Mongoose is a musical melty-pot combining the vocals, instrument-playing and songwriting of four women – Molly O’Mahony, Ailbhe Dunne, Muireann Ní Cheannabháin and Cara Dunne. Their latest single ‘Old Friend’ was released in July, ahead of their much-anticipated EP ‘Four’, due for release in Autumn 2017. They are currently Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown Musicians in Residence for 2017.
All four members are songwriters, which allows for rich and dynamic soundscapes. From harmony-lead delicate folk to hard-edged indie pop, their music has been constantly evolving since the release of their debut album in 2015. Celebrated for their live performances in particular, they have made memorable appearances at numerous festivals around Ireland and abroad, including Other Voices, Body & Soul, Longitude and Electric Picnic. Mongoose recently supported Glen Hansard at his sold out Vicar Street gig and performed two of their tracks from ‘Four’ with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra as part of Culture Night 2017.
“A vocal powerhouse with a line in charming yet incisive idiosyncrasy, Mongoose are an act unafraid of being true to their boundless, abstract and vibrantly coloured creative selves. A must for lovers of musical ingenuity and adventurous atmospherics.”- DervSwerve music blog, 2017.
“[Mongoose] have graced us with more stunning vocal arrangements and a catchy refrain” – Hot Press (‘Old Friend’ – single July 2017)
Stephen James Smith is a Dublin poet and playwright central to the rise of the vibrant spoken word scene in Ireland today. To date, his poetry videos have amassed over 1 million views online. Stephen is a co-founder of LINGO Festival (inaugural festival in 2014), Ireland’s only spoken word festival, and poetry curator of the annual First Fortnight Festival. He co-produced Dublin: A Year in Words poetry video series for Dublin UNESCO City of Literature.
In 2017 Smith was commissioned by St. Patrick’s Festival to write a new poem as a “celebratory narrative” of Ireland. The resultant piece ‘My Ireland’ is accompanied by a short film by Director Myles O’Reilly, arranged and mixed by Conor O’Brien (Villagers & Ivor Novello Award Winner ), with music by Colm Mac Con Iomaire, Loah, Saint Sister, Eithne Ní Chatháin (aka Inni-K) and Ye Vagabonds. It has been viewed over 300,000 times online and was screened at London Film Festival in Trafalgar Square on March 17th. The poem was in many ways a follow on from Smith’s previous poetry video Dublin You Are, which itself has clocked up in excess of 250k views.
Stephen has performed at high profile events and festivals such as the Electric Picnic, Other Voices, the National Concert Hall, the Abbey Theatre (Noble Call) and Vicar Street (alongside luminaries such Oscar winner Glen Hansard, Shane McGowan, Roddy Doyle and Joseph O’Connor, Shane Koyzan); and further afield at the London Palladium, the Oscar Wilde Awards in LA, Glastonbury, George Town Literary Festival (ML) and other events in New York, Chicago, Iowa, Montreal, Ottawa, Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Utrecht, Ljubljana and Warsaw. In 2012 he was invited to perform for the Irish Olympic team in London.
Arise and Go!, Smith’s debut album with musician Enda Reilly, was selected by Hot Press as one of the best albums of 2011 and he also is a member of Dublin music collective The Lazy Band, who released their debut album In My Garden last year. His ABSOLUTE Dublin Fringe play Three Men Talking About Things They Kinda Know About (2011), co-written with Colm Keegan and Kalle Ryan, was shortlisted for the Bewley’s Little Gem Award. And in 2010 he won the Cúirt International Literary Festival Poetry Grand Slam.
Stephen’s poetry videos have been screened at film festivals at home and around the world, and he has featured in programmes and documentaries for television such as RTÉ’s IFTA Award Winning documentary WB Yeats: No Country for Old Men; The Works (RTÉ); News Today (RTÉ); The Six O’Clock Show (TV3); Nationwide (RTÉ) and Like A Virgin (RTÉ). He is currently working on two video’s commissioned by Listowel Writer’s Week, with Myles O’Reilly, Donal Dineen and Conor O’Brien.
