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George Lowden is a luthier based in Downpatrick, County Down, Northern Ireland. He constructs steel and nylon string acoustic guitars by hand without any UV finishing as well as solid-body electric guitars.

The Lowden Story:
In the late 1980’s George Lowden accepted an invitation to visit the main Lowden dealer for Switzerland, Servette Music in Geneva. Upon his arrival, co-proprietor Yves Imer thanked George for coming, because some of the Lowden customers he was to meet had not realised he actually existed – they thought “George Lowden” was merely the figment of some marketing man’s imagination – a leprechaun, in fact!

This served to enlighten George to the principle that an ‘information vacuum’ will always be filled – sometimes benignly, sometimes bizarrely.So, for the record, HERE is the complete story of George Lowden and his guitars.

There’s a natural magnetism to DUG’s folk brew. The duo, made up of Conor (Lorkin) O’Reilly and Jonny Pickett, are gearing up for the release of their debut album, having formed in 2023–but you’d be forgiven for believing that they’ve been writing together for a lifetime.

Their music stems from roots in musical traditions spanning both sides of the pond. In one breath, echoing the great American folk troubadours, and in another, comfortably channelling the elder statesmen of Irish folk.

This is no accident. DUG have a shared musical heritage, with members having been born in America and Scotland before arriving in Ireland. O’Reilly himself spent almost a decade making and releasing music in upstate New York, having picked up sticks from his native Edinburgh, (Irish mother and Scottish father) before moving to Ireland in 2022 to start a new musical chapter.

And you can hear that lived musical experience in singles like ‘Big Sundown’ and ‘Jubilee’ (shortlisted for two Grammy nominations). Resonator guitar and banjo, the building blocks of DUG’s arrangements, lick and spin, with intricate finger-picking patterns whirling to a compelling whole. Their music breathes, vamping in sync.

They’re damn funny too. DUG’s lyrics catch you off guard, eliciting an honest-to-goodness chuckle in a moment of levity. At their very best, as on their forthcoming album, there’s a bona fide warmth littered throughout their unique take on folk storytelling. Tracks like ‘Wheel of Fortune’ have an easy rapport. It’s catching up with an old friend, all mischief and smiles.

There are allusions to darker moments there too; yearning and melancholy, to lessons learnt the hard way. Taking the heavy with the light, and being able to translate it into a foot-tapping, infectious contemporary folk sound is what DUG do best. They don’t need to posture; their music is naturally playful and honest, inviting you along on their musical journey.

DUG’s love for the musicians that inspired them never steps too far into reverence. They’re an unapologetically modern band. You’ll hear plenty of Irish influence in their music, but you’ll not find any tweed coats or paddy caps here. Instead, the band opts to be themselves-completely natural and organic. It’s part of what gives the group’s work such a strong charisma, and helps establish DUG as having one of the most unique takes on contemporary folk music.

In 2024, the duo signed to Claddagh Records, a label in which they find themselves in fine musical company. A subsidiary of Universal Records, Claddagh Records has spent the last few years becoming a hotbed for some of the most forward-thinking musicians in contemporary Irish folk, home to artists like Niamh Bury, Lemoncello and ØXN, to name a few.

It should come as no surprise that a group that delights in a touch of devilment and so ardently remains true to themselves has built a thriving community of fans, both at their live shows and through their often hilarious social media.

On that note, beyond the release of their debut album, DUG will spend much of 2025 on the road with plans for an extensive international tour. Already announced are Summer dates in the US: Colorado (main stage at Telluride Blugrass Festival), Washington, Portland and Idaho, as well as a debut tour in Australia in October. Irish fans can expect a surely raucous performance at almost every major Irish festival this summer. There’s plenty more dates still to be announced, so it’s well worth keeping your eyes peeled.

Justin Grounds: ‘Francesco’ 20 year anniversary show

In 2005 composer, violinist and songwriter Justin Grounds left home with a bag of clothes, a guitar some recording gear , a camera and a dream to dive deeply into a long journey, both inward and outward, living the songs and letting them guide his path. Over more than a year his journey found him writing poetry from the top of a rock in Joshua Tree, singing with monks on a mountain in Oahu, writing songs with Hawaii band The Girlas in a candlelit Kawa bar, squatting in a Hollywood apartment, living in a community for the menatally handicapped, putting on a gig in a local homeless shelter in the gritty downtown eastside of Vancouver, and wondering around San Francisco with a few dollars in his pocket, but a heart full of doves. Settling in an old farmhouse near Melbourne, Australia,  he put down roots for a while and pieced together the songs and recordings he had made along the way.

