LATEST NEWS

Les SalAmandas, Julie O’Sullivan (Ireland) and Colyne Laverriere (France) is a new singing-songwriting act in the Irish music scene.

Sister Ghost, (winner of Best Live Act at the 2019 NI Music Awards) is the project of Derry-based artist Shannon Delores O’Neill.

Sister Ghost has garnered support slots with internationally acclaimed artists such as We Are Scientists, Shellac, Petrol Girls, Fontaines DC, Pussy Riot, Ratboys and Le Butcherettes as well as airplay on KEXP Seattle, BBC Radio 1, RTE 2FM, Today FM and BBC 6 Music. Sister Ghost has also been featured in high level press such as The Guardian and Hot Press.

As of 2020, O’Neill has teamed up with Gary Lightbody’s Artist Development & Label ‘Third Bar’ to create the debut Sister Ghost album. Set for release in 2023 the album was recorded in Los Angeles, California (July/August 2022) with the world class producer Brad Wood (Smashing Pumpkins, Liz Phair, Veruca Salt and more).

Shannon is also known for mentoring and encouraging other female and gender non-conforming musicians to perform in the Northern Irish scene, having set up the Girls Rock! NI chapter in 2016.

As well as a live performance Sister Ghost will also host ‘ZINESTER GHOST: SISTER GHOST’S ZINE WORKSHOP’

Press Quotes:

“Absolutely massive!” Jack Saunders, BBC Radio 1 

“Big guitar hooks! I’m obsessed!” Gemma Bradley, BBC Radio 1

“Feels authentic from the era of Pixies, Breeders and Hole; brilliant music, beautifully made” Tom Robinson, BBC 6 Music

“One of the most gifted songwriters to come out of the North in a long, long time.” Stephen McCauley, BBC Radio Ulster

John Spillane is a musician, songwriter, performer, recording artist, storyteller, poet and dreamer. Rooted in people, place and story, his music transports the listener and his live performances captivate audiences around the world.

After his acclaimed release of 100 Snow White Horses in 2021, in October 2022, John will release ‘In Another Light’ a career spanning album recorded live at the Right Here Right Now Festival recorded at Cork Opera House in November 2021.

Marisa Anderson channels the history of the guitar and stretches the boundaries of tradition. Her deeply original work applies elements of minimalism, electronic music, drone and 20th century classical music to compositions based on blues, jazz, gospel and country music, re-imagining the landscape of American music.

The New Yorker calls Anderson ‘one of the most distinctive guitar players of her generation’, while NPR refers to her as among ‘this era’s most powerful players’ . Her work has been featured in Billboard, Rolling Stone, NPR, SPIN, Pitchfork, the BBC and The Wire. Festival appearances include Big Ears, Pitchfork Midwinter, Le Guess Who and the Copenhagen Jazz Festival.

Anderson’s discography includes five solo records and multiple collaborations. Her latest release, Lost Futures (2021), is a collaboration with guitarist William Tyler. In 2020 Anderson released The Quickening with drummer Jim White (Dirty Three, Xylouris White). Anderson is sought after as a collaborator and composer, contributing to recordings by Matmos, Tara Jane O’Neil, Beth Ditto, Sharon Van Etten and Circuit Des Yeux among others, as well as creating music for short films and soundtracks.

Classically trained, she honed her skills playing in country, jazz and circus bands. and currently tours extensively throughout Europe and North America.

Cherished and admired in equal measure by listeners and fellow musicians, award-winning guitarist, singer, songwriter and prolific collaborator Kris Drever has been a leading light on the UK roots scene for well over a decade.

A highly skilled guitarist who adroitly blends traditional folk and flat picking with more contemporary influences – allied to a distinctively relaxed and poised vocal burr – Drever is an astonishingly fine interpreter of others’ songs, with an increasingly frequent knack for concocting seriously smart lyrical observations and earworm melodies of his own.

Drever has played and recorded with an extensive range of artists including Mark Knopfler, Jack Bruce, Danny Thompson, Eddi Reader, Bela Fleck, Tim O’Brien, Jerry Douglas, Sarah Jarosz, Joan As Police Woman, Tinariwen, Karine Polwart and Julie Fowlis.

The Acoustic Forum is an eclectic event unlike anything else you’ve ever seen which sees five of our artists play in an intimate and informal concert in the round, with each artist staying onstage for the duration.

Guided by the guest host, each performer gives an insight into their craft and performs a short selection to whet the appetite for the weekend ahead.

It’s off the cuff, it’s friendly and it provides the listener with a varied and spontaneous night that never fails to surprise.

ADT writes stories of the heart wrapped in atmospheric soundscapes, and he describes his debut album ‘volume one’ as ‘a painting of emotional honesty.’

Produced by multi-instrumentalist, Justin Grounds, the album was recorded in a little room overlooking the beautiful town of Clonakilty, West Cork, and will be released at this year’s Clonakilty International Guitar Festival.

Hugely influenced by the Atlantic Ocean, the West Cork landscape and his family, ADT admits to a minor obsession with lighthouses. He is also a member of renowned Irish band LOWmountain.

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.

Featuring: Gav O’Mhordha, Fear Beag, Armoured Bear, Justin Grounds

Get back in the habit with West Cork’s own The Monks.

The Monks are Ronan Archbold, Jack Archbold, Ciaran Calnan, Kevin Sheehy & Timmie O’Brien.

This prerecorded gig, from a mystery location, will be broadcast as part of Guitartown cinema. See our timetable for full details.

VIRTUAL PREMIERE – Broadcast as part of GUITARTOWN CINEMA Programme 1

Monsters of Rock are Jeff Ward, Les Sampson and Jerome Rimson.

Since 1979 Jeff Ward has either played with, recorded or produced: White Lightning, Iron Pig, Mourneblade, Noel Redding, Paul King, Colin Earl (Mungo Jerry), Vijay Jagtap, Eric Bell (Thin Lizzy), John Coughlan (Status Quo), David Jackson (Van Der Graf Generator), Roy Harper, Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull), Corky Laing (Mountain), Eric Schenkeman (The Spin Doctors).

Ward will be join blues legend Jerome Rimson and powerhouse drummer Les Sampson (Noel Redding Band) to tear up the stage as the Monsters of Rock.

“Jeff Ward is better than good, He’s Tasty!” – Noel Redding (the Jimi Hendrix Experience).