Galway Sessions Music Festival 2010
Galway Sessions is an annual festival which provides a great opportunity for local musicians to showcase their talents and a wonderful chance for you to see the best traditional artists perform live in Galway City. This year the organisers are trying something different.
The 2010 festival opens wit the launch of their new album ‘Native Angle’ by GRADA on June 13th at the Roisin Dubh. It will be followed by three intimate concerts on Monday 14th, Tuesday 15th and Wednesday 16th of June featuring respectively Zoe Conway, Jimmy Crowley with Captain Mackey’s Goatskin and String Band and an eclectic group of Irish, Scots and Englishmen, the Bully Wee Band at the Crane Bar. On Thursday June 17th Galway’s newest venue Monroe’s Live will host a showcase of visiting musicians and performers from Stirling featuring pipers of the Royal Scottish Piping Academy led by Ian MacDonald, the Kinlochard Ceili Band, Champion dancers Narissa Home and Eileen MacRobert and much more, followed by a late night festival Club.
On Friday June 18th, one of the highlights of this years festival, the 40th anniversary celebration of SHASKEEN will take place at the Town Hall Theatre, featuring past and present band members and special guests Sean Tyrell, Sean Conway, Marc Roberts and sean-nós dancer Emma
O’Sullivan. The festival continues on Saturday June 19th in the Town Hall Theatre with the ground breaking and spectacular sean-nós dance show Fuaim Chonamara while the late night festival Club will continue as on Friday and Saturday at Monroe’s Live with two cracking dance bands, the Máimín Cajun Band and the Sumbrellas.
Three more gigs at the Crane Bar complete the festival concert programme. These include an early evening gig on Saturday June 19th with German fiddler Anna Falkenau, Wexford singer Ivan Murray, five string banjo player Lena Ullman (Moonshine) and Scots fiddler Ruardhi Campbell while on Sunday a late but very welcome addition to the programme features Kevin Conniffe (The Chieftains) and Jeff White from Nashville. The festival concludes on the summer solstice Monday June 21st with an audience with the legendary virtuoso guitarist Phillip Donnelly.
The festival will also feature a lively Sessions Trail with early and late evening Sessions at Murty Rabbitts, The Western Hotel, Tigh Choili, Taaffes Bar, The Quay’s, Monroe’s Tavern and the Crane Bar. There will also be outdoor performances each day at various locations throughout the city featuring Stirling pipers, dancers and session musicians from Scotland as well as the incomparable and extraordinary street entertainer Big Rory and Ochie the Dog and The Seagulls.
Galway City Museum will host an exhibition ‘The Men of Bannockburn’ depicting the men, arms and armour engaged in the world famous Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. The museum will also host a daily ‘talk’ series with Padraig MacNeil, Kathleen Loughnane and Simon O’Dwyer.
The
Galway Sessions festival is funded and supported by Galway City Council, Stirling Council, Failte Ireland, Culture Ireland, Galway City Museum, Hotel Meyrick and DIAGEO.
For more information visit www.galwaysessions.com
