Xylouris White is firmly rooted in the past and future. Playing Cretan music of original and traditional composition, the band consists of Georgios Xylouris on Cretan laouto and vocals and Jim White on drum kit. Xylouris is known and loved by Cretans and Greeks at home and abroad and has been playing professionally from age 12.
Jim White is an Australian drummer known and loved throughout the world as the drummer of Dirty Three, Venom P Stinger and now Xylouris White.
For the last four years these two men have been performing as Xylouris White, the culmination of 25 years of friendship forged through music and place.
Andy Irvine is one of the great Irish singers, his voice one of a handful of truly great ones that gets to the very soul of Ireland. He has been hailed as “a tradition in himself”.
Musician, singer, songwriter, Andy has maintained his highly individual performing skills throughout his over 50-year career.
Andy has been at the helm of legendary bands like Sweeney’s Men in the mid 60s, to the enormous success of Planxty in the 70s, and then Patrick Street, Mozaik, LAPD and recently Usher’s Island. Andy has been a world music pioneer and an icon for traditional music and musicians.
As a soloist, Andy fills the role of the archetypal troubadour with a show and a travelling lifestyle that reflect his lifelong influence, Woody Guthrie. To quote the Irish Times, “Often copied, never equalled”, his repertoire consists of Irish traditional songs, dexterous Balkan dance tunes and a compelling canon of his own self-penned songs.
2pm // €15 // Clonakilty Community Resource Centre , 21 Western Road, Clonakilty. P85 RW35
Tickets on the door or contact
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
TRADITIONAL IRISH SESSION Front Bar with the Debarras resident musicians
At the heart of this popular weekly session are a collection of musicians & songsters, whose combined experiences of performing, locally and internationally, along with their diverse musical interests produce a vibrant, but easy going experience of the best in traditional music & ballads.
Featuring:
Dennis Noonan on Bodhrán & bones sings in a uniquely laid back style, drawing material from his native Dublin as well as Ulster & Scotland. The late Frank Harte would have thrilled at his deliveries of some of the more humourous and bawdy ballads.
Tommy Madden can lay claim to a lifetimes experience playing across the USA, England & Scotland and at venues all over Ireland, Playing with many legendary musicians. His bewildering knowledge of balladry draws on a wide range of material from Europe, America & Australia covering military, humourous, industrial, rural, urban and romantic songs.
Jerry Lombard served his time with some of the greatest musicians ever to play in Ireland, England and America. He has a seemingly endless repertoire of tunes and an equally extensive collection of tales and yarns to entertain one and all. Jerry’s lively playing style matches his attitude to life, music and the Craic.
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.
celebrating the 30year anniversary of his debut album ‘Well he said he’d be Here!’
Well he said he’d be here!
In 1995, having lived in Clonakilty for a few years prior, I decided that I would record a CD! No real experience but with enthusiasm and a whole bunch of friends, family and the odd unsuspecting, visiting musician! 10 songs were recorded in 8 days and two days were put aside to mix, not a lot of time to mix 10 songs but needs must…eight of the songs were my compositions and it also included a beautiful song, by Jeremiah O’Keeffe, about watching his nephew grow up, perhaps a little too fast and a catchy folksy ballad, penned by Colm O’Sullivan, local educator, musician and visual artist.
After spinning my dream to some friends and family, all were supportive in their various ways, none more so than 16 year old prodigy, John Fitzgerald, now a multi-instrumentalist, producer, and engineer. He helped arrange the songs and suggested the musicians to choose for certain pieces, propelling the project along nicely.
Nick Harper was over a few times to record with his dad and to work on his first two solo records. We became buddies quickly and his boundless energy and his off-the -scale talent, was so welcomed, from the first notes he played on Miles & Miles, one of my favourites on the album.
Clonakilty is always in bloom in my eyes, but it never shone brighter than it did in those days in the mid 90s, when Hothouse Flowers were regular visitors and I had the pleasure to jam and play with their amazing drummer Jerry Fehily and I felt blessed when he came to the Dublin sessions and played drums on 5 of the rockier tracks. Les Sampson did the drums on 3 of the other acoustic songs, including the aforementioned Miles & Miles, listening to it now, 30 years later, you can hear what he was the chosen kit man for the likes of Steve Marriot and Noel Redding It blew my mind. Inspired by the solo work of the Alarm’s Dave Sharp, I decided to split the album, 5 up tempo, Rock/Pop songs and 5 folksy, acoustic songs. It made sense to me in more ways than one. As luck would have it, the great virtuoso guitarist and Clon man, Bill Shanley, was laying down guitars on Paul Harrington’s album at another studio in Temple Bar, so he jumped in for some of the sessions there and elevated things somewhat with his driving, colourful and melodic sound.
