Hat Fitz and Cara Robinson

Hat Fitz - Slide Guitar and Vocals, and Cara Robinson - Vocals, percussion and flute, are swnging back through Ireland over the next couple of weeks. Catch em if you can. Saw em a month ago at the White Horse Sessions in Lahinch. Great gig with people dancing from the get go - but then they know how to party at Kenny's Bar!

I love this little video of them. There are prettier ones to watch but the sound is so evocative on this!



here is their schedule

Jul 28 Fiddlers Green Festival Rostrevor Co. Down NI
Jul 29 The Listening Post Ulster Uni. Coleraine NI
Jul 30 The Barge River Lagan, Belfast, NI
Jul 31 Voodoo Lounge Letterkenny, Donegal, Irl
Aug 01 Shandon Hotel Dunfanaghy, Donegal, Irl
Aug 02 Grey Hound Bar Kilkee, Co. Clare, Ireland
Aug 03 Kenny's Bar Lahinch Co. Clare Ireland
Aug 04 Crane Lane Theatre Cork, Ireland

Aug 5-7 Mannifest Isle of Man

Aug 09 Mick Murphy's Ballymore Eustace Ireland
Aug 10 Whelan's Bar Wexford St, Dublin Ireland
Aug 11 The Cobblestone Pub Smithfield, Dublin Ireland
Aug 12 7 Hills Blues Festival Armagh Co. Down NI Red Neds 10-12 pm
Aug 13 7 Hills Blues Festival Armagh Co. Down NI Gas Lamp 6-8 pm
Aug 14 AmericanRoots Belfast, NI

then they are back to the uk - check out their tour page:
http://www.hatfitz.net/gigs2011.htm
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Tennessee Mafia Jug Band in Clonmel

This here promises to be a good night out or five!
As their (very entertaining) press blurb says:

There’s only so many graveyard numbers or raunchy love songs that even the most rabid country audience can sit through without some kind of relief. This frolicking fivesome brightens up the stage with rib-tickling old time tunes. Even better, they have an utter lack of self-consciousness (and some might say any sense of decorum). The Tennessee Mafia Jug Band not only know the music, they wear the costumes, tell corny jokes and even do slapstick gags!

July 19th Kilworth, County Cork
July 20th Clonmel, County Tipperary
July 21st Naul, County Dublin
July 22nd Bray, County Wicklow
July 23rd Manorhamilton, County Leitrim

Check out their tour page for details: http://www.tennesseemafiajugband.com/tour






here's Leroy Troy demonstrating his banjo juggling skills!

Justin Townes Earle in the UK

Justin is playing in the UK this month. Some pub gigs and some festivals. No Irish dates though!

20/7/11 - Milton Keynes - The Stables
22/7/11 - Perth, Scotland - Southern Fried Festival
23/7/11 - Gateshead, Summertyne Americana Festival
24/7/11 - Oxfordshire Truck Festival
26/7/11 - York - The Duchess
27/7/11 - Sheffield - the Greystones
29/7/11 - Cambridge Folk Festival

This is his track from the Buddy Holly tribute album just released this month by Concord Records
You can stream the whole thing at Justintownesearle.com this week or buy it from http://raveonbuddyholly.com

Gill Landry - Tour of Scotland!

Gill Landry announced on his Facebook page today that he is doing a tour of Scotland in July, well the Highlands and Islands!

Fri 15th – HebCelt Festival, Stornoway
Sat 16th – Ullapool Tall Ships, Ullapool
Sun 17th – The Arch Inn, Ullapool
Mon 18th – Hootanannys, Inverness
Tue 19th – Eagle Barge, Fort William
Wed 20th - Star Inn, Stornoway
Thur 21st – Old Bridge Inn, Aviemore
Fri 22nd – Athol Arms, Dunkeld
Sat 23rd – Wickerman Festival, Dumfries

If you can get yourself to any of those gigs I'll be jealous!

Pokey LaFarge in Kilkenny

I took the new car off through the Silvermines to Kilkenny last week to see Pokey LaFarge and the South City Three. A two hour drive but having seen them in Belfast last September I wasn't going to miss them when they where coming this close. Cleere's Pub in Parliament Street has a great reputation for live music, with Johnny Holden keeping it ship shape.

Pokey and the boys were coming up to the end of a '40 shows in 40 nights' tour of the UK and Ireland so I thought they might be flagging a bit but it was quite the reverse and they were teasing the audience at times saying that we were getting tired! After swinging their way through their 31 song setlist they started taking requests and ended up playing for 3 hours! About half of those songs came from their two albums, "Riverboat Soul", and the just released "Middle Of Everywhere", plus a few songs from Pokey's solo albums "Marmalade" and "Beat, Move and Shake" and a great bunch of covers as varied as the St Louis Blues or Bob Wills' The Devil Ain't Lazy. We also got both sides of the 7" vinyl they recorded with Jack White last year, Chittlin Cooking time in Cheatham County, plus a short quiz on what chittlins were (although the audience had a few novel ideas of their own!)

All in all it was a fantastic night, and if you missed them they'll be back in the spring of 2012, and they have a few gigs in the UK in September 2011

Feels So Good


You can hear the new album at NPR's First Listen this week, and it's released in the States this week.

Buy it from the band if you can or order it from http://www.pokeylafarge.net/