Incredibly talented and energetic, Imar are a joy to watch. An instrumental band, but I have seen them get the audience singing. Great show, great people!

Congratulations to The Fretless and Matthew Byrne for the well-earned recognition of being nominated this year.

Both acts were nominated for Traditional Album of the Year

Matthew Byrne was also nominated for Traditional Singer of the Year for his album Horizon Lines.

The Fretless were also nominated for Instrumental Group of the Year AND, Ensemble of the year for Live at the Artfarm.

Full list of nominees here. https://folkawards.ca/nominees/

It turns out that the 2 acts will be performing together in a few days for the Folklore Society of Greater Washington at Seekers Church in Washington, DC and at The Westminster Concert Series in Westminster, MD. Performances are October 5th and 6th respectively.

After years of working closely together we are finally working together! Wooden Ship is very excited to represent this great US-based Americana act who has been a favorite of ours for years.

Here is a beautiful a Capella song that is a good place to start.

And a full band number from Celtic Connections this year.

10 songs recorded in front of a live audience. Released as an CD, but also video for all songs available on The Fretless youtube channel here. 

I know you are used to me gushing about the artists we work with, but this is a first – I LOVE THIS SONG! It strikes me as timeless and beyond genre. We have all felt the pain they stroke with the lyrics and the instruments create a perfect environment for the sentiment. Hannah’s voice is one of the best and she shares her broken heart so clearly mine breaks while listening.

Happy Spring!

Calan performed on Mountain Stage in March and the performance will be pushed out to 240 or so NPR stations around the country starting on Friday April 20th.

Here is a list, by state, of stations and air times to tune in to hear the show.

https://www.mountainstage.org/radio/Pages/Radio-Affiliates.aspx

Their performance was on March 18th and due to scheduling issues they had to drive through the night to get to Charleston, WV. They are one of the hardest working bands I know and are always willing to go the distance to share their love of the music of Wales.

Next for Calan is a recording and performances with a 20 piece band. Invited to Festival Interceltique de Lorient  to celebrate the year of Wales, they decided it was a great opportunity to do something new and will be performing with a mini orchestra. They are busy in the studio this month working on the show for the festival season. Sain Records will announce the release date of the recording by the end of summer.

Photo: Brian Blauser/Mountain Stage