Kieran Kiely (Sinead O’Connor, Shane McGowan) heard about the session from one of the lads. No mobile phone in those days to announce our impending arrivals, so, Kieran just showed up and set up his keyboards, with a very confused engineer who had heard nothing about a keyboards player. Kieran assured him, “twill be grand”! It was much better than grand. Thank you Kieran.
The writer of the second song on Well he said he’d be here !, Colm O’Sullivan, also played piano and arranged string parts for the Rossmore sessions, adding depth to the acoustic songs with their sparse arrangements. My bestie at the time was bassist supreme, Noel Barrett. He and I had worked at my home set up in Ardfield, on the demos, a few weeks prior to the recording dates and shared the bass duties with John Fitzgerald. At both sessions, Neil Amor (The Christians, Chris Rea, Nick Harper) was at the helm, keeping everyone and everything calm and relaxed and moving despite the sometimes chaotic happenings. At the time Neil was co-credited with the production, but looking back now, Well he said he’d be here! was produced by a group of musicians, family and a bighearted community spirit, somehow all gathered together during during a very special time for music in Clonakilty.
Nowadays, artwork may not mean what it did back then, when the booklet and front and back covers of your CD, were a very important part of the music, having it in your hands, reading the lyrics, finding out who played the drums, staring at the photos or artwork, while the music played was always special to me and I remember being delighted when I saw the proofs, prepared by Liz Twomey, for the photos, artwork and layout. Happy Days indeed.
David Christy Jones is a 28-year old songwriter and multi-instrumentalist based in West Cork, Ireland. Born in Wales to a musical family, he found himself surrounded by musicians playing from a young age. At 7 years old he relocated to Clonakilty, Ireland with his family.
On April 17th, 2021 David released his debut album – the nightmarish and one of a kind ‘Welcome To Virology’. Inspired by the blues and folk stars of old; modern contemporary rock and pop; classical music and the avante-garde – he has taken their recipes and added his own distinct flavour. His style is undoubtedly unique and fresh.
Since 2009, David has been an active and respected session drummer, bassist, guitarist, and vocalist and has played with countless acts across all genres. From jazz, blues, and folk to heavy metal, rap, and country. He has performed in many bands over numerous genres and toured in Europe, The UK, and the USA.
What are people saying about Welcome To Virology?
“The debut album by Cork’s David Christy Jones is as colourful and versatile as the new reality we are still trying to cope with. His debut album is a satiric, serious, and nihilist approach on how to survive this madness.”
-Mangorave
“An outstanding mixture of progressive rock, funk, rap and social critique, “Welcome To Virology” is an honest and majestic musical work from Irish eccentric multi-instrumentalist, David Christy Jones. It’s a broad expedition of witty lyrics and unconventional musical composition.” -Lessthan1000followers.com
“This material is an experimental masterpiece by all means.”
-punk-rocker.com”A sound that mixes Funky, Prog Rock and many other musical genres in a unique and original recipe. Lively, innovative songs that manage to keep you on tip of your chair from the first to the last second. A fantastic discovery that I recommend everyone to listen to with an open mind.” -edgarallenpoets.com
The brilliance of this album is that Jones goes all in. This assuredness and dedication in songwriting is wonderfully refreshing and reaps maximum reward in this instance.
It’s blatantly obvious from this record that we are dealing with an artist who is humming with creative energy and, most importantly, has the conviction to take that creativity to extreme places. -demarsmagazine.com
Sam Clague is a musician and songwriter from Clonakilty, Cork. He lives and works in Cork City, playing primarily as a jazz guitarist and also his own unique brand of original music. Jazz and folk influences blend together to make a form of kaleidoscopic chamber music, driven by intricate guitar arrangements and accompanied by psychedelic orchestral sounds. His debut EP “Balloons” was released in 2015 at the Clonakillty International Guitar Festival.
“Sam’s writing is unique. He writes from the heart and creates his own world – his own sound world and lyric world. As well as that his musicianship is beyond reproach – capable of capturing many genres with multi instrumental abilities” – Carl Corcoran (former Presenter of The Blue of the Night)
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.
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.