The record ‘Francesco’ is a musical document of a young artist finding his vision in the world, and was released on the Creative Vibes label in Australia in 2006, gaining acclaim and reviews likening it to Jeff Buckley and Nick Drake. The striking final song on this eclectic record, recorded in front of two microphones in a dark Canadian studio at midnight, seemes to sum up all that has come before it; “Time…it brings jewels and it brings pain/And sometimes they’re the same.”

Grounds settled in Clonakilty, Ireland in 2008 and quickly became a part of the vibrant music scene here, as a violinist and collaborator, which saw his musical vision expand to the eclectic range of work he produces today, both in his studio and in the community at large.

This special one-off show is a celebration of the record that started his musical journey 20 years ago, and the songs that grew out of a deep yearning and love for the world he found, in all it’s raggedness and beauty. Grounds will be joined by 2 special guests – Marcus Flack  (drums) who helped produce and mix ‘Francesco’ back in 2006, and is coming in from Amsterdam; and bassist Dodge Paterson (OUTRI), who has collaborated with Grounds in many projects over the last 25 years, and is coming in from Newcastle UK.

‘a rare, hidden gem’ – the Herald Sun

‘a superbly crafted album’ – PBS fm,

Porter Boys Social Club, where do we start? 

Reared on the highlands of south Monaghan with dubious politics and the odd ballad, the Marron brothers channelled their political radicalisation into haphazard noise they call music. 

Fearing they hit a wall, the brothers stumbled across the wizard of mid Louth, James Luckie. 

Now with the unstoppable folk configuration of two brothers and another fella they have been described by Hot Press as “if Woody Guthrie joined The Velvet Underground,” the band have denied these rumours claiming it sounds more like a mangled badger got into a scrap with James Luckie. 

If you like pints, pageantry and political indoctrination, you might just tolerate Porter Boys Social Club on their quest to make ballads loud, punk catchy and debauchery fashionable again.

The Gladstone Band is a trad and folk trio formed in 2024 in Dublin, and is made up of brothers Adam and Patrick Hutton, Tim Sheridan, and Jamie Kealy. Their stripped-back, high-energy sound harkens back to that of the early Dubliners, while their layered harmonies recall musicians such as Stan Rogers. They play a mix of traditional and folk standards, alongside their own original repertoire. 

Growing up in a household in which music was easy to come by, the Huttons naturally began playing music in their local pub scene. The bilingual Irish-English group originally played with guitar and concertina before adding fiddle player Tim Sheridan in early 2025 and drummer Jamie Kealy in December of 2025.

In less than two years since consolidating their line-up, the band has sold out their headline show at Whelan’s Upstairs venue in December 2025 and sold out a single release show at the Cobblestone in April 2025. The band has also done support slots at The Grand Social (Main Room) and at Workman’s. The group has played events such as Dublin Tradfest 2026, Banjo & Bovril Festival 2026,  Whelan’s (Trad and Folk Festival 2025), and Electric Picnic 2025 (Hazelwood Stage and Puball Gaeilge). The group was personally selected by the TG4 production team to record for their “Beo ó EP” TV show, featuring on episodes aired 31/08/25 and 04/01/2026. The group has also appeared on Irish language radio stations such as RTÉ Radio na Gaeltachta and Radio na Life. 

The group recently performed in London for St Patrick’s Day and is booked to play multiple festivals across Ireland this summer, such as Electric Picnic 2026, Éalú Le Grá, Féile Solas, Clonakilty Guitar Fest, and Skerries Tradfest. The group has also recorded an album with Jejune Recording Studios, which will be released in stages over the summer months. Finally, the band is organising a small tour of Ireland in the autumn, which will include venues in Clonakilty and Sandinos in Derry City.

Doc MacLean

Forty-five years ago Doc MacLean was playing Charlie Patton songs in Son House’s Rochester, New York living room. More recently he’s been self driving across Africa with a battered National guitar and a small PA, playing theatres, concert venues, and sometimes in places where things are burning by the sides of the road. In the north, it’s been steady touring of Ireland, the UK, Canada and the United States.