Stephen has been conducting poetry workshops in secondary schools around Ireland for a number of years and was recently announced as an Artist in Residence with Dunamaise Arts Centre and Laois Arts Office, where he will develop the first ever Laois Spoken Word Project for young people in the county. His poetry is included on the syllabus at Western Connecticut State University and his work has been translated into Irish, Spanish, Slovenian, Polish, Dutch and Italian.
Stephen James Smith’s debut collection, Fear Not, is published by Arlen House with a launch due in Spring 2018.
Molière is provocative, caustic, saucy, disturbing, clever and moving, all that at once. He sets up and dismantled archetypes. He knocks and caresses. He speaks of love, business and politics whilst drinking glasses of white wine. On this era where we use the stage name of Jean -Baptiste Poquelin to pass discriminating guidelines, it seemed to this international troupe, that speaks ten languages daily, that it was probably important to revisit good old Molière and remind the world that he was above all a buffoon, a king’s jester and therefore an artist devoted to the unveiling of liars and hypocrites.
The Forced marriage
Comedy-ballet or comedy-masquerade created in 1664 and played at the Palace of the Queen Mother with apparitions of the king and many courtiers: played with “The Étourdi ” text of Molière. Music and libretto by Lully.
In 1667 Molière writes a play in one act without music. In 1672, the comedy-ballet was rehearsed and performed for the royal festival with “La Comtesse d’Escarbagnas” – text by Molière, a new music and libretto by Charpentier.
Footsbarn decided to reintroduce the idea of intermezzos inspired by the music of Lully and Charpentier by taking up some texts of the time on the themes of the play: an old man who marries a young girl, the fear of being cuckold, the dangers that await us: jealousy, suspicions, sorrows
The appearance of our “demons” follows a general theme: putting oneself in an impossible situation with no escape.
Footsbarn has added scenes from “La Jalousie du Barbouillé”: time has passed, they are married, the couple can’t function, the arguments are incessant and the fear of being cuckold has only increased. The environment is the same: the father, the friend, a philosopher, the brother, the lover. Dorimène becomes Angelique and the Barbouillé is Sganarelle. “Always dissatisfied, always cuckold, the most unfortunate of men.”
Life goes on. He returns and is reminded of his fears, his doubts, and if Sganarelle foreshadows the character of George Dandin, the end is not the same: Dandin is tragic, here everything continues in spite of all like an endless ballet. Life goes on and nothing changes. Everything turns to the absurd – “oh, the beautiful symphony.”
Artistic list
Sganarelle future husband of Dorimène: Paddy HAYTER Geronimo friend of Sganarelle; a Philosopher: Vincent GRACIEUX Dorimène, a coquettish young girl, promised to Sganarelle; a Gypsy: June MCGRANE Alcantor father of Dorimène: Haris Haka RESIC Alcidas brother of Dorimene; Lycaste lover of Dorimene; a Gypsy: Tony WADHAM Pancrace Aristotelian doctor; a Gypsy: Henri ALEXANDRE
Technical list
Scenography, creation of masks, puppets: Fredericka HAYTER Costume design: Hanna SJODIN Music Creation: Haris Haka RESIC Creation of lights: Jean GRISON Director: Thierry MESLIN Technicians: Léo LAFORET, Jules HARRAP
From Clonakilty in West Cork comes a guitar and mandolin wielding alt-folk/country artist, with the maturity to know that there is strength in vulnerability and power in gentleness.
Paula’s music holds her truth.
Her debut album, Evangeline, is an alt country folky gem whose songs have, in general, a narrative structure but whose lyrics paint pictures to match any of the great musical storytellers you care to mention. But it’s Paula’s voice that stands out, full of emotion and ready to tell the truth.
Paula was chosen by IMRO to play at Templebar Tradfest 2017and was chosen by Luka Bloom to sing backing vocals for his album Frugalisto. She has played support for Hothouse Flowers, Nick Harper, Jack L and Mama Kin. She is involved in the Starling Song Project and has contributed to podcasts on the importance of arts in healthcare.She is a founding member and bassist of an all girl group called The Kates who play songs written or performed by women, to showcase the female talent who pushed the boundaries of a historically male driven industry.
