| ++ 100% Music Songwriting Contest ++ Kevin Dempsey ++ Bill Whelan ++ Brian McNeill ++ Steve Tilston ++ Goran Bregović ++ Joan Baez ++ Martin Taylor ++ Dinny McLaughlin ++ Tim Hart ++ Den2Radio ++ Serbian World Music Summit ++ Cantigas do Camiño ++ La Mar de Músicas ++ Up and Coming: ... ++ Tommy Sands ++ |
Before the Wells Go Dry - Win Irish Folk Festival CD's
Thanks to Magnetic Music and the Irish Folk Festival we are able to raffle off 2 CD's by The Doonans, Niamh Ní Charra and Mat Walklate, respectively.
Competition closed!
100% Music Songwriting Contest
www.100-music-songwriting-contest.com
100% Music Songwriting Contest is an annual songwriting contest that awards the best international songwriters from all over the world and connects them with music industry and media professionals though the creation of a promotional CD that will be distributed worldwide. After an initial selection made by the 100% Music Songwriting Contest, the 10 best entries in each category will be judged by an external jury composed of industry and media professionals. 3 winners per category will then be chosen, as well as 3 overall winners from each first-place winner in each category.
The 2010 Edition is currently accepting entries and is open from June 14 to November 16, 2010. Contest categories are:
Acoustic: Acoustic, Folk, Singer/Songwriter, Bluegrass, Country Pop/AC: Adult Contemporary, Pop Rock: Rock, Classic Rock , Alternative, Goth, Metal, Punk Electronic: Electronic, Dance. Blues/Jazz: Blues, Jazz. Soundtracks, TV, Video games World: World, Celtic, Gospel, Funk, Latin, Reggae, Soul, etc. Hip Hop/R&B: Hip-Hop, Rap, Urban, R&B
www.kevindempsey.co.uk Kevin Dempsey, *29.05.1950, England. Guitarist, singer and songwriter Kevin Dempsey made his first impression as part of the progressive pop/rock band Dando Shaft. Following the group's breakup in 1972, he spent time in India before heading to America, where he played jazz and Latin music. Kevin later returned to England, where he formed a folk duo with singer Polly Bolton. He spent most of the 1980s and early '90s as a member of Whippersnapper, featuring Martin Jenkins, Chris Leslie and Dave Swarbrick. The collaboration with Swarb continued when they formed the group Lazarus in 2006, as Swarb recovered from his lung transplant. Since 2001 Kevin is also playing with young fiddler Joe Broughton. In 2009 he recorded an album, "The Salty Diamond," with young American fiddler and vocalist Rosie Carson.
"The Roots of Riverdance" "Timedance," composed by Whelan and Donal Lunny and performed by Planxty, featured in the interval of the Eurovision Song Contest in 1981. In 1987, he wrote his first major orchestral suite commemorating the film music of Seán Ó Riada. He also produced records for many folk artists, including Andy Irvine and Davy Spillane, and bands such as Patrick Street, Stockton's Wing, and The Dubliners.
Brian McNeill, *06.04.1950, Falkirk, Scotland, UK. Brian is recognised as one of Scotland's foremost musician, songwriter and musical director. He has brought traditional and new Scottish music to a worldwide audience, starting his musical training with violin lessons, but soon taking up the electric guitar. His student years brought him to Celtic music and back to the fiddle. In 1969 he co-founded The Battlefield Band, which since became one of Scotland's most popular outfits. He played with the Batties until 1990, in the 1990s he toured extensively with the group Clan Alba, and more recently he has collaborated and toured with fellow Clan Alba member Dick Gaughan. His songwriting about Scotland's past and present has established him as one of Scotland's most acclaimed songwriters. Brian has also published three mystery books.
He was a member of John Renbourn's group Ship of Fools and performed frequently with Maggie Boyle, his partner in the 1990s. Tilston's most popular composition "Slip Jigs and Reels" has widely been recorded.
Steve Tilston "Ziggurat"
Goran Bregović, *22.03.1950, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Goran Bregović is one of the most internationally known composers of the Balkans. He rose to fame playing guitar with the ethno rock band group Bijelo Dugme (White Button), one of the most popular bands in the former SFR Yugoslavia from 1974 to 1989. In the 1990s, Bregović entered the world of film music and composed the scores to a number of Emir Kusturica’s films ("Time of the Gypsies", "Arizona Dream", "Underground").
His compositions are a fusion of popular music with traditional music from the Balkans. Since 1998, Bregović has been performing with his "Weddings and Funerals Orchestra", comprising a brass band, bagpipes, a string ensemble, a male choir and Roma singers. In 2010, Bregović was awarded Best Artist at the Songlines Music Awards 2010, whereas his participation in the Eurovision Song Contest proved unsuccessful.
www.goranbregovic.rs
In March 2010, Joan Baez has received the Orden de las Artes y las Letras de España (Order of Arts and Letters from Spain) in recognition of "a trajectory governed by the artistic and personal commitment in favor of individual rights and civil and political liberties." The award is the most prestigious award given to foreign artists in Spain. In recommending Joan for this honor, the Culture Ministry said that she "has been a benchmark that transcends the field of music for a generation of Spanish defenders of political freedom and peaceful coexistence." The ceremony was attended by Spanish folk singers such as Pablo Guerrero, Luis Pastor and Concha Buika .
