Folk Centre: Reader's digest

While plenty of traditional singers are enthralled with the idea of mainstream success, the number of pop performers who travel in the opposite direction is considerably smaller.
The financial rewards of traditional singing are such that only the truly committed would ever consider it a worthwhile path to follow. One such person is the magnificent Eddi Reader, who will be headlining the opening night of the Fiddler’s Green Festival in Rostrevor this year on Sunday July 22.
Having found early success as part of Fairground Attraction, Reader moved to London to escape the kind of claustrophobia she felt in the surroundings of her native Glasgow. It was when she revisited the city after the death of her father that she started to re-connect with her essential Scottishness and to take an increasing interest in Scottish traditional song. An invitation to work with the Scottish National Orchestra switched the focus to the songs of Robert Burns specifically. The result was 2003’s Eddi Reader Sings The Songs Of Robert Burns, one of the most intense and beautifully focused albums of traditional song to see the light of day in a long time.
The release of Peacetime in 2006 saw her reiterate her commitment to traditional music, this time side-by-side with original compositions by herself and long-time collaborator Boo Hewerdine.
As this is the Fiddler’s Green Festival’s 21st anniversary, it is only fitting that they are pulling out all the stops to make it the best ever and it looks likely that Flook will also be performing at this year’s festival.
Flook are already confirmed as one of the acts on the bill for this year’s Celtic Fusion, just up the road in Castlewellan, where they’ll be closing proceedings at roughly the same time as Eddi Reader opens the festivities in Rostrevor.
This year’s Celtic Fusion kicks off on Sunday July 15 with a concert featuring Kate Rusby, whose star is still very much ascending after her own flirtation with the mainstream in the company of Ronan Keating. Support on the night will be from Cora and Breda Smyth, the Mayo-born sisters who have been described by Michael Flatley – who’s probably an expert on this sort of thing – as “the cutest and sexiest girls in the business with limitless musical abilities.” Having recently returned from a trip to India with the President, the sisters are fitting in a couple of Irish shows over the course of the summer around their other solo commitments.
Also appearing at the festival this year are Altan, who have been notably under-exposed here over the last while, so it will be a welcome opportunity to see them when they take over the Great Hall in Downpatrick on Wednesday July 18. The following evening in Mulholland’s in Castlewellan the focus will shift to iconic singer-songwriters, with Kevin Doherty and Fil Campbell co-headlining. Amazingly this will be the Rostrevor singer’s first appearance at Celtic Fusion. The Celtic Fusion Headline Concert itself takes place on the evening of Saturday July 21 in the Slieve Donard Hotel in Newcastle and features two legends of the Irish folk scene. Paul Brady played at the first Celtic Fusion back in 2002 and apparently there has been a constant stream of requests since then to get him back. Mary Black [pictured] is making her Celtic Fusion debut but is guaranteed just as warm a welcome.
Dervish, thankfully perhaps, didn’t have a lot of time to dwell on their execrable showing at the Eurovision song contest as they were hardly off the plane home when they had to pack another change of socks and get themselves off to Latvia and Lithuania where they were accompanying President McAleese on a state visit. Having made a huge impression when they accompanied Bertie Ahern to China at the start of 2005, this is undoubtedly the type of cultural ambassadorship they excel at, rather than the high kitsch of Helsinki. It’s fair to say that the band, Cathy Jordan in particular, took quite a severe buffetting in the aftermath of the Eurovision, but the need to get back on the horse has certainly done them the world of good and we’ll see a resumption of normal service pretty much immediately.
The Legends Of Irish Folk show has had a couple of successful runs over the last couple of years and it makes a return for an evening at the National Concert Hall on Friday June 8. Joining singers Ronnie Drew, Johnny McEvoy,Mick Hanly and Finbar Furey on stage will be musicians Mike Hanrahan, Maurice Lennon, and piano player extraordinaire Pat Fitzpatrick, who may not be particularly folky but who is certainly a legend and has some of the best backstage stories in the business. If he could be persuaded to spill the beans he would undoubtedly give MC Jim McCann a run for his money.
Hard to imagine but it’s now 10 years since Jeff Buckley’s death and all around the world a series of tribute nights are being held to mark the occasion. The Dublin tribute is taking place in The Village on Friday June 1 and will feature a number of acts remembering a fallen hero through song.
Whelan’s is still gamely barrelling along despite major reconstruction and has some great shows lined up in the next few weeks. Friday June 1 sees Country Joe McDonald stride through the hallowed portals. Remembered forever for his performance at Woodstock, when he roused the crowd with his chant of “Gimme an F, Gimme a U, Gimme a C...”, you can guess the rest, McDonald personifies the much overused and abused term ‘legend’.
Mick Flannery, whose album has now been reissued and beautifully packaged by EMI, will also be playing the Wexford Street venue on Friday June 22.
Possibly the gig of the month, though, is salted away on Sunday night, June 24, when New York alt-country experimental wildmen O Death come to town. With a hair-raising stage show (their tagline is “five men with sometimes three shirts between them”) and rapid fire songs, they’ll be pouring petrol on the flames. However, headlining the night is Goodtime John, which can be a man or a band depending on the evening that’s in it. Describing himself as folk/experimental/grindcore (God bless MySpace) the music doesn’t generally reach the heights of mania scaled by O Death but with occasional sidemen like Simon Kenny and Richie Egan, it can get deliciously messy up there.
Just down the street at The Village, there’s a night of harmonica madness boasting five top harmonica players from as many countries. The Jean-Jacques Milteau Trio, featuring Jean Jacques on harmonica, are on the bill, as are Triple Harp Bypass (which has to be one of the worst puns ever perpetrated on a music audience), whose harmonica players include Rick Epping, Brendan Power and Mick Kinsella with the long-suffering Martin Dunlea on guitar. Also blowing hard on the night, meanwhile, will be Germany’s Matthias Broede.