Currently, Paula is recording new songs with the well known multi instrumentalist and sound engineer, John Fitzgerald in Lettercollum Recording studio, Timoleague. These songs are due to be released in September and she is privileged to launch her EP Caroline the weekend of the incredible Clonakilty International Guitar Festival ’19 . Caroline is a collection of songs that hold huge meaning to Paula as they deal with the process of grieving after the loss of her Mother and which also celebrates the legacy of love she left behind.
Paula isa nursein Clonakilty Community Hospital and you can also find her jamming with Irelands finest musicians in the legendary Shanley’s Bar and DeBarra’s Folk Club, Clonakilty.
For the launch of her EP, Paula has gathered a group of talented musicians to help her introduce Caroline to the world. Join them and be witness to the birth of something very special indeed.
Strong Feelings is the follow up to Paisley’s critically acclaimed 2010 sophomore album Constant Companion, which received full marks in Rolling Stone and MOJO. Constant Companion garnered high praise from many more, including CBC Q, The New Yorker, SPIN, Exclaim!, and Pitchfork, who called the album, “…effortless and insightful, full of songs that draw you in with their peaceful, easy surface and then dump a big load of hurt on you.”
For Strong Feelings, legendary multi-instrumentalist Garth Hudson (The Band) who also appeared on Constant Companion adds his signature keys to the new album. Other guests include Bahamas (aka Afie Jurvanen), bass sax player Colin Stetson (Arcade Fire, Bon Iver), Bazil Donovan (Blue Rodeo), Emmett Kelly (The Cairo Gang) and vocalist Mary Margaret O’Hara. Strong Feelings was produced by Stew Crookes and recorded at Noble Street Studio in Toronto and at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa with Hudson playing a Steinway piano that famously belonged to composer Glenn Gould.
Paisley’s music originates from a foundation of country and folk, but his style has gone far beyond the confines of either genre. The songs on Strong Feelings feature broader instrumentation than his previous work, but the fuller arrangements do not overshadow the depth of the songwriting.
Although the only singer/musician in his immediate family, Daoirí (pronounced ‘Derry’) was introduced to the music at a very early age by his parents who shared a keen interest in artists such as Christy Moore, Andy Irvine, Frank Harte, Planxty and The Bothy Band and more. Daoirí took up music himself at the relatively late age of 16 and only started to perform at 23, but he has come a long way since then and the early release of his accomplished debut album ‘The First Turn’, which he recorded in 2009 while studying music on the Ceoiltoir Higher National Diploma in Irish Traditional Music Performance course, in Ballyfermot College of Further Education (BCFE), Dublin.
‘The First Turn, could well prove to be a winner for Daoirí Farrell’ Irish Music Magazine
Following the release of ‘The First Turn’, Daoirí took an extended break from recording to pursue a degree in Applied Music at Dundalk’s Institute of Technology, followed by an MA in Music Performance at the World Academy of Music in the University of Limerick.
Since Daoirí’s return to the stage, he has regularly performed in the many singing circles and folk clubs around Ireland, from Dublin’s famous Góilin singers club to the All-Ireland Fleadh to name but a few. He has performed alongside some of the biggest names in Irish and international folk music including Christy Moore, Dónal Lunny, Martin Hayes, Dennis Cahill, Alan Doherty, Danú, Dervish, Julie Fowlis, The Young’uns, Paddy Keenan Trio, Matt Molloy, Arty McGlynn, The John Carty Big Band, The East Pointers, Kíla, Sean Keane, Gerry O’Connor (Banjo), Gerry O’Connor (Fiddle), Alan Burke, Lynched and more.
He became the All Ireland Champion Singer at the Fleadh in Co. Derry in 2013 and won the Danny Kyle Award at Celtic Connections in 2015 with the line-up FourWinds.
He has continued to gain in stature among the Irish folk-singing circuit, and has toured in numerous line-ups throughout Ireland and beyond, including dates in France, Germany, America, Canada and India, with his UK launch as a solo artist taking place at Glasgow’s Celtic Connections festival in January 2016.
Daoirí is currently working on his second solo album, due out in autumn 2016, and will tour the UK in May 2016 – including support dates for Cara Dillon and Sam Carter – and November 2016, with festival dates confirmed for this year including Moseley Folk Festival, Broadstairs Folk Week, Costa Del Folk and FolkEast.
DAVID WILL BE SPECIAL GUEST TO GLEN HANSARD UNDER THE BIG TOP AT THE SHOWGROUNDS CLONAKILTY ON TUESDAY 18TH OF SEPTEMBER
David Keenan is a twenty four year old Irish songwriter whose words seem to walk a fine line between poetry and prose with a voice that grabs you by the scruff and takes you by the hand into his world of imagination.
Inspired by escapism and lyrical greats such as Yeats, Kavanagh, Dylan and Cohen he embodied the role of a down and outs young apprentice and scoured the streets of Liverpool and London for experience before taking his notes and embryonic ideas back home to dissect. In Keenan the Irish storytelling tradition is alive and well and his live performances are both spiritual and intense in equal measure. 2017 saw David release his first single Cobwebs through Barrack Street Records with a video directed by Myles O’Reilly.
Cobwebs “This stopped me dead in my tracks”** Hozier**
David Keenan is one of our best he is extraordinary, it’s our duty to support fine talent when we hear it, see it, experience it ” Glen Hansard
“David has it all,voice,guitar playing,lyrics,he’s a master of all three.Instead of Patrick Kavanagh and Luke Kelly what springs to mind and life for me is Van the Man and Kavanagh with a luscious lilt,growing like a wildflower,sublime” Damien Dempsey
“The first time I heard David Keenan I knew he had something special….a lyricism and musical wisdom that most artists can only dream of. David not only dreams of it, he does t for real. A gifted Singer-Songwriter who has pulled me right in, right where I want to be. It’s a beautiful place”-Fiachna Ó Braonáin Hothouse Flowers
Not just another young lad with an acoustic guitar, Keenan is the sound of Tim Buckley and Brendan Behan arguing over a few jars, while Kavanagh deals Dylan a suspicious hand of cards, and Anthony Cronin and Jack Kerouac furiously try to scribble it all down.Pat Carty Hotpress Magazine
“The 24 year old with the brooding aura, intense gaze and floppy haircut is difficult to figure out but it’s indisputable that he is a excellent songwriter, mature beyond his years with a natural talent for that storytelling tradition” The Sunday Times
INTERFERENCE WILL PERFORM A VERY SPECIAL SHOW WITH GLEN HANSARD UNDER THE BIG TOP IN THE SHOW GROUNDS IN CLONAKILTY ON WED 19TH OF SEPTEMBER – TICKETS HERE!
Interference are a group centred around singer-songwriter, poet and painter, Fergus O’Farrell. Citizen of the world, & former resident in God’s own country, West Cork, Ferg has since left this mortal coil but his memories, music & friendships live on….
Interference on the night will include Paul Tiernan on acoustic guitar and vocals, Maurice Seezer on accordion and piano, James O’Leary on electric guitar, Anto on guitar, drums and percussion and John Fitzgerald on bass and piano & some very special guests including Glen Hansard and more to be announced….
About
Interference is the cult Irish band based around singer-songwriter Fergus O’Farrel. Their sound has influenced a generation of Irish musicians (including Frames/Swell Season front man Glen Hansard), and are featured in the hit movie musical Once
Biography
One of the charms of the hit Irish movie ONCE was the way it, without fuss, put the songs on centre-stage, allowing them to breathe and fill the space in front of the camera lens. The film is very much about the role music plays in peoples’ lives; how it inhabits the space in and around different people, pushing and pulling them into contact – bridging the gap.
Amidst the brilliant performances by the main characters, played by the Swell Season duo of Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, there’s a spine-tingling moment, set at a low-key party, when a group of musicians centred around an unassuming man with an extra-ordinary voice play a song called Gold. The song swoops and sways, its poetry merging effortlessly with the sound, creating a glittering, warm gift. It’s a moment when the musicians merge into the music; to paraphrase Yeats, ‘how can we know the dancer from the dance?’.
