DKOS Sat 29th Jan 2022
Douglas Little Jumper / Mega Trad. / John Rush. / Jennifer Ewan Band / Holly and The Reivers. /. Amid and The Mirk Over The Irk

Douglas Little Jumper Sat 29th Jan 2022

Dougal’s Little Jumper was born out of a desire to keep playing when bands were no longer able to get together during the last couple of years.

Maria and Mike play their own brand of lyrical Celtic songs, influenced by folk traditions and contemporary music alike. Their aim is to play songs that have energy, warmth, raise a smile and get the audience singing along.

Last year, Dougal’s Little Jumper played at Capers in Cannich and have made frequent appearances on MacGregor’s Live @ Five weekly show. With the full band, Dougal’s Jumper, they have also played at the Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival, Speyfest and the Islay Festival of M<brusic and Malt.

The plan (if it’s wise to make plans just now) is to record a full Dougal’s Jumper album during 2022 and get back to playing live again.

Mega Trad Sat 29th Jan 2022

MEGA_Trad is a band based in Limerick, Ireland and is comprised of 2 brothers from the musical O’Dalaigh family and Denis McAuliffe, a local legend on the mandolin to the regions of West Clare.
The brothers Cillian and Sean come from East Clare, and have grown up steeped in the rich culture of Irish Music, Song and Dance surrounded by the rest of the O’Dalaigh Clan.
Cillian and Dennis both studied in UL together, and a short few years later Sean was to follow his older brother’s footsteps in joining the same course, making them all graduates of University of Limerick’s renowned BA Irish Music and Dance.
The concept for MEGA-Trad came about when the gang, asked to provide entertainment for what has now become their stomping ground in Limerick; The Glen Tavern, decided to try something new, and so brought whatever pedals and stompbox/beat’n’bass machines they had lying around. What happened next was even unexpected to them, since no rehearsals had been set beforehand. Just pure feel.
And that is what MEGA-Trad is about: Improvisation around concepts, playing while listening instead of to an arrangement sheet, and tailoring each performance to the occasion at hand. And so, every performance of MEGA-Trad will be completely unique and never to be heard in that particular arrangement again, guaranteeing each audience authenticity and a once in a lifetime experience of immersive, contemporary, rich and lively Irish Music of the 21st Century

John Rush Sat 29th Jan 2022

Glasgow based singer/songwriter (originally from Paisley). With his, “folk tinged pop songs” John has played some of Glasgow’s greatest venues such as the Barrowland Ballroom (four times), King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut, O2 Academy, O2 ABC, Royal Concert Hall and Saint Luke’s & The Winged Ox as well as many more venues around Scotland and festivals in Scotland and England.

Through the years he has racked up some highly acclaimed support slots with Paul Weller, Ocean Colour Scene, Chris Helme (The Seahorses), Steve Pilgrim (Paul Weller’s drummer) and Johnny Lloyd (Tribes). John took a selection of songs across the pond to New York City in late September 2018 where he showcased his new music in a quick mini NYC tour consisting of four gigs in five nights including a secret rooftop Sofar Sounds show.

This new music would go on to become his debut album Beneath The Apple Tree which was released in November 2019 with a sell-out album launch gig in Room 2, Glasgow after John had joined the 23 Music Management family. The pandemic was obviously a difficult time for music but John played two of the pioneering Immersive TV gigs in Room 2 in early 2021 which were broadcast to an international audience and continued to play many online gigs to keep his fans entertained on lockdown.

As 2021 lockdown one restrictions eased, John was able to travel around the country again, playing at one of the UK’s first outdoor festivals to restart at Capers In Cannich in the Highlands, Upside Doune (The Rabbit Hole) on Cardross Estate in Stirlingshire, Lindisfarne Festival in the North-East of England, the Craft Beer & Food Truck Festival in Rouken Glen Park in Glasgow and sandwiched in between these was his headline and sell-out gig in Saint Luke’s & The Winged Ox.

John returned to the Barrowland Ballroom in November 2021 to support Hipsway for the Glasgow CeilidhFest where he announced the release of his newest single ‘The Apple Doesn’t Fall Far From The Tree’. The single subsequently peaked at Number 2 on the iTunes UK Singer/Songwriter Chart. John then received the nod from The Modfather himself and living Legend, Paul Weller, to support him on the Scottish leg of his sold out tour where he played to a packed Barrowland Ballroom and Music Hall Aberdeen in successive nights to fulfil a lifetime’s dream of supporting a true musical hero. This was then remarkably followed by being asked to support more of his musical heroes, Ocean Colour Scene, again in the Barrowland Ballroom at the iconic venue’s last gig before restrictions were imposed again.

John had an amazing early xmas present when he was presented with two Awards at the inaugural Paisley Music Awards in The Bungalow; Best Solo Artist and Artist Who Has Risen Above Adversity of Covid-19.

John has another busy year of gigs and festivals lined up for 2022 in Scotland and England with his second album due to be released in the Summer.

Jennifer Ewen Band Sat 29th Jan 2022

The Jennifer Ewan Band perform a stirring mix of compelling original songs and old-time Cajun dance music with a Celtic tint.

The band comprises singer-songwriter/guitarist Jennifer Ewan, Kim Tebble on accordion/flute (Deaf Heights Cajun Aces ) and percussionist Paul Dennigton (Wolfnote)

Jen’s rich and distinctive voice is a link between Scottish song traditions and French Louisiana. Scots-Cajun mid-tempo personal ballads are grounded in the dance grooves of the bayous and the unusual interplay of accordion, acoustic guitar and percussion.

The band has appeared on BBC Radio’s The Afternoon Show and BBC Radio Scotland’s “The Janice Forsyth Show” as well as touring the Highlands and playing numerous gigs and festivals across Scotland. They first brought their show, Bonnie Bayou, to the Edinburgh Festival in 2017 and performed to sell-out audiences throughout their twelve nights of shows, building on this success at the 2018 and 2019  Festival with highly acclaimed runs at the Jazz Bar and then a successful online Fringe show in 2021 filmed in the blazing sun at Narrowboat Farm on the Union Canal. 

Jennifer says: “There’s a lot of Scotland in our music – like my love song to Portobello beach, the slummy flats I’ve rented in Edinburgh back streets, and working underground on the Ghost Tours. But I really adore the live feel of Louisiana French Creole and Cajun music combined with my own Scottish contemporary sounds. I think it all fits together perfectly and feeds the head, the heart and the soul.”

Holly And The Reivers Sat 29th Jan 2022

Holly & The Reivers, a band brought together through their love of singing together and telling old stories to their audiences. Bertie Armstrong, Merle Harbron and Holly Clarke create a musical setting for their songs by combining the musical styles of Old time banjo, Scottish fiddle and Ballad singing, as well as bringing forth their own compositions that have been deeply influenced by these traditions. the intricate melodies and words they have woven together shine through with their soaring three part harmonies and driving instrumental pieces.

Holly & The Reivers have been gigging together since 2017 and have played at Festivals such as Tiree music Festival and Folk on the Tyne Festival.
In 2019 They supported Billy Bragg to a sold-out audience in Hall One of Sage Gateshead and In this new year of 2022, after a long wait due to the Covid-19 pandemic, they will finally be venturing into the studio to record their first album.

Amid And The Mirk Over The Irk Sat 29th Jan 2022

Fiona Browne PIPES, FLUTE, WHISTLES Paul Cowham: GUITAR, MANDOLIN
Richard Fay: BARITON HORN, BUTTON ACCORDION Méabh Kennedy: FIDDLE
Daniel Mawson: CLARINET, BASS CLARINET
Pete Shaw: PIANO ACCORDION
Sophie Sully: DOUBLE BASS
Angela Usher: BANJO, TENOR GUITAR, WHISTLES

Amid the Mirk Over the Irk: When Irish Meets Klezmer is an imagined musical meeting of two of Manchester’s long-established and prominent immigrant communities: the Irish and the Jewish.

Conceived in 2015 by Richard Fay, it combines traditional folk tunes, new compositions, intriguing fusions, and spoken word to evoke this imagined confluence of cultures across the banks of the river Irk.

It is this uninspiring river, the Irk, which captures our imagination as we look back a century or so, wondering if Jewish musicians from Red Bank did perhaps rub shoulders and swap tunes with their Irish counterparts in Angel Meadow…

Both of these communities would have had their musics and dances, songs and celebrations – different in many ways and yet similar too – handed down by ear across the generations. Tunes played and sets danced amid and despite the grinding poverty and hardship of their daily lives.

Khosidls and hornpipes, doinas and slow airs, freylekhs and polkas, bulgars and reels, shers and set dances – there are many intriguing similarities and differences in these oral dance traditions.

Did the music of these communities cross the Irk? And if they did, what did this musical melting pot sound like?

It’s this generative “What If” that lies at the heart of the Mirk show.

First performed in 2016 at the Manchester Jewish Museum starring Michael McGoldrick and Dezi Donnelly, Amid the Mirk… has played in many prestigious venues including the Chorlton Irish Club, the Bridgewater Hall and the Lowry Roundabout Theatre.