Saturday Evening: Concert

Ivy Suite, The Crown Hotel (Doors 7.30pm, Tickets £22.50/ £7 U18s)

• The Bonny Men
• The Weaving
• Laoise Kelly

The Bonny Men

Since 2011, The Bonny Men immediately became known as a band with a unique sound and electrifying stage performances. Their second album “Moyne Road” went to Number 1 in the Irish music charts, and the band went from strength to strength, performing regularly on television, radio and across the National and international festival sphere. Carved out in their 3 rd studio album “The Broken Pledge”, The Bonny Men have taken a decade of their collective experience of the music and have shaped an album that walks the fine line between Traditional Irish music with a new and vibrant sound, all underpinned with the unique driving arrangements that The Bonny Men are known for. Individually, each member brings their own taste and style to the band, which has allowed The Bonny Men to constantly develop and improve with every performance. Over the past number of years, the band has evolved musically, finding a sound that is their own, which involves a foundation in Traditional Irish musical tunes and melodies surrounded by the driving force of pulsating accompaniment. The Bonny Men have recently added a new member, Sean nós singer Roisín Chambers to their line-up, which has given the band a new and fresh sound to their performances. Already the makings of Album number 4 are well underway. Not veering away from the Traditional Music, The Bonny Men are known as a band that has the ability to take the music from its Traditional home and give it a new lease of life, enhancing and breathing new life into long lost and hidden tunes.

The Weaving
The Weaving (Meabh Begley, Owen Spafford and Cait Ni Riain) are a trio that bring together the rich musical traditions of Kerry, Tipperary and Yorkshire, their three regions of origin. Their music is imbued with the driving rhythms of the Gaeltacht of west Kerry, where they first met: fierce dance music and raw harmonies inspired by a deep understanding of their musical inheritance. The trio have performed across Ireland, France and the UK, including venues such as The National Concert Hall, Paris Centre Culturel Irlandis and Sidmouth Folk Festival.

Méabh Begley is a singer, songwriter and musician whose musical expression and stylings are deeply rooted within the Irish music, language and song tradition of her homeplace of Corca Dhuibhne, the Gaeltacht of West Kerry, Ireland. A native Irish speaker, Méabh was born into the renowned musical family of the Begleys whose undeniable influence has helped in shaping her energetic instrumental playing, emotive and sensitive singing style as well as inspired her development of, and transition into her passion for composing and songwriting.

Owen Spafford is a fiddle player and composer from Leeds. Owen has performed for the leaders of the commonwealth states, toured with Giffords Circus and has received a scholarship to study composition at the Royal Academy of Music. Owen is also an All-Britain Fiddle Champion in the Fleadh Cheoil na Breataine, BBC Young Composer Competition nominee and has studied with Sam Amidon and John Dipper. In 2022 Owen released a debut album with guitarist Louis Campbell which Martin Hayes described as “a beautiful, moody and tasteful recording that defies classification.”

Cáit Ní Riain is a traditional singer, multi instrumentalist, and folklorist from Upperchurch in Co. Tipperary. She grew up in the world renowned music pub, Jim of the Mills, where she was deeply influenced by the constant stream of musicians and singers that came from near and far. She studied Music and Irish in University College Cork where she was awarded the Quercus scholarship for receiving the highest results in the arts department. She also received the Donal Doc Gleeson award for excellence in musical performance. Cáit continued her studies in the National Folklore Collection in University College Dublin, where she completed her MA thesis on the songs and associating folklore in North Tipperary, being awarded the Máire Mac Néill scholarship for excellence in research. Cáit is currently working on her first album of traditional songs.

Laoise Kelly
Laoise Kelly from Westport, Co. Mayo, now living on Achill Island, has pioneered a new style of driving instrumental harping showcased in her three critically acclaimed solo albums Just Harp, Ceis and Fáilte Uí Cheallaigh. Laoise was a founding member of traditional group Bumblebees with whom she recorded two albums and toured extensively. She is a founding member of Fiddletree a group from America, Cape Breton and Scotland who play 8 instruments made from the same tree-they have two albums to date. Her latest album release is Ar Lorg na Laochra with Monaghan Uilleann piper Tiarnán Ó Duinnchinn. Throughout her solo career she has recorded on over 70 albums with many of Ireland’s foremost artists including Séamus Heaney, The Chieftains, Christy Moore, Sharon Shannon, Dónal Lunny, Tommy Makem, Matt Molloy, Tommy Peoples, Mary Black, Maighread and Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill, as well as Kate Bush and American country/bluegrass icon Tim O’Brien. Laoise composed new music in 2018 for Theatre Gu Leòr’s Scotties, a co-commission of the National Theatre of Scotland and The Abbey, Dublin. She was Musical Director on Brendan Beehan’s The Hostage and Seán O’Casey’s Purple Dust with Glasgow theatre company Arches at the Edinburgh Festival. She toured with NY based Mabou Mines award winning production of Peter & Wendy to the Edinburgh Festival and the Old Vic, off Broadway.

She has toured and performed worldwide, at festivals including Womad, Celtic Connections, Celtic Colours, Tonder, Dranouter, Lorient, Milwaukee, Armagh Piping Festival, and at harp festivals throughout Europe and South America. In 2020 Laoise was awarded Musician of the year, TG4’s Gradam Ceoil Ceoltóir na bliana.