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Ireland’s 3rd Old Time Appalachian Music Gathering to be held in County Clare Ireland’s third ‘Old Time Appalachian Musicians Gathering’ is to take place in County Clare beginning tonight.
The event, which will start at 7pm, will run until continuing ‘til the Sunday and will be staged at the Roadside Tavern and Burren Storehouse in Lisdoonvarna. The event will feature musicians from Ireland, the US and elsewhere.
“An annual gathering is still new to Ireland, but has happened for decades in the US, for example over 3000 musicians meeting up at Clifftop in West Virginia, and on a smaller scale in Gainsborough in England,” said event organiser Andy Lambert.
“It is highly participative, thriving on people getting together to play and dance, rather than listening to commercial artists. The core activity will be jam sessions, with musicians meeting up to play and swap tunes. An addition this year is ‘shapenote singing’, an increasingly popular activity in Ireland,” he said.
There are also workshops – instrumental, dance and singing – and a concert and barndance on Saturday night (19.15). Old Time music refers to the musical culture of descendants of the early settlers in the backwoods of the Appalachian mountains, stretching from Canada to Alabama.
The music derived primarily from tunes and ballads of Ireland, Scotland and England, subsequently absorbing influences from other European nationalities and rural blues musicians.
Scattered across Ireland there are old time music enthusiasts and musicians who hold regular sessions in Dublin, Belfast, Cork, Sligo, Clare and Carrick-on-Shannon.
“The main aim is to provide Irish old time musicians and singers with an annual social and musical get-together, just as happens for Irish trad at the Fleadh Cheoil and Willie Clancy festivals. As in the Appalachian music tradition in the US, this will be a gathering of musicians rather than a festival with paid performers.”
“However, the longer-term goal is to increase awareness and knowledge about old time music in Ireland. Just as Philip King and Donal Lunny did in the famous 1990s TV series, we’re ‘bringing this music back home’.”
Amongst those attending will be Clay Buckner, from the famous band the Red Clay Ramblers, and one of the US’s finest Appalachian musicians.
The cost for the weekend is just €15 per person, and entry to the concert/barndance in the Burren Storehouse on Saturday is also open to non-participants for €10. For more information and to register for the event go to www.irisholdtime.com