The award is the first time that the prestigious RSAMD have given an honourary doctorate to a guitarist. This spring saw Martin Taylor launch the Martin Taylor Guitar Academy with one of the co-founders of AOL, David Butler. In its first day students from over 15 countries signed up.
Find out what’s happening in Denmark by going to the Den2Radio website, and listening to the online radio program ”Folk Danmark – in English”. Folk Danmark is the world’s only online radio program focused on the Danish roots and folk music scene. This English language version of "Folk Danmark" speaks to roots and world music fans outside of Denmark; it offers both a general overview of Danish folk music and a unique chance to learn about what’s happening now in the Danish music scene. By listening to Folk Danmark you can be on top of the latest developments in Danish roots music, and hear the latest recordings. You’ll also discover how to gain free online access to over 10,000 traditional Danish fiddle tunes collected from old Danish handwritten manuscripts. The show is presented by Danish musician and music journalist, Morten Alfred Høirup, and is free of charge.
www.den2radio.dk
Serbian World Music Summit
www.worldmusic.autentik.net The first Serbian World Music Summit was held at the Ethnographic Museum in Belgrade on 30th April 2010.
Harpsichordist Milos Petrovic, guitar player Dragomir Milenkovic, singer Biljana Krstic and ethnomusicologist Marija Vitas once again drew attention to the bad situation of world music in Serbia and to the impossibility of its presentation to the world. They stated that only a few artists had a chance to perform at festivals worldwide and only thanks to their personal engagement and eagerness.
The President of the World Music Association of Serbia and editor-in-chief of the world music magazine Etnoumlje, Oliver Djordjevic, stressed out that a main goal of the association would be co-financing performances of Serbian artists on domestic and foreign festivals. He said they were also preparing a Serbian world music internet radio and constructing a new recording studio.
During the summit, ethno-jazz bands Popecitelji, SM & A Priori and Misterija Carpatica appeared on stage.
Cantigas do Camiño
"Cantigas do Camiño"
2010 is one of those special years called Xacobeos, to celebrate the medieval pilgrimage way to Saint James burial place in the city of Santiago de Compostela (Galicia, NW Spain). The Galician government and other organisations have relied on the record label Do Fol Música to get together a list of up to 27 top Galician folk musicians & bands, to release a sampler CD ‘Cantigas do Camiño’, and to take them on tour throughout Galicia and Madrid.
The bandwagon also stopped at the La Taberna de Elisa in Madrid's downtown. La Elisa is run by the Galician gaita piper Santy Barral (Xtramonio), who never misses any opportunity to keep the flame of folk music alive in this place. In June, fans of Irish traditional music had the chance to catch fiddler Tommy Peoples and uilleann piper Paddy Keenan. The local duo Nua, consisting of Irish fiddler Eoghan Neff and Spanish uilleann piper Cesar Pastor, is frequently performing in the pub.
Colombia will be the main character in the 16th edition of La Mar de Músicas, organized by the Culture Department of Cartagena Town Hall, which will be held between 9th and 24th July 2010. Music, Art, Cinema and Literature will revolve around this Latin American country During the festival many other stars will shine, and the worldwide premiere of the project Afro-Cubism will start the festival. Afro-Cubism is the work that finally joins music from Cuba and Mali, after the attempt to merge musicians from both countries by Nick Gold in 1996 which had the legendary Buena Vista Social Club as a result. Gold has eventually carried out his original idea and has merged Eliades Ochoa, Toumani Diabaté, Basekou Kouyaté and Kasse Mady among others for a record which is going to be marketed this summer.
www.lamardemusicas.com
FROG Festival Listing |
Dublin, Ireland: www.pipers.ie
Rudolstadt, Germany: www.tff-rudolstadt.de
12-18 July 2010 - KAUSTINEN FOLK MUSIC FESTIVAL
Kaustinen, Finland: www.kaustinen.net
15 July - 9 Sep 2010 - GONG CONCERT SERIES
Torino, Italy: www.felmay.it
Bozen, Italy: www.europeade2010.it
22-25 July 2010 - VILJANDI FOLK MUSIC FESTIVAL
Viljandi, Estonia: www.folk.ee
6-15 August 2010 - FESTIVAL INTERCELTIQUE DE LORIENT
Britanny, France: www.festival-interceltique.com
6-8 August 2010 - DRANOUTER FOLK FESTIVAL
Dranouter, Belgium: www.folkdranouter.be
13-15 August 2010 - FOLKWOODS FESTIVAL
Eindhoven, Netherlands: www.folkwoods.nl
26-29 August 2010 - TØNDER FESTIVAL
Tønder, Denmark: www.tf.dk
Wadebridge, Cornwall, Britain: www.wadebridgefolk.co.uk
www.wkpf.org
|
the Circle Be Wide" |
Last but not least: Tommy Sands Refused to be Censored
Northern Irish songwriter, performer and peace activist Tommy Sands' scheduled performance at the "Festival Bloomsday Concert" in June 2010 was cancelled after Sands refused to be censored. Sands was asked by the organizers of the events, the Israeli Ireland Friendship League in association with the Municipality of Ramat Hasharon, to not perform "Peace on the Shores of Gaza," the song he had written as the anthem for the MV Rachel Corrie that set sail from Ireland to Gaza. Tommy Sands was performing in Israel, Palestine and Gaza during his tour. When asked about his role as a peace activist musician he responded, "Trust me, it would be a lot easier to stay home and make records, but we have a duty to contribute to the betterment of society."
