The sun has set on yet another successful festival, in the welcoming small town of Westport in County Mayo. This event really has no equivalent in Ireland, with a world class line up of bluegrass, old time and folk music, most of which is free to enjoy.
Friday night saw the first of the paid concerts, held in the 225-seater Town Hall Theatre which, as usual, was sold out. Dirk Powell and his daughter Amelia treated the audience to a master class in both Appalachian folk music and Cajun tunes, brought to us from their home in Lafayette, Louisiana. Dirk switched effortlessly between fiddle, banjo and guitar as they powered through Cajun numbers such as Les Blues de Tactac, The Balfa Waltz (from the repertoire of the famous Balfa family, of whom Amelia is a member) and Mon Bon Vieux Mari, complete with humourous explanations of the French lyrics. They were then joined by a surprise (and most welcome) guest, their great friend Rhiannon Giddens. Her appearance was a particular treat for those of us who were unable to make the previous night’s long sold out gig, where she and Dirk performed a rare duo concert. A sublime version of Merle Haggard’s Somewhere Between Me & You was followed by a fiddle tune from W Virginia called Richmond, allowing Rhiannon to break into some Appalachian flat footing. We all sang Happy Birthday to Dirk, before they closed with some more Cajun tunes. The second act for the night was Martha Spencer & The Wonderland Country Band, who were on their first visit to Ireland. The insanely talented Virginian, from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, is becoming very well known in the US, as a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, band leader, dancer and syndicated radio show host. Their seventeen song set ranged from Virginian old time fiddle tunes, like Rabbit on the Dancefloor, to country songs, like Hank Williams’ Ramblin’ Man, and some of Martha’s originals. Lots of Southern lore and even some impressive flat footing kept the audience enthralled.
Saturday was the day of the workshops - this time Oregon veteran banjo maker Tom Nechville gave a master class in the 5-string and North Carolina’s Natalya Zoe Weinstein (of Zoe & Cloyd, who also were performing throughout the weekend) did the same for fiddlers. One of the highlights of the weekend was the unique Universities Symposium, a coming together of students and educators and historians from East Tennessee State University, The Irish World Academy of Music and Dance (at University of Limerick) and the Old Time and Roots Music Faculty of Middle Tennessee State University. This important gathering, facilitated for the second year in a row by the festival, focussed this year on ‘the Jam/Session as a site of Music, Community and Research’ and comprised of round table talks, discussions and performances. Westport Festival sees this as an important part of their work, to explore the connections between the Irish traditions and bluegrass and old time string band music. Rhiannon Giddens was on the panel and was an active participant.
Saturday night’s Town Hall concert had performances from three top acts:- Remedy Tree (Florida) brought their pleasant progressive bluegrass music to Ireland for the first time, with a selection of originals and a particularly enjoyable version of Tim O’Brien’s I’ve Endured and Dylan’s Señor. Next, Chris Luquette & Rick Faris almost blew the lights out with their high energy set of eleven songs/tunes, some original and some well known bluegrass numbers. Both are equally phenomenal players on both mandolin and guitar, Faris being well know to Irish audiences from his several visits with Special Consensus. Bill Monroe’s Wheel Hoss, the traditional Bury Me Beneath the Willow Tree, Johnny Cash’s Big River and Don’t This Road Look Rough and Rocky were covered as well as Luquette’s Home To You and several Faris originals, including What I’ve Learned and See You On The Other Side. The Wayfarers came from Ohio to treat us to their dynamic, driving, old time mountain music, which always proves popular with Westport audiences. Their energetic performance went down a bomb, covering classics like Shortnin’ Bread, The Hills That I Call Home, Marching Through Georgia and John Brown’s Dream.
But the ticketed concerts are only half of the story. All around town, across eight pub and hotel venues, there are free gigs from 2pm most days. These involve the acts already mentioned above, but in addition there are bands from Ireland, England, Europe and the US, many of whom were on their first visit to Ireland. Add to this The Red Room Mystery Gig, The Gospel Hour in the Holy Trinity Church on Sunday morning and The Square Dance that afternoon, and sure, where would you get it?! For those who stayed on for another night, the festival closed with Irish folk singer, Pauline Scanlon.
Uri, Tim, Freda and Sarah have earned full kudos for their year long work to bring us this extravaganza every year, and long may they run. Put the dates in your diary now for next year - June 6-8, 2025. We can’t wait.
Report and photos by Eilís Boland