FEB - MAR 2014 CULTURAL CROSSINGS · Cultural Crossings is the result of a ... featured Mark Knopfler. ... Marc and Ann Savoy and sister of Wilson Savoy

Promoted by the Provost of the Coleraine campus, University of Ulster, in partnership with Causeway Coast Arts.

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CULTURAL CROSSINGSFE

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Cultural Crossings is the result of a partnership between the Provost of the Coleraine campus, University of Ulster, and Causeway Coast Arts. They share a commitment to supporting the arts and engaging with local communities in the Ballymoney, Coleraine, Limavady and Moyle Council areas. In pursuit of this common interest they are presenting a programme of arts and cultural events that reflects the musical and cultural influence of emigrants from Ireland.

The Irish and Ulster-Scots traditions enriched the music, dance and art of their new homelands as emigrants brought with them their instruments

and repertoire. