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Powpig released their debut EP ‘Denture Adventure’ in late 2017.

Honest songs for honest people. This is the mission statement of Anna’s Anchor, the brainchild of Limerick born musician Marty Ryan, which was created during the summer of 2014. What began as a solo, indie/emo project taking influences from the likes of American Football, Rites of Spring & Fugazi, has since blossomed into a full band affair that has played over 200 shows across 11 countries with a slew of releases including 2016’s debut album Nautical Miles which was released on Struggletown Records.
Anna’s Anchor’s strong DIY ethic and efforts to push the boundaries of creativity was first put on full display in the national eye with the 2015 release entitled “The Islands”. Anna’s Anchor embarked on an eight week journey visiting eight different islands, performing eight memorable gigs, and writing eight unique songs. This was the challenge that brought Marty to some of the remote and harshest environments of Ireland on a song writing adventure like no other. Combining the adventure of touring off the beaten track with writing, recording and releasing a song about the experience each week, this project gained national acclaim in Ireland.

In September 2016, Anna’s Anchor released its debut LP on Struggletown Records (UK) and Never Meant Records (Ire) to critical acclaim. The 10 highly charged songs bearing immense emotional weight have given Anna’s Anchor the chance to tour the album across Ireland, the U.K,mainland Europe & America. As for 2018, with a new album on the way, the road beckons for Marty and his crew as they travel by land, air and sea to ensure everyone hears this fabulous record.

“There’s something inherently beautiful about the work ethic of Anna’s Anchor.” – Already Heard.com
“There’s something very special about ‘Nautical Miles’. The songs come to life at each turn, and the labour of love that Ryan has poured into Anna’s Anchor shines through.” Punktastic.com

In 2008, the core trio that make up Woven Skull began gathering together in the home of two of the members, set deep in the bogs and forests of County Leitrim: an empty, sparse area in the northwest of Ireland known for its myths of banshees and tales of lake monsters. Several years experimenting with combinations of instrumentation, kitchen utensils, seashells, footsteps, chimes, recordings of cats purring and frogs mating led to their current sound which combines densely propulsive guitar, distorted mandola and endless cyclical rhythms. Woven Skull strip and scrape what they can out of minimal instrumentation to teeter on the brink of total sonic meltdown creating engulfing, raw primal drones and damaged rock manoeuvres; the result of which has often been described as the traditional music of a self-imagined land. This sound draws on the influences of the combined backgrounds of the trio with Aonghus (guitar) and Willie (percussion) born and bred in Dublin and Natalia (mandola) born in Ukraine and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. Beaten through strings and blasted through amplifiers in a live setting, the group (whose members can swell from 3 to 4 or 6 or 10) meld repetitions that spiral through each other to create multiple layers of beautiful but harsh entrapments.

Along the way Woven skull have collaborated with such artists as Daniel Higgs, Mike Gangloff, Neil Campbell, Core of the Coalman and Paul leBrecque among others. Many of these collaborations have been documented on limited cassette and cdr releases.
They have also played on line ups alongside Richard Dawson, Six Organs of Admittance, Eternal Tapestry, Circuit Des Yeux and Liturgy to name but a few.
The band tour extensively, embarking on at least two tours of the UK, Ireland and main-land Europe annually alongside a number one-off festival dates.

PRESS
“Woven Skull’s edge comes from their ability to rock without rocking, squeezing unexpected sounds from their relatively minimal setup (they don’t appear to do much when it comes to effects pedals). Woven Skull always manage to feel their way into some dead trippy corners”-The Quietus

“the trio skitter confidently in a roving trance across loose ragas, spliced field recordings and a range of exotic wind and percussion, creating an atmosphere that nicely cushions sections of more intensive kosmiche meditation”-Decoder magazine

“the band recall the ramshackle anthems of Exuma and the spirited improv of Six Organs Of Admittance, suggesting that without furious discipline they can make very beautiful sounds. It’s within them to make pretty music, but for the most part Lair Of The Glowing Bantling sounds like it’s shaking itself from nightmare to existence.”-Norman Records

“Maybe it’s because Woven Skull have recorded stuff in dark haunted woods and the attics of abandoned houses that has lent them such an otherworldly air. Or maybe it’s because they’ve spent years experimenting with recordings of cats purring and frogs mating that have given them their edge, but whatever it is they’ve piqued interest far beyond Ireland. Using mandolins, guitars and drums, their latest album is a trip in every sense of the world, taking listeners on a wild ride into some polyrhythmic pastures”
-The Crack magazine

“ it’s so beautiful it makes my withered old heart soar. I love these people and I love their music and the world is just immeasurably better for having Woven Skull in it.”
-Narc magazine

“Ireland’s Woven Skull are another level of magnificent blasted noise altogether, through distorted guitar, stripped-down drum kit, mandola and viola lock into a discordant mantra with an eastern edge, building and building and building some more, until you’re swept up in something truly transcendental………It’s absolutely fucking incredible, folk music at it’s most irregular, from the demonic mandola solo that flashed in and out of a wall of feedback, to the best drum solo ever played on just a floor tom and a cymbal.”
-Nightshift magazine

The Céilí Allstars are an exciting four piece traditional Irish music band.
They formed from a group of friends playing the session trail in Cork city in the late nineties. Their musical style includes shades of Sliabh Luachra – where they originate from – combined with generous sprinklings of folk and country.

