The Acoustic Forum CIGF24

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We are delighted to once again welcome the return of the Acoustic Forum to this the 20th edition of the Clonakilty International Guitar festival!
The Acoustic Forum, hosted by Scoil na mBuachailli in their custom built music auditorium,  is an eclectic event which sees a selection of artists from the festival playing in an intimate and informal concert in the round, with each artist staying onstage for the duration.
Guided by guest host George Lowden, 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!
This year’s event will include host  George Lowden & guests Preston Reed (US), Niamh Regan (IRL), Steve ón ‘ dings (IRL) & a mystery guest TBA
In keeping with The Acoustic Forum tradition a portion of the tickets for this event will be available at a reduced rate for the unwaged.
This will be operated on an honour system so please be sound!

PRESTON REED:

ÁINE TYRELL:

STEVE ÓN ‘DINGS:

NIAMH REGAN:

Jim White and Marisa Anderson

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<<This event is free as part of Culture Night however due to limited capacity you must register for a ticket in order to attend>>

Jim White and Marisa Anderson

Acclaimed Australian drummer Jim White, who is surfing the crest of critical praise, not only for his debut solo record All Hits: Memories but also the first Dirty Three studio record in 12 years, Love Changes Everything. Jim will be performing an improvised music set with acclaimed American guitarist Marisa Anderson which will be inspired by Swallowtail, their lauded latest release on Thrill Jockey records. Both artists have performed at CIGF in the past but this will mark their first collaborative performance together in Ireland.

 

Jim White and Marisa Anderson

Swallowtail – Thrill Jockey Records – May 10, 2024

The collaboration between renowned drummer Jim White and acclaimed guitarist Marisa Anderson is a natural union of two of the most intuitive players and listeners working in music. White and Anderson are each very in-demand as collaborators in no small part because of their mastery, versatility and highly expressive playing. The duo have each amassed an impressive body of work, and remain at the vanguard of their practices due to an insatiable curiosity and delight in exploration of new avenues of expression. Their 2020 debut
The Quickening exemplified that daring spirit as an exercise in trust: two musicians who had never performed together before committing those first moments in time to record. 2024’s Swallowtail is a deepening of that trust, White and Anderson completely immersed in the moment, each attuned to the other fluidly moving as wind and water.

Swallowtail was recorded in the Australian coastal town of Point Lonsdale, Victoria with engineer Nick Huggins (Resting Bell Studio). White was coming off a month of international touring and Anderson traveled to Australia for the duo’s first few performances, the remote setting and calm provided the ideal backdrop. “It was a big change of vibe and scenery,” says Anderson, “to be out of the city and on the coast with no distraction and to be working with an engineer (and avid surfer) who is attuned to the cycles of tides and sunrises and sunsets and ocean rhythms. I think all of that got into the music as we were making it.” The coastal cadence is evident in Swallowtail’s more gradual temporal shifts. Movements ebb and flow, in an undulating constant motion whose dynamic flourishes closely resembles their adaptive live performances. “When we play live we don’t stop, there are no breaks in between ‘songs’,” notes Anderson, “we segue naturally between movements and ideas. Sometimes we are together, and sometimes we are apart, sometimes the segues become the pieces.” The natural development of the duo’s own singular meter, this early in their collaboration, is nothing short of revelatory.

The duo avoids preconceived movements, instead focusing on their musical conversation. As Anderson puts it, “The ideas aren’t the music, they are the pathway into the musical possibilities.” Their trust in one another and skillful interplay create an effervescence throughout the album. There is an organic ebb and flow to the duo’s motions that brings a sense of serenity and ease to spontaneous transitions, each swell and retraction sounding as free as it does inevitable.

Swallowtail is a journey of steady change. White and Anderson’s preternatural alchemy as a duo allows each fleeting gesture to feel featherlight and stirring while maintaining an inquisitive spirit. Their music is an enchanting and illuminating celebration of process as joy. Swallowtail lives at the precipice of slowly unraveling revelation and the thrilling unknown, White and Anderson finding beauty in pursuit of uncovering the next moment and what possibilities lie ahead of them. The album evokes both the natural setting of its recording and the natural expanses around home. Reminiscent of the grace of its namesake’s movement through the garden’s flora, Swallowtail is a beautiful listen whose depth unfolds with the dance of this astute and untethered duo, guiding us nimbly through nature’s vistas and our dreams.













John Spillane Songwriting Workshop – Reverb

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JOHN SPILLANE SONGWRITING WORKSHOP

3:30pm // €15 // Clonakilty Community Resource Centre , 21 Western Road, Clonakilty. P85 RW35

Tickets on the door or contact info@clonguitarfest.com to reserve a spot

One of the most accomplished songwriters in the country today, award winning trad/folk poet John Spillane continues to redefine musical boundaries with his own unique style of playing and songwriting which he likes to call ’Sean Nós Blues’.

