance by the great banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck with the astonishing master of the Columbian harp, Edmar Castañeda. Taking place in the beautiful and resonant setting of St. John’s Cathedral, this musical meeting was easily a highlight of Big Ears 2019 and we’re thrilled to have the opportunity to share with you and the world: www.npr.org.« – Big Ears Festival, Knoxville TN (www.bigearsfestival.org)
»Music label Indies has celebrated! The one-day music festival in Brno's concert hall Sono Centrum is a 30th anniversary celebration of the founding of the company Indies, which has been dedicated to quality alternative and non-commercial music since its inception in the Czech Republic. The concert featured 12 bands and artists who have released their albums for 30 years at Indies Records. Line-up: BraAgas, Bombarďák, Band of Heysek, HCM Kubíci + Mužský sbor Chotár, Květy a Martina Trchová & Adam Kubát, DVA, Zuby Nehty / DYBBUK, ZVA 12-28 Band, Nuck Chorris Gang, Meat-House Chicago I.R.A. Playlist Spotify: spotify.com! On February 14th,1990, the first shop and CD rental was opened under the name Indies on the Milady Horakove 25 street in Brno. After a year of the shop's existence, Indies Records label was founded with the motto: We release music we like and we like to listen to. Since the early rock music styles, the label has gradually opened up to other genres. Folk and folk-rock albums are released, world music and folklore are added, but there are also blues, rock, jazz and rap. More than 800 albums and titles were published under the Indies brand, mapping, with few exceptions (The Frames), high-quality Czech and Slovak music.« – Indies Scope (www.indies.eu)
»2019 was another incredible year for Steep Canyon Rangers! We played approximately 110 shows this year, including some incredible festivals, beautiful venues and historic theaters. Some of the highlights were playing Red Rocks with the Wood Brothers, the Greek Theatre with Steve Martin, returning to Telluride Bluegrass Festival, hosting Mountain Song Festival and sharing the stage with greats like Del McCoury, Larry Sparks, and David Grisman. This year we also teamed up with Yep Roc Records and couldn't be happier. In the Spring we curated a set of music entirely of North Carolina songwriters and performed and recorded it at Merlefest for our set on the Watson Stage. That performance was broadcast by UNC-TV and other PBS affiliates. The album that resulted from that performance just became available on 11/29 for Record Store Day and is currently sitting at #1 on Billboard's Bluegrass Chart. We had the opportunity to team up with R&B super group Boyz II Men and perform Be Still Moses live together in Nashville. Look out for that song included on a full album we recorded with the Asheville Symphony Orchesta to come out after the new year. We travelled with Steve Martin and Martin Short to Australia and headlined our first Australian show in Melbourne. Now we are taking a few weeks to relax, rejuvenate and spend time with family. As always, thank you to the fans, the DJ's, the promoters and everyone else for your support!« – Steep Canyon Rangers (www.steepcanyon.com)
Premio Andrea Parodi is the only European contest for World Music artists; it’s organized by the Andrea Parodi Foundation, and it’s directed by Elena Ledda. The 2020 finals are programmed in Cagliari, Sardinia, from October 8th to 10th.
Among the prizes for the winner there is a series of concerts and participation in some of the most important Italian music festivals in their 2021 editions: from the "European Jazz Expo" in Sardinia to Folkest in Friuli, and the Negro Festival in Pertosa (SA), not forgetting the very same Premio Andrea Parodi 2021. In addition to the aforementioned, the winners will be entitled to a € 2,500 scholarship. Whereas the winner of the Critics' Awards will have a professional videoclip of their competition song produced, offered by the Andrea Parodi Foundation.
Applications must be sent by, no later than 15 May 2020, using the format found online @ www.fondazioneandreaparodi.it.
The Artistic Commission established by the Foundation will select from eight to twelve finalists among the applicants in an anonymous way; the finalists will perform in Cagliari at the "Premio Andrea Parodi" Festival 2020, in front of a Technical Jury (professionals, authors, musicians, poets, writers and songwriters) and a Critical Jury (journalists).
The Awards aim to enhance the new trends in the music of peoples, albeit "World Music", artists that mix the so-called folk or ethnic music with sounds and stylistic models of different origins.
The previous editions were won: 2019 by Fanfara Station (Tunisia, Usa, Italia), 2018 by La Maschera (Campania), 2017 by Daniela Pes (Sardinia), 2016 by Pupi di Surfaro (Sicily), 2015 by Giuliano Gabriele Ensemble (Lazio), 2014 by Flo ( Campania), 2013 by Unavantaluna (Sicily), 2012 by Elsa Martin (Friuli), 2011 by Elva Lutza (Sardinia), 2010 by the Compagnia Triskele (Sicily), 2009 by Francesco Sossio (Puglia).
The festival was born in honour of the distinguished Sardinian artist Andrea Parodi, who went from singer-songwriter with Tazenda to a highly valued solo career, of ethnic themes thanks to which he became an international reference of World Music, collaborating with artists such as Al Di Meola and Noa.