They’ve played residencies in Cork’s legendary folk venues the Lobby Bar, Cork and DeBarra’s in Clonakilty. They’re also at home on bigger stages playing at festivals in Ireland, Holland, Italy, Russia and Australia.

Míde Houlihan is a Clonakilty bred singer songwriter, who has captured the hearts of many an Irish audience over the last number of years. With some high profile support slots including the likes of FRED and Canadian folk singer Doug Paisley, as well as international cult star, Jenn Grant, Míde has made a name for herself as one of Irelands brightest prospects.

Míde’s brand new EP, ‘Shifting Gears’, has just been released on Cork City record label, Unemployable Records, The EP, recorded by Christian Best (Mick Flannery), and features some great musicians such as Alan Comerford (O Emperor), Dylan Howe (Rowan,Clare Sands), and moreHer debut Album ‘Coloured In’ was released in 2015, with the lead single, ‘Nuts and Bolts’ winning the IMRO Christie Hennessy Songwriting Award. The Album went on the receive an incredibly warm reception In the media as well as the general public, with most critics citing Míde’s honest, sometimes humorous, sometimes heart wrenching songwriting as a diamond in what can sometimes be a crowded scene..

Fundraiser for the improvement of the Clonakilty playground

Formed in 2012 and performing sporadically along the Munster coastline Fir Beag are a West Cork collective of musicians that emerge every once in a while from the ocean, salt crusted & sea weed draped. Their sound is musical, evocative and uplifting, combining multiple harmonies, lyrical hooks and flights of instrumental whimsy.
Flirting with elements of folk, trad, raggae, rock and punk their experimental sound is propped up with the use of ambient noises in soulful, catchy, and sometimes raging melodies. Fiddles, drums, guitars and vocals naturally weave together to create a captivating experience.

The Brothers Clague,
a Festival institution

Sam and Les are a father and son guitar duo from Clonakilty.  Les, originally from Liverpool, is an accomplished ragtime fingerpicking style guitarist and composer.  While crafting this artform gigging and busking in Europe and living in Antwerp, he later moved to Clonakilty to settle down and started to study Flamenco.

When Sam was 11, he started to steal his fathers chops and started shredding his first electric guitar busking on the streets with his Dad in Cork and on family camping trips in France.  His Jimmy Page obsession soon turned to Django Reinhardt and thus the Clague Brothers started to craft their own sound.

Raised as a one-parent one-child family in rural Flanders in the north of France, Lauren Guillery grew up to be an independent young person whose father’s appreciation for rockabilly and surf rock helped shape her love for music. A self-taught musician, Lauren immersed herself listening to American bands Sonic Youth, Mudhoney and Nirvana as a teenager – a music soundtrack that would become the basis for her songwriting in later years.

Armed with a red guitar and an unstoppable attitude, she relocated to the emerald isle during the Celtic Tiger years and powered her way through the open-mic circuit and onto the stages of some of Ireland’s most prestigious clubs. Her performances are full of confidence as she delivers her songs with an ‘I dare you’ stare as she hammers away at her guitar. Whether playing with band or solo, Guillery commands attention. Her voice is instantly arresting, a blend of Tori Amos and Kate Bush but with a built-in rock snarl that demands you stop and listen. Her debut four track EP aptly entitled ‘Listen’ was released in 2006 and delivers insidious melodies, building rock crescendos and raw passion.

She was awarded ‘Best International’ at the inaugural Balcony TV awards and has toured with her rhythm section The Claws opening for acts such as Norwegian post-punk outfit Ungdomskulen and Irish post rockers God Is An Astronaut. Over the years, she has performed at various Irish music festivals including the Electric Picnic, Castlepalooza and Knockanstockan.

Her forthcoming album was recorded at Experimental Audio in Dublin with producers Stephen Shannon and Peter Sisk and is due for release in the spring of 2018. For her performance at the Clonakilty International Guitar Festival, Lauren has teamed up with drummer Brian O’Higgins to bring forth a collection of thumping songs that speak about lust, love and loss, with a tinge of sparkly magic and plenty of distorted bluesy guitars. You’ve been warned!

‘Deliciously grungy’ – LECOOL

‘Very fresh and exciting’ – HOTPRESS

‘Absolutely excellent’ – GOLDENPLEC

MICKEY MURPHY is a contemporary fingerstyle guitarist and composer from County Down, N. Ireland. Following on from the success of his first solo instrumental album ‘Turais’ (2011) he has recently released his much anticipated second CD ‘Heartstrings’, which was produced by the legendary Tom Newman (‘Tubular Bells’).

A keen performer, Mickey regularly plays at clubs and festivals in his native Ireland and has also played in England, Scotland, France, Austria, Italy, Germany and Morocco.

Mickey is also a well respected teacher and has taught many hundreds of guitarists over the years in various schools and workshops and teaches at the prestigious Thomas Leeb Acoustic Guitar Bootcamp every July in Austria which attracts students from all

over of world.

‘A very modest fellow and a very welcome guest on guitar festivals across Europe’ Akustik Gitarre (Berlin)

‘If you enjoy guitar music, then you will fall in love with “Turais” by Mickey Murphy. Throughout this enchanting CD you can hear the master guitarist that Mickey is!’

The Celtic Crier

‘an absolutely fantastic album’

Stuart Ryan (Guitar Techniques magazine)

‘some beautiful jazz phrasing mixed with contemporary folk sounds’

Acoustic Review