Stoneybatter, Dublin isn’t a place you associate with brave musical endeavours but then Walkinstown wasn’t known as an oasis of musical delight either before Paul Lee started running gigs in the Cherry Tree. And now that I come to think of it nearby North King Street was hardly a mecca for musicians before The Cobblestone played host to some of the finest folk heard in Dublin. Whether it’s the recession driving music out of the rent-racked city centre or the fact that a dedicated folkie will make the trek to see a good act, the beaten track is no longer where you expect to look to find quality music. Off it is the place to be.

Paul Lee’s latest excursion away from paths well trodden is The Yard, a new venue in the aforementioned Stoneybatter neighbourhood which will operate as a members-only club so gig goers will be able to bring their own bottle or get a tea or a coffee while soaking up some great music – and without having to pay city centre drink prices. It’s an intimate enough space with room for 80, meaning it’s pretty much an ideal size for the kind of niche acts that ‘Musiclee’ specialises in.
The venue is tucked away through the arch behind Mulligans pub. At the moment it also hosts a craft market on Sundays, run by the Stoneybatter guild. The idea is that going forward there will be gigs there every Friday and Saturday. It boasts a cracking PA and the same sound engineer who has piloted the Cherry Tree through four years of top notch gigs. There is a pre-launch concert there Friday, July 1 featuring US singer-songwriter Ari Hest. There are no publicly available tickets for the performance which can be booked only by Musiclee members. If you’ve caught Lee supporting Declan O’Rourke on his recent tour and been impressed you could always make the trek to Headfort, Co. Galway where he plays the following evening.
The official launch of the new Stoneybatter evening is Saturday July 23 when Session Americana will be coming to the new space. Session American are Ry Cavanaugh (guitar, mandolin); Dinty Child (pump organ, mandocello); Jim Fitting (harmonica); Billy Beard (suitcase drum kit); Kimon Kirk (bass) and Laura Cortese, who played here not too long ago as part of her solo tour (fiddle). They sit tightly around a small round cafe table, ambient mics tuned to catch the complete sound of the voices and instruments. The unique format is theatrical and, although the musicians face each other, the audience feels drawn into the circle by the warmth, joy and camaraderie that emanate outwards. What keeps fans coming back show after show is the same thing that any audience member longs for: great songs performed by a great band. The core members of the line-up bring careers worth of experience to the “table”. The line-up includes (current and former) members of Treat Her Right and The The plus Patty Griffin, Lori McKenna Dennis Brennan and Kris Delmhorst to name just a few. The group has grown from a rag tag jam at a local pub to a regional institution, playing gigs from coffee houses to urban nightclubs, regional festival tents to theatres throughout the Boston area.
Even farther off the beaten track, you might say, but equally atmospheric – and again a proper listening venue – is the Seamus Ennis Centre, tucked away in Naul. Over the last few years management have managed to bring some of the most significant roots and folk music acts, both local and international, to the small north county Dublin cottage that houses the space. It has also expanded beyond its original policy of flying the flag for the cream of Irish traditional musicians.
The coming month sees them present what is probably the strongest programme they have yet promoted. On Friday July 8 they welcome the magnificently monikered Pokey LaFarge with his band The South City Three. With his current album Middle Of Everywhere appearing on this side of the Atlantic before its release in his native America Mr. LaFarge has been wending his way around Europe introducing audiences to his trademark mix of early jazz, western swing, ragtime and country blues. Having picked up the ‘best discovery’ gong at last year’s Newport Folk Festival hopes are high that this will be a show to savour.
John Spillane puts in an appearance Friday July 15 to make sure there’s no cooling of relations between Cork and Dublin. On Thursday July 21 the main attraction are The Tennessee Mafia Jug Band. These guys are the real schmozzle, an actual jug band – they have a guy who blows into a whiskey jar or ‘jug’. Don’t believe their website. It says they’re going to be in the Faroe Islands that night. We know better.
There are no such vagaries about the whereabouts of Coleraine man Damien O’Kane who plays there the following evening. A highly regarded banjo player who spent 12 months as part of Flook he released his debut solo album Summerhill last year. He’s actual a very talented singer too. It’s being billed as Damien O’Kane and friends. Whether one of those friends will turn out to be his wife, Kate Rusby remains to be seen. Rounding out a spectacularly strong programme is a visit by Lisa Hannigan on Thursday July 28 but that, my pretties, is sold out already.