Four years ago Music Maker began a partnership with Freeman Vines; a luthier, poet, and now, bonafide modern artist.
Freeman's work has been traveling to the UK for the group show We Will Walk - Art and Resistance in the American South at the Turner Contemporary
(Margate).
His work will be shown until 3rd May 2020
alongside the legendary Gee's Bend Quilts as well as works by Thornton Dial, Lonnie Holley and many others.
Learn more about We Will Walk @
musicmaker.org/...!
Lluís Gómez will be teaching banjo at Musique Acoustique de Virton,
Belgium, April 6th to 11th, a great week for differents kinds of acoustic music like Irish, Manouche, Blues, Bluegrass, Old-Time… Lots of fun!!
14 Different Workshops: Ukulélé - Ukulele : Alexandre Falcone (B) Guitare Rythmique - Rythm Guitar : André Vandomber (B) Guitare Fingerstyle - Fingerstyle Guitar : Stephane Wertz (B) Percussion - : Richard Fabrice (F) Guitare Flatpicking - Flatpicking Guitar : Roberto Dalla Vecchia (I) Chant - Singing : Elsa Grégoire (B) & Vaiana François (B) Banjo - Banjo : Lluís Gomez (E) Violon du monde : Raphaël Maillet (F) Contrebasse - Doublebass : André Klenes (B) Dobro - Dobro : Henrich Novák (SK) Violon Irlandais - Irish Fiddle : Kieran & Lorcan Fahy (IRL) Mandoline - Mandolin : Jesper Rübner Petersen (DK) Harmonica - Harmonica : Joan Pau Cumellas Ruiz (E)
Here are some videos from past editions:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSBacdEwfOw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCNRo71dLmo
Irish Music & Dance in London is delighted to present a 50 year anniversary event for one of Ireland’s best loved bands, Shaskeen.
Originally formed in London in May 1970, Shaskeen has thrived over the last 50 years due to its authenticity, quality and consistency. The band is known for its participatory style, finding easy rapport with audiences and presenting traditional and contemporary songs, tunes, poetry, recitation, storytelling, together with moments of wicked humour and repartee full of pure craic.
Traditional and original compositions and sean nós sit comfortably alongside American old timey material, all presented with the Shaskeen essence, a level of fine artistry that has been of great cultural significance in Ireland and abroad for the past fifty years.
Shaskeen has released 15 albums to date, most recently Walking up Town in 2010. 2020 will see the band recording its 16th to celebrate its Golden Jubilee year.
Shaskeen will be supported on Friday 24th April at the McNamara Hall (London Irish Centre, 50-52 Camden Square, London NW1 9XB)
by The Trad Gathering, which brings together 60 of the most talented young traditional Irish musicians from across the capital. Originally jointly commissioned in 2008 by the BBC Proms and Return to Camden Town Festival, the Trad Gathering has performed at the Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall and the Lord Mayor of London’s St Patrick’s Day Festival. On 24th April, the group will be performing music from the repertoire of the great East Galway fiddler, the late Lucy Farr.
30 April - 3 May 2020 Shetland Folk Festival, Scotland, UK ft. Della Mae, Dougie MacLean, Frigg, Le Vent Du Nord, Heidi Talbot, JigJam, Habadekuk, Nordic Fiddlers Bloc, The Poozies, The Chair, ... www.shetlandfolkfestival.com 2 - 10 May 2020 folkBALTICA, Flensburg & Sønderjylland-Schleswig, Germany/Denmark ft. Frigg, Hoven Droven, Väsen, Tautumeitas, Curly Strings, Fiolministeriet, Kapela Maliszów, folkBALTICA Ensemble, ... www.folkbaltica.de
Tønder Festival 
John Prine 
Irish Mythen 8 - 10 May 2020 Il Fanciullo e il Folklore (The Child and Folklore), Levico Terme (Trento), Italy www.fitp.org 4 - 7 June 2020 Wirral Folk on the Coast Festival, Merseyside, UK ft. Lindisfarne, Trials of Cato, Ashley Hutchings & Becky Mills, ... www.wirralfolkonthecoast.com 6 - 7 June 2020 Blazin' in Biggar, Lanarkshire, Scotland www.blazininbiggar.com 26 - 28 June 2020 The Rotterdam Bluegrass Festival, Netherlands www.bluegrassfestival.nl 26 June - 5 July 2020 Jewish Culture Festival Cracow, Poland www.jewishfestival.pl 2 - 5 July 2020 Rudolstadt Festival, Germany ft. Focus: Germany www.rudolstadt-festival.de 13 - 19 July 2020 Kaustinen Folk Music Festival, Finland www.kaustinen.net 15 - 18 July 2020 Hebridean Celtic Festival, Stornaway, Isle Of Lewis, Scotland www.hebceltfest.com 31 July - 1 August 2020 Urkult Festival, Sweden www.urkult.se 6 - 9 August 2020 Telemark Festival, Norway www.telemarkfestivalen.no 7 - 16 August 2020 Festival Interceltique de Lorient, France www.festival-interceltique.bzh 13 - 15 August 2020 Fairport's Cropredy Convention, Banbury, Oxfordshire, UK www.fairportconvention.com 21 - 23 August 2020 Folk East, Glemham Hall, Suffolk, UK www.folkeast.co.uk 27 - 30 August 2020 Tønder Festival, Denmark ft. Arlo Guthrie, John Prine, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Keb’ Mo, Hans Theessink, Blazin’ Fiddles, The Once, Red Hot Chilli Pipers, The Henry Girls, Lula Wiles, Friel Sisters, Mary Gauthier, Ordinary Elephant, 9Bach, Còig, Cara Dillon, Irish Mythen, Michael McGoldrick, Leonard Cohen Tribute, ... www.tf.dk 28 - 31 August 2020 Shrewsbury Folk Festival, UK www.shrewsburyfolkfestival.co.uk 28 - 31 August 2020 Towersey Festival, Claydon Estate, Buckinghamshire, UK ft. Show of Hands, Steeleye Span, Kate Rusby, Grace Petrie, ... www.towerseyfestival.com 8 - 10 October 2020 Andrea Parodi Awards, Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy www.fondazioneandreaparodi.it 12 - 16 October 2020 Blazin' in Beauly, Scotland www.blazininbeauly.com 21 - 25 October 2020 WOMEX World Music Expo, Budapest, Hungary www.womex.com 20-22 November 2020 Scots Fiddle Festival, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK www.scotsfiddlefestival.com
Support Musicians Working in the EU Post-Brexit
The Musicians’ Union is calling on Government and Parliament to back a Musicians' Passport for musicians working in the EU post-Brexit.
The Musicians' Passport must:
Most musicians and performers rely on touring and performing in the European Union to make a living. Musicians, and other creative and cultural workers, are a distinct workforce with specific needs. Visa and customs rules post-Brexit need to account for that.
The Musicians' Passport must be affordable, multi-entry and admin-light. Placing costly and resource heavy barriers to that could have a severe impact on working and aspiring musicians – as well as the broader UK music industry. Musicians already have experience with difficult visa systems. It can cost thousands to take a band to the United States, and the cost of fast-track visa processing fees have just gone up 15%. Musicians have voiced their fears that something similar might happen with the European Union, to devastating effect.
The Musicians' Passport should cover all EU member states. Musicians visit multiple countries on tour, often jumping across borders on a daily basis, often with very little notice. If every musician has to get a visa and carnet for every country they visit, it will make any work in Europe impossible to schedule regardless of whether they are an emerging band or a world-renowned orchestra.
The lack of clarity on the future of musicians working in the EU is already having an impact. MU members are already moving to Europe because they are worried about their future work; to get jobs, to make sure they can get work later, to travel, and to collaborate.
It’s also about who we are: “Music and the performing arts rely on exchange of ideas and interaction between performers of different nationalities. We love working in the EU and we love artists coming over here. If musicians can't travel easily both ways, our reputation as a country that embraces all arts and culture will be severely damaged. Our members' ability to earn a living will also be severely affected” – Horace Trubridge, MU General Secretary and founder member of Darts
Let touring musicians travel. Protect the music you love. Please sign the petition for a Musicians' Passport to show your support.
Spain-born, American-raised and Cornwall-based singer/songwriter Sarah McQuaid is heading out on the road again for a 48-show tour beginning in the Netherlands on 27 February and finishing at the Acoustic Festival of Britain the last weekend in May. The tour takes her through five different countries:
“I’ve no idea what’s going to happen as regards carnets and import duty and so on, but I have to say I’m really scared. I looked up the
gov.uk
website page on travelling to the EU after 1 January 2021, and followed the link there to how to apply for a carnet, and I was horrified to see that in addition to the £300-plus cost of the carnet itself, you also have to put up a security deposit of 40% of the value of all the gear you’re bringing with you. I wouldn’t even be able to come up with 40% of the value of my acoustic guitar, let alone the rest of the kit I tour with!
I’m desperately hoping that the Musicians’ Union is successful in their campaign for an affordable ‘Musicians’ Passport’ touring visa that covers crew and equipment and eliminates the need for carnets.
I’m lucky in that I’m an Irish citizen, so I’ll still theoretically be able to work in Europe, but the whole carnet business is terrifying, not to mention the possibility of import duty on CDs and any other merch, T-shirts and so on, which is a big part of what makes a tour financially viable.
And the worst of it is that there’s absolutely no way of knowing at this point what the reality of the situation is going to be, and meanwhile I’m already having to make commitments for tour dates next year, even though I’m totally clueless as to what hoops I’ll have to jump through in order to be able to fulfil those commitments.
But in the meantime I’m very glad to be heading out on this year’s tour, and I’m determined to make the most of it! And I do hope that anyone who’s listening supports the MU’s campaign. It’s so important for small-scale, grassroots acts like myself to continue to be able to tour in Europe, and ditto for European acts who tour over here — the UK music scene would be so much the poorer without them.”
Premio Andrea Parodi 2020
