The career of ’60s folk-pop icon Donovan is to be celebrated in a festival taking place in the Cavan County Museum, Ballyjamesduff over the weekend of July 10-12.

Titled Donovan Days, the programme will include an exhibition of Donovan’s art photography called Sapphographs, a performance by Donovan and assorted guests, and a screening of the documentary Sunshine Superman: The Journey of Donovan, which features appearances from many of the singer’s contemporaries and admirers, including The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Rick Rubin, Jimmy Page and David Lynch.
Speaking to Hot Press, Donovan explains that the driving force behind the festival was Irish-American art gallery director Chris Murray, who has roots in County Cavan.
“Chris originally put on Sapphographs in the Govinda Gallery in Washington DC,” he says. “He comes every year to his homeland of Ireland, and he actually got married in Cavan. As the priest said at the wedding, ‘All those years ago, one Murray left from down the road, and look what’s come back! A ton of Murrays from Washington DC, who count the Kennedys as their childhood buddies.’
“Chris decided on his wedding day to have the exhibition in the local art centre as well. The idea grew from there into a full festival, and here we are.”
Donovan also revealed that he has been working on some new songs with the aforementioned David Lynch, the cult filmmaker whose credits include Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks and Mulholland Drive. Donovan actually performed at a benefit concert in New York earlier this year for the David Lynch Foundation, which promotes the practice of transcendental meditation (other performers on the night included Eddie Vedder, Moby, Sheryl Crow and Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr).
When Donovan recently visited Lynch’s Hollywood studio, the director – who has composed music for several of his films, and recently contributed to the Dangermouse and Sparklehouse album Dark Night Of The Soul – encouraged him to work on new material.
“David invited me into his studio when I was in LA,” says Donovan. “He said (does Lynch impression), ‘Whaddya got?’ I said, ‘What do you mean?’ and he went, ‘Get the guitar out.’ And so David Lynch began to produce two new Donovan songs. With his engineer, he started to move the dials, and suddenly this very ambient, romantic, moody sound came out, like he does for his movies. And I started writing something called, ‘Yeah Man, I Am The Shaman’. It was a very, very nice track.”
The singer says that some of the material may end up on Ritual Groove, a filmic project – worked on by student filmmakers who participated at Donovan’s invitation – about the loss of ritual in society. Donovan also plans to tour the project next year.
First up, though, is Donovan Days, full details for which can be found at cavanmuseum.ie.