Jump back to Dublin in the late ’80s and early ’90s and you’ll realise why it’s so fitting that there’s an interference song in the heart of this musical. Initially formed in school, by O’Farrell and guitarist James O’Leary, Interference grew and took shape in a Dublin where most bands and record labels were trying to imitate the sound and success of U2. Interference were different and intriguing.
For starters there was the fact that they lived in an old shoe factory! A big space, where jam sessions developed naturally, with a core band being joined by various other local musicians. Their mxing of styles and sounds puzzled record companies, but built them up a steady following on the local live circuit, and amongst the audience at any gig were serious musicians in their own right – members of The Frames, The Mary Janes, Hothouse Flowers amongst others.
With a growing fanbase and support from the likes of DJ Dave Fanning – Ireland’s answer to John Peel, who remarked of the Interference that they were the only Irish band he couldn’t pigeonhole – things looked promising for the band, but for one reason or another no major label record company was interested in the band. While he’s keen to downplay it, the fact that band frontman Fergus was in a wheelchair due to the effects of muscular dystrophy can’t have helped (he was told, off the record, that record companies can market blindness, but not wheelchairs).
This left the band with little alternative but to go ahead and record their debut album on their own – setting up their own recording studio. Something that is now commonplace, but which was a rare thing indeed back in the 1990s. Their debut album, released finally in 1995 was a spectacular achievement. It was launched with the single Vinegar Girl, co-written by the track’s backing vocalist Glen Hansard. Typically, for the Interference, Hansard wasn’t the only guest, with musicians like Liam O’Maonlai and Planxty’s Donal Lunny participating.
This was pre-internet, and marketing a band required record-company support and/or regular gigging – something which O’Farrell’s health ruled out. By 1996, the band had run out of steam. O’Farrell moved back to his home-town of Schull, suffering what he now admits was a crisis of confidence – one which lasted a number of years.
An informal re-union gig in a pub in Schull in 2002, quickly followed by an invite to perform on a new TV show hosted by Hansard and produced by musician/film-maker Philip King, helped jolt O’Farrell out of despondency. The Interference performance on ‘Other Voices’ was remarkable, and such was the positive reaction that the band’s album was re-issued.
While working on new material, O’Farrell has steadily taken on more gigs over the last couple of years – including appearances at international festivals in both the Czech Republic and Italy.
Which brings us full circle back to ONCE. When the film was getting off the ground, Hansard and Carney got in touch with Fergus asking him if he would appear in the film singing Gold, a personal favourite. No-one, least of all Fergus, could have anticipated the success that the film would have.
Skip forward to May 2008, and O’Farrell and Interference are on stage in New York’s Radio City Music Hall, playing along side the Swell Season, the band formed by Frames frontman Hansard and the co-star of the film Marketa Irglova. Head over to www.interference.ie and you can catch a glimpse of that magical moment when the two bands joined together that night to perform a rousing rendition of Gold together.
GLEN HANSARD WILL PERFORM 2 SHOWS AT THIS YEARS CLONGUITARFEST
<<TICKETS ONSALE NOW ONLINE & AT DEBARRAS>>
THE FIRST WILL BE A SOLO SHOW UNDER THE BIG TOP IN THE SHOWGROUNDS CLONAKILTY ON TUES 18TH OF SEPTEMBER W/ GUESTS DAVID KEENAN & MORE –TICKETS HERE!
THE SECOND SHOW WILL BE AS A GUEST TO INTERFERENCE UNDER THE BIG TOP IN THE SHOWGROUNDS CLONAKILTY ON WED 19TH OF SEPTEMBER – TICKETS HERE!
Marking his third solo album, singer-songwriter Glen Hansard released Between Two Shores on January 19, 2018 via Anti-. Following up 2015’s GRAMMY nominated Didn’t He Ramble, and his 2012 solo debut Rhythm and Repose, the ten-track collection was produced by Hansard himself for the first time. The culmination of more than six years of writing and recording, Between Two Shores came together in only a matter of weeks.
