AMERICAN FOLK, traditional, and country music is a convergence of the folk and trad styles that the Irish, Scots, English, and German emigrants brought with them to the New World.
The Irish contribution to American folk has been enormous with Irish music giving rise to the American trad genre of bluegrass and the musical connections between the two countries is to be celebrated in Galway next month.
The fourth annual Galway Americana Festival takes place from September 15 to 19 and will feature concerts and talks in a variety of venues around the city. The programme for this year’s festival will be officially launched by Karyn Posner-Mullen of the US Embassy in the Galway City Museum on Tuesday at 12 noon.
The festival begins on Wednesday 15 with gigs from Mad Uncle Harry in the Bierhouse and The Unwanted in The Crane. On Thursday 16 Freddie White will play The Crane.
On Friday 17 there will be shows from Paul Heaton, the former lead singer of The Housemartins and The Beautiful South, in Monroe’s Live; and Left Right & Centre, with special guest Henry McCullough (formerly guitarist in Paul McCartney’s Wings ) in the Róisín Dubh.
There will also be a public lecture by author and editorial director of Brandon Books Steven McDonagh on the Irish ancestry of US president Barack Obama. Mr McDonagh is the author of Barack Obama - the road from Moneygall.
Saturday 18 will see a lecture on all things musical by Dr Rock in the Galway City Museum and a show by Nashville producer and songwriter Jim Rooney in the Róisín Dubh.
The festival draws to a close on Sunday with US singer-songwriter Buddy Mondlock, best known for the song ‘Cats Of The Colosseum’, playing Cava restaurant, and Buffalo In The Castle playing The Crane.
The festival is supported by the US Embassy in Dublin.
