04/06/2024
Thanks Once More:
So that’s another cool little Roots Rhythms Festival all wrapped up for the year. It was a bit low key in general this year due to reduced funding but it remains a festival with huge potential for growth.
It is genuinely a pleasure to work alongside the gang from the Enniscorthy Street Rhythms festival who do an incredible job and have now created something truly unique and fun filled.
It’s our role to complement their daytime activity with some cool music in the pubs to keep the entertainment going and we certainly achieved that aim with 35 gigs over the weekend and all but one of them free.
I offer huge thanks to my buddy Richie Cotterwho continues to inspire and amaze me with his limitless energy and commitment. Go raibh mile maith agat also to Eamonn Ellis who was a huge part of the team this year.
The event itself is really about the musicians and the venues and giving you a reason to support your local pub, so big thanks to all the artists and publicans who got involved. We will always advocate and fight for you, it is the music and culture scene that is keeping this town alive.
I don’t normally single people out but I feel it’s necessary this year for two of the artists.
It was great to see Gavin Povey and his wonderful Gavin Povey Band back on stage in Enniscorthy, Gavin was out of action for a while and was missed. There are only a handful of musicians in the world playing the New Orleans R&B/RnR style that Gavin is a true master of. Venues in Ireland need to wake up and realize how special this man really is.
Finally a short tribute to my old buddy Dermot Byrne, who has been playing Enniscorthy for at least 30 years now. He has never played a bad gig in that time and continues to amaze. Musicians like Dermot are why I love Roots music so much, he and people like Danny Tobin and so many others that were in town over the weekend dedicate their lives to mastering an art form that is never going to reward them financially. They do it because it’s their passion. As a society we owe these people a huge debt of gratitude, thank you Dermot for 30 years of pleasure.
They infuse the music with their love and passion, so when you listen to an authentic roots musician you are hearing pure love expressed artistically.
Roots = truth,
Roots = life,
Roots = LOVE
Embrace your Roots
Roots Rhythms is the new name for the Strawberry Roots festival, starting in 2023!