“At my workshop we write songs. We do not theorise or talk about songwriting but we work, and follow certain steps to make a song. We lock out criticism and negativity and create an atmosphere where people can make something grow.” – John Spillane

Zinester Ghost: Sister Ghost’s Zine Workshop – Reverb

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‘Zinester Ghost: Sister Ghost’s Zine Workshop” –
 Join the Sister Ghost gang for an afternoon of herstory, creativity and zine-making activism! Suitable for beginners to advanced zine-makers, this workshop will be fun & hands-on, touching on topics within intersectional feminism, women in music and activism. You’ll learn about zine culture and have the opportunity to create your own zine with the band.’
This workshop is for female & non binary participants.
Location: The Shack, 10 Astna St, P85 R580

Molly O’Mahony

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Molly O’Mahony has spent much of the last decade writing and performing with art-folk group Mongoose. She returned to her home place of west Cork in March of 2020, and against the backdrop of the unfolding pandemic, began work on her first solo collection of songs.

During lockdown, she bounced many ideas off her two musician siblings Matilda and Fiachra and collaborated on arranging a number of covers with them. This period of time and these collaborations greatly informed her own songs, which were recorded over the summer of 2021, and which her siblings played a crucial role in arranging and playing on.

Molly released two of these songs over the latter half of last year, Remember To Be Brave and Brother Blue.

Her debut album is scheduled for October 2022










Dog Tail Soup w/ special guest Mide Houlihan

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As CIGF 21 reached its conclusion, the bard of the Lee, John Spillane sent a rapt audience out of Spillers Lane into in the dusk with his songs still ringing around the streets. It was an event so enchanting that we are returning to Spillers Lane at the height of summer with acclaimed and eclectic collective Dog Tail Soup.

This is going to be one of the most memorable events of the year as we enjoy one of west Cork’s best musical projects in the historic and atmospheric courtyard at the centre of our town.

Dogtail Soup is an eclectic and flavourful musical stew made by carefully simmering Camilla Griehsel (Swedish World Music diva) with Maurice Seezer (Twice Golden Globe nominated Film Music composer), adding a pinch of Paul Tiernan (International troubadour, pillar of West Cork’s favourite band, Interference), a sprinkling of Anthony Noonan (drummer for Roy Harper with extra dulcet tones), a cupful of John Fitzgerald (bass and all known instruments… last seen touring with Gilbert O’Sullivan) and an occasional splash of James O’Leary (founding member of Interference on electric guitar).

 

Marisa Anderson

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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.







 




Kris Drever

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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.




 







TEKE::TEKE

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TEKE::TEKE is a Montreal-based Japanese psych-rock group composed of guitarists Serge Nakauchi Pelletier and Hidetaka Yoneyama, bass player Mishka Stein, drummer Ian Lettre, flutist Yuki Isami, trombone player Etienne Lebel, and visual artist and vocalist Maya Kuroki.

Featuring traditional Japanese instruments, flute and trombone alongside raging guitars and a pulsing rhythm section, TEKE::TEKE creates a sound reminiscent of 1960’s and 70’s era psychedelic Japanese soundtracks, with a frenetic, modern twist.




 




Susan O’Neill

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THIS SHOW IS SOLD OUT

A critically acclaimed performer, as well as a member of King Kong Company, SON – aka Susan O’Neill –  is one of Ireland’s brightest emerging talents. The basis of her first album ‘Found Myself Lost’ saw SON find her voice amongst her peers, introducing her unique and otherworldly style.

The album was one of Hot Press magazine’s ‘Albums of the Year’ and garnered her a number of opportunities, including joining Sharon Shannon on her sold out tour of Australia and New Zealand.

The enigmatic singer-songwriter honed her musical skills as one of the youngest members of the Ennis Brass Band and gained her first gospel influences with the ‘Really Truly Joyful Gospel Choir.’ SON has recently been collaborating with multi-platinum, award winning artist, Mick Flannery, whom she recently released a duet, “Baby Talk,” to rave reviews. In promotion of the song,

SON and Flannery have made several late night talk-show appearances as well as having announced joint tour dates. Her solo career as SON has begun to pique critical and industry interest. Eclectically fusing traditional Irish folk with rock, soul, gospel and blues, her live performances are quite simply electrifying. Her husky vocals combined with her superb guitar technique, loop pedals and trumpet, have wowed audiences everywhere from Stradbally to Sydney, Glasgow to Glastonbury, Manhattan to Milwaukee, and many places beyond.