Steve Larkin, Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh & Billy MagFhlionn

Steve, Muireann & Billy led the session in Tutty's on Saturday afternoon.



They were quickly joined by others and a good variety of instruments, including Eric-the-organiser on mandolin





a Jew's harp



and a second flute played by Johnny from Arc.




(Thanks to Eoghan Conor for additional pic taking)

Emer Mayock & Donal Siggins joined by Cormac Breatnach

Eric Greaves opens the 2009 Music Under the Mountains festival in the Hollywood Inn, Hollywood, Co Wicklow.


Emer & Donal kicked the music off, later joined by Cormac in a night of superb music.





















































The lighting was blighting for photographs, the mirror in the background was a flash nightmare, and the microphones (as usual) got in the way, but none of that affected the musicians. It was a stunning gig to open the festival and although the numbers attending were down it didn't have any impact on the music, which was all the more special as so much of it was composed by the performers themselves.

Get To Know the Artist: Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh

Big buzz in county Wicklow, where for our delight

Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh

singer, flautist and pianist will perform at the Hollywood Irish Traditional Music Festival

From Muireann biography we know that she "grew up immersed in the vibrant West-Kerry tradition with its wild dance music, soulful slow airs and vast repertoire of songs. Musician and lead singer from the traditional music group Danu. She is a regular contributor to television and radio programmes at home and abroad, she featured prominently in the"Highland Sessions" BBC television series, celebrating the best of Irish and Scottish traditional music and song. She also co-hosted and performed at the 2007 and 2009 Gradaim Cheoil TG4 and has presented many music programmes. Muireann is extremely sought after both as a vocalist and flute player and has collaborated with many musicians at home and abroad such as Julie Fowlis, Darrell Scott, Liam Clancy and The Bulgarian Women’s Choir. She released her solo album 'Daybreak: Fáinne an Lae' in 2006 to great acclaim. Her most recent recording, "Dual" is a collaborative project with Julie Fowlis, Éamon Doorley and Ross Martin exploring the links between Irish and Scots Gaelic music and song"

To Listen Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh enchanting voice, join us at the

2009 Irish Traditional Music Festival in Hollywood, Co Wicklow

Get To Know the Artist: Steve Larkin at the 2009 Hollywood Music Festival

Fantastic fiddle player, we are pleased to welcome once more Steve Larkin at the Hollywood Music Festival 2009

Steve is a fiddle player from Wexford who plays, tours and records with many Irish musicians. Over the years he has been involved in many projects, including performing and recording with Dublin accordion player John Connolly, multi-instrumentalist Donal Siggins, flautist Emer Mayock and Mick Kinsella, with whom he is currently developing a duet album.

In 2008 he performed in Running Beast, a newly composed music theatre piece with music by Micheal Holohan and text by Donal O’Kelly. Running Beast also featured Mick O Brien on pipes, Maire Breathnach and Robbie Harris among others.
Some other musical projects include working on the soundtrack for the TV production ‘Billy Connolly’s Tour of Scotland, Ireland and Wales’ with Mick Kinsella and Damien Gallagher and developing ‘the third twin’ a recording of newly composed Irish music with Eoin Dillon, Frank Tate and Des Cahalan. A second album from ‘the third twin’ will be released in 2009.
He is recently considering the invention of a fiddle you can stand in.

To Listen Steve playing join us, Saturday 19th of September in Tuttys, Hollywood, Co Wicklow

Festival line-up for September 2009

Friday 18th
Hollywood Inn at 9.00 p.m.

Emer Mayock, Donal Siggins, Cormac Breathnach, (flutes, low whistles, bouzuki)

Saturday 19th
Tuttys at 2.00 p.m

Steve Larkin and friends

Ardenode Hotel 8.30p.m

Arc, Frankie Lane and Buille

Sunday 20th
Tuttys at 12.00 p.m
Alyth McCormack from Isle of Lewis to host the singing session

Tuttys at 8.00 p.m.
Michelle O'Brien, Peter Brown, and Paul Meehan (fiddle, accordion and guitar)

Line-up for Music under the Mountains festival 2008

Friday 19th Sept

Opening session featuring local musicians in Tuttys Bar. Adm free.

