Joan Baez to play Vicar St.

That most legendary of folk singers, Joan Baez, kicks off the New Year with a January 26 visit to Dublin's Vicar St. Tickets priced €40 are on sale now.

An American institution since the '60s when she rubbed plectrums with the likes of Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan, Baez has just unleashed her first studio album in six years, Dark Chords On A Big Guitar.

Reviewed in the next issue of Hot Press, it finds her getting to grips with such contemporary songwriters as Ryan Adams, Gillian Welch, Steve Earle, Natalie Merchant and honorary Irishman Josh Ritter whose Hello Starling album is edging towards gold status here.