Doc started on the Flying Fish label out of Chicago. With his musical partner, Colin Linden (Dylan, The Band, T-Bone Burnett, Keb Mo’), he played, toured and recorded with Sam Chatmon’s Barbeque Boys, Blind John Davis, Little Brother Montgomery, Sunnyland Slim, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee…Opened shows for Muddy Waters, John Hammond, Jr., Johnny Winter…

Now a celebrated, solo storyteller-songwriter in the delta tradition, Doc performs as many as 200 shows annually across Canada, United States, Ireland, UK, and greater southern Africa. An excellent, real deal, festival, small theatre and small venue opportunity.

Drifting. Late nights. Neon. Put your bets on the Dark Horse: Be part of the tour. Songs and stories. Blues from the dark side of the road. Doc’s 4th Irish tour.

“The soundtrack to Sin City…” – Rolling Stone
“An emotional re-mapping of the delta blues…” – Blues Revue Magazine
“Real deal, dig this show…” – New Depression
“A consummate storyteller…” – People

Negro Impacto are the independent Irish duo who have been quietly setting the standard for alternative RnB and against-the-grain artistry in the Irish
music scene. With the mesmerising vocals and writing style of Chi-chi and the genre-bending production of multi-instrumentalist StrangeLove, their fast
trajectory and indie sound has been capturing people’s attention near and far. What started as a casual collaboration after meeting at a skatepark has
grown into one of Ireland’s most exciting contemporary music acts. The Dundalk natives draw inspiration from a diverse range of influences including the likes of Tyler, The Creator, The Internet, Frank Ocean, DJ Harrison, Steve Lacy and genres spanning gospel, rock, soul and beyond.

Their live performances showcase a collaborative synergy that extends well beyond Chi-chi and StrangeLove, in the shape of their live band. The quality
sound and highly entertaining show of Negro Impacto has allowed them to grace stages at the likes of Primavera Pro Barcelona and Other Voices, while supporting acts like Madness, Ojerime, and STRFKR.

Over the past 18 months, Negro Impacto have hit milestone after milestone – from a standout performance at the Mladi Jazz Festival in Prague to stages in London, Electric Picnic, and a special invite to perform for the President of Ireland at Áras an Uachtaráin. Their 2024 single FANGIRL earned them their first Spotify Fresh Finds UK & IE cover, followed by 1800, which made them cover stars of Spotify’s FREE FORM playlist and landed them a placement in the FX Network comedy series Adults (EP1) as well as the in-store H&M playlist. 2025 has seen the RTÉ 2FM Rising alumni level up again – with festival slots from Forbidden Fruit to All Together Now, We’ve Only Just Begun to Beyond the Pale and a rapidly expanding international presence. Their sophomore EP ‘TV Dreams’ (independent release) has racked up over 600k streams and counting. This project is a masterful exploration of genre, musicality and lyricism, opening the door for even more fans to step into their world.

Nightdress are an indie folk band with a strong undercurrent of rock, their sound a smooth combination of the grit of Radiohead and the raw vulnerability of Big Thief. The Cork four piece weave their own style, driven by emotion and storytelling.

Moonset are an indie rock band from Cork. Their sound draws influence from artists such as Wolf Alice, Paramore and Boygenius delivering energetic yet emotional music.

Whether he’s playing solo or with his band “Fraser Morgan and the Great Catastrophes”, Fraser keeps the crowd on their toes and captivated, delivering a performance that is often compared to the likes of Ren, Frank Turner and Jamie T.

Fraser recently played his 1000th show to a sold-out crowd at Colchester Arts Centre, and this experience shows when he’s putting on a beautifully chaotic, yet passionate and enjoyable performance. Throughout his live shows, Fraser keeps the crowd laughing between songs with his unpredictable, dad-like humour, whilst also delivering important messages of mental health within the songs themselves.

If you like leaving gigs with a heart full of life and a bamboozled smile strapped to your face, then a Fraser Morgan show is exactly where you need to be.

“Fraser is an example of an artist who has worked tirelessly to get his music out there. His live performances are really something- emphatic, full of
charisma, LOTS of energy and filled with love. Fraser’s music speaks from the heart and is incredibly relatable. Everyone needs a bit of Fraser Morgan in their life”  – BBC Introducing

“Fraser will leave you feeling positively bamboozled and fulfilled, with his rapturous live performances and incredibly feel good and joy-inducing records” – BBC Introducing