Saturday 20th Sept

10.30 am fiddle workshops with Michelle O'Brien and Steve Larkin adm 10 Euro

2.00 Session in Tuttys Bar featuring Michelle O 'Brien, Steve Larkin and Aidan Brennan. Adm free.

6.00 Session Hollywood Inn featuring ARC. Adm free

9.00 I Draw Slow in Hollywood Inn at 9.00. Adm 10.

Sunday 21st Sept

12.30p.m Singing Session featuring Cathal McConnell and Kevin Conneff. Adm Euro10

4.00 Session Hollywood Inn featuring The Kings River Band. Adm free

7.00 Concert Tuttys featuring Gerry O'Connor (fiddle) Paul Mc Grattan (Flute),Giles Le Bigot (guitar and vocals) and Kevin Conneff (bodhran and vocals). Adm 20 limited seating.

Information on all events 045867380.

Trip to Le Bono, Brittany

The members of ARC will be heading to the Breton town of Le Bono on the 4th. July to introduce their fiery brand of traditional music to the locals. Most of the expenses for the week long trip have already been recouped by the band themselves through various gigs over the past month.

New guitar lessons

Anyone in the area interested in playing guitar. We will shortly be commencing guitar lessons by the wizard Joe Junker. Depending on response these will take place at 10.30 on Saturday mornings, so come along and bring your axe.

Youth classes at the Hollywood Centre - from Satuday 6th October

Starts 10.30 am every Saturday. Time table is still being established based on numbers arriving. This is a rough outline, and is subject to change -

10.30:
tin whistle (beginnners) + tin whistle (intermediate)
fiddle (intermediate)
accordian

11.10:
fiddle (beginners) + fiddle (intermediate)
tin whistle (intermediate)

keyboard (CALL ERIC RE AVAILABILITY)

11.50:
whistle (intermediate) + whistle (advanced)

12.30:
accordian for beginners on application (accordians available for borrowing) (CALL ERIC)

Highlights of 2007

Singing session led by Kevin Conneff & Paddy Berry


Sean Keane & Liam O'Flynn



Liz Carroll & John Doyle

Sessions - Sunday evening + The Tin Box Company

You can see Joe, from Arc, on guitar here - joining in now to the session after listening in for a while from the side, after attending John Doyle's workshop on the previous morning, after performing the night before with the band, after week's of rehearsal, after years of practice and listening, after encouragement and example from his family, after generations of the same arc being redrawn time and again, over and over, gently and without fuss.


Singing us all into a sympathetic silence.












This one is actually a family portrait if you read it closely enough.


And if you didn't know better, you'd almost imagine the tie was worn for the sake of this picture - what a beautiful parallel line it makes for the flute!

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Meanwhile, across the road, Dan's Thai instrument, a khene, specially made in G for trad, was soaring through a few tunes with a few others lingering like yourself as long as possible before the inevitable departure ...




... and Frank was discussing with Eibhlis the finer points of Irene's French rosin (in French!) ...


and out of the blue (to some at least) the wildcard act, bluegrass band, The Tin Box Company, started up a notch or two higher their set in the front bar ...



... and eventually it is time to go.

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But leaving is hard. One more, maybe, across the road?


And sure there's always Ciaran Carson's book "Last Night's Fun" for something of the spirit of the thing in words.

Singing session - Tutty's, September 23 - led by Kevin Conneff and Paddy Berry

(CJ keeps the crowds at bay from the front of Tutty's. Now, there's a man if ever there was possessing the appropriate level of respect for the skills and needs of singers. He kept his own name off the list, unfortunately.)










Singing is a very difficult subject to photograph: in pictures, singing might just as well be ranting or yelling or burping - you can't really tell. What I've learned about photographing singing is that the most revealing shots of the singer come from capturing the expressions of the audience listening.






The already infamous (& no doubt banned from RTE!) Amsterdam ballad being sung, and even with some self-censoring there was plenty to make one blush in it ... but even more to make everyone laugh and admire the cleverness of the tale and of its telling in sung verse. (It was followed by an homage to that deep and cherished classic 'Copacabana' - "At Tamangos, on the Northside ... don't fall in love"!)


(I learned this weekend not to stick your camera through open windows without having first taken off the lens cap: this last picture in this sequence shows the reaction of the audience as living legend, Mr Kevin Conneff, evoked Mr Bean at one point in my fumblings through the window.)