A rip-roaring national tour featuring renowned west Kerry singer and musician Seamus Begley and the BBC Radio 2 Folk Musician of the Year 2012, Tim Edey will perform in the wonderful surroundings of Milltown, Rathconrath in county Westmeath on Sunday April 22 at 7.30pm. The tour which is targeting local communities in six counties is funded by the Arts Council and organised by Artlands.
The traditional concert will be hosted by the Westmeath Rural Arts Group who are planning a warm welcome for the visitors who will also stay in the area. A night of music to raise the spirits and soothe the soul is guaranteed.
Accordion player and singer, Seamus Begley hails from Baile na bPoc in the west Kerry Gaeltacht. A farmer, Seamus is a large imposing man with a puckish sense of humour and an indefatigable love of music and song. From his legendary partnership with guitarist Steve Cooney, to the association with Jim Murray which produced the trad album of the year Ragairne, Seamus Begley is one of the giants of Irish music.
Disgrace Notes is the apt title of his latest album which resulted from his most recent partnership with guitarist Tim Edey and has received rave reviews. Edey hails from Kent in the UK but has Irish roots and has been immersed in folk and trad music from an early age. Considered one of the finest multi-instrumentalists in Celtic music worldwide (hving currently mastered 10 instruments! ), he performs solo and with his own collective and is in great demand both in studio and on stage.
What makes this tour particularly unusual is that the six concerts will be hosted by local community groups and voluntary arts networks. This element of the tour is the brainchild of Artlands and its founder, Conor O’Leary, which trains and supports individuals and local communities to promote arts and cultural events. The tour will visit a number of counties where local voluntary promoters have been mentored by Artlands and it is intended that the concerts will inspire these communities to promote further arts and cultural activity and also enable them to raise funds to support their activities.
The concerts will also provide a platform for local emerging artists to perform in a supporting role thus contributing to their professional development and promoting local culture while the role of voluntary promoters should serve to highlight the important contribution they can make in promoting arts and culture in local communities.
