Athy Bluegrass festival brings pickers in from all over

ATHY, 21 July 2002: by Brian Byrne. It started small yesterday afternoon, with just Tony O'Brien on guitar and Lurgan banjo man Mel Corry picking between themselves in a corner of Athy GAA Club's bar. It seemed for a time that not much was going to happen, which perhaps was not surprising as many of the Bluegrass Festival participants had been up until four yesterday morning after the opening concert of the weekend on Friday night.

But gradually various musicians and fans began straggling in and tuning up, joining in the jamming one by one. Like fiddle player Fintan McClure, over here from his US base for an Irish wedding. And John and Noreen Hunter from near Omagh, dedicated country music fans and exponents. And members of the various bands from Holland and the US who had come to Athy for the event.

The headline groups were 4 Wheel Drive (Holland), Ross Nickerson (USA), Clem O Brien and the Rough Deal String Band, Niall Toner, Nth’ Exposure, Woodbine, Carrie Brown, and Paul & Gerry. A number of these performed in the back room of the club on Friday night, the others last night.

But yesterday afternoon's impromptu session could arguably have been as good as any of the concerts. And as a participatory event it was something to be enjoyed by anyone with a fiddle, banjo, guitar, mouthorgan, or mandolin.

I guess that's one of the attractions of bluegrass - the variety of instruments that can be used in a session ... and all of the above were there yesterday afternoon, as well as Noreen Hunter's electric bass (bought for her many years ago by her husband, for £14) and a full traditional bass as well, courtesy of 4 Wheel Drive.

The weekend also included a banjo workshop yesterday lunchtime, given by Ross Nickerson, and this morning there's an open mic' session for anyone to sing or play their stuff in a concert setting. Reckon this one will warm up for another jam in the afternoon.

The Athy International Bluegrass Festival was started in 1991 by the town's Chamber of Commerce, centred around local bluegrass band the Flint Hill Boys. Tony O'Brien, whose son Clem is a Flint Hill Boy, has been looking after the organisation for the last five years or so, and he says there's been a strong increase in interest in the last couple of those.

"It's getting a bit better every year," he said yesterday. "This year we have fans from every one of the 32 counties, as well as Holland and the US."

The festival is sponsored by Norse Security and is grant-aided by Kildare County Council and Athy Town Council. A RealAudio sample of yesterday's jam session can be heard here.

Above - the banjo workshop given by Ross Nickerson (right).

'Yesterday afternoon's impromptu session could arguably have been as good as any of the concerts'

'I guess that's one of the attractions of bluegrass - the variety of instruments that can be used in a session'

'This year we have fans from every one of the 32 counties, as well as Holland and the US'

'Headline groups were 4 Wheel Drive (Holland), Ross Nickerson (USA), Clem O Brien and the Rough Deal String Band, Niall Toner, Nth’ Exposure, Woodbine, Carrie Brown, and Paul & Gerry'

A RealAudio sample of yesterday's jam session can be heard here

©2002knn