This past March, Hansard booked himself time at Black Box Studios in France with the original idea of taking inventory of his songbook. Working again with former Frames bandmate and producer David Odlum, Hansard was in search of a direction for his next record. As he trove through his previous sessions, various ideas and home recordings, a sketch of an unplanned record began to take shape.
The aptly titled “Setting Forth” became the catalyst for the direction Hansard hoped to achieve with Between Two Shores. Recorded with drummer extraordinaire Brian Blade and members of his Fellowship Band the song tackles themes of self-doubt in a time when it’s impossible not to be riddled with uncertainty. The album’s lead track “Time Will be the Healer” is a hopeful plea to a forlorn lover that also speaks to the way forward in the current social climate. Indeed, it would be impossible not to in some way address the politics of the day, which Hansard does in “Wheels on Fire” and its refrain of “We will overcome!”
While the record truly came together in France, Between Two Shores features material captured in New York and Chicago with a revolving cast of musicians. In addition to Blade, the record also features Thomas Bartlett, Brad Albetta and Rob Moose who appeared on much of Rhythm and Repose. However it’s Glen’s touring band – Joseph Doyle, Rob Bochnik, Graham Hopkins, Justin Carroll, Michael Buckley, Ronan Dooney and Curtis Fowlkes – that feature most prominently and take center stage on tracks like the upbeat E Street shuffle of “Roll On Slow” and the Van-tastic “Why Woman.”
The album’s title comes from Hansards ongoing love of sailing and the sea. When one is equal distance between their starting point and their destination they are in essence “between two shores.” A less than ideal time to wonder whether you should turn back or continue on, but a thought that inevitably rears its head.
With Between Two Shores Hansard has managed to capture that feeling of the big soulful sound of his large touring band while still retaining the intimate introspective nature of his acoustic shows. To which way the wind will blow on his next record remains to be seen.
Hansard is a founding member of The Frames who celebrated 25 years as a band in 2015. He is one half of The Swell Season, which also features pianist Marketa Irglova. Together in 2007 they wrote the music for and starred in the movie Once. The song “Falling Slowly” from the film was awarded the Academy Award for Best Original song. In 2013 the film was adapted for Broadway as Once, The Musical, winning eight Tony Awards including the top musical prize itself and an Olivier award in London for outstanding achievement in music.
FOOTSBARN TRAVELLING THEATRE BRING THEIR WORLD RENOWNED PRODUCTION OF SHAKESPEARE’S ‘A MIDNIGHT SUMMERS DREAM’ TO CLONAKILTY TO PERFROM UNDER THE BIG TOP IN THE SHOWGROUNDS CLONAKILTY ON MON 17TH OF SEPTEMBER – TICKETS HERE!
THEY WILL ALSO PERFORM ‘MINGLING WITH MOLIERE’ UNDER THE BIG TOP IN THE SHOWGROUNDS CLONAKILTY ON FRI 21ST OF SEPTEMBER – TICKETS HERE!
Footsbarn Travelling Theatre is one of the world’s leading touring companies performing for the most part in one of its circus big tops but also in theatres thoughout the world. Footsbarn Travelling Theatre is born from a dream to create a form of theatre that is popular,generous,professional yet accessible to all.To take theatre out of the limits of established buildings and bring it closer to the local population ,to farms ,beaches ,streets and village squares .
The company is renowned for its exciting adaptations of classics such as Shakespeare & Moliere transcending the barrier of language with its unique blend of visual theatre, music and magic.
In forty seven years, Footsbarn has created over 60 productions and travelled to the six continents.
Footsbarn Travelling Theatre began life in Cornwall in 1971, rehearsing in the barn of Trewen, a farmhouse near the village of Trewidland. One of the founder members was Oliver Foot, hence the name. In 1984 the company left Britain to take its brand of theatre to international audiences and remained without a base until 1991 when a farm was purchased in central France, La Chaussée. Today its base is both a fully equipped production centre complete with workshops, rehearsal space, office and studios but also a centre for education. Over the last 25years Footsbarn has organised and staged numerous workshops, which have been taught by both actors from the company as well as professionals associated with Footsbarn.