‘The Acoustic Yard’ is a new singer/songwriters session in Westport hosted by recording artist David Dee Moore and supported by IMRO (Irish Music Rights Organisation). It is also filmed by Irishtv.ie as part of their new music schedule and the first session was shown recently on ‘Out and about in Ireland’.
The monthly event features some of the finest songwriters from around the world and has been set up not only as a concert but as an educational workshop for audience and player alike. Each month three songwriters will showcase and talk about their songs In a relaxed environment to a listening and hopefully appreciative audience in the surrounds of the yard bar in Matt Molloy’s.
The next ‘The Acoustic Yard’ on April Tuesday 29th will feature former Eurovision Song Contest winner Charlie McGettigan, Mississippi born Americana songstress Kelley McRae and Belfast multi-instrumentalist and host for the evening David Dee Moore.
Twenty years ago Charlie McGettigan won the Eurovision Song Contest when joining forces with Paul Harrington and Brendan Graham with the song ‘Rock and Roll kids’ and was catipulted into Irish Music folklore. In 1973 he formed the highly successful Jargon group, who won the prestigious Letterkenny Folk Festival and led to a recording contract with Polygram records. The band went on to record three singles before Charlie pursued a solo career. He worked with artists like Maura O Connell and Eleanor Shanley who both recorded many of Charlies songs including “I dont know how you do it”, “Feet of a dancer”, “A bed for the night” and “If anything happened to you”. Today Charlie still enjoys huge success as a singer/songwriter and as a presenter on “The Saturday Connection” on Shannonside/ Northern Sound Radio.
Kelley McRae is touring Europe for the first time and is playing only a handful of gigs in Ireland. ‘The Acoustic Yard’ is privileged to provide her only West of Ireland show and to witness her beautiful haunting voice that immediately catapults you into the indie Americana heartland. Songs like ‘Johnny Cash’ and the title track of her new CD ‘Brighter than the blues’ sets Kelley apart as one of the finest ‘New Country’ songwriters to come out of the USA.
The host of the evening David Dee Moore recently released his critically acclaimed CD ‘The sun, the moon, the stars…and other moving objects’. A stunning collection of country folk songs that have recently received a lot of airplay in Ireland and the UK culminating in recent appearances at the Westport Arts festival and the Belfast Nashville singer/songwriters festival. His discography includes two successful albums on the USA label ‘Green Linnet’ with Niamh Parsons with whom he toured with and played at some of the biggest folk festivals in the world.
Kate O’Callaghan’s recent CD ‘The Still Beyond’ manages to combine evocative melodies with intelligent considered lyrics. She has a very distinctive writing style that compliments her beautiful vocal delivery. She has sung at numerous festivals including the Galway Arts Festival and Glastonbury in the UK.
Another hidden gem is the multi talented Jim McKee whose new CD ‘Goodness comes from the heart’ is full of catchy tunes and emotive lyrics. Some of his songs appear in the award winning film ‘Songs for Amy’ which will be globally released this year. Jim is also an actor and a professional artist with his paintings displayed extensively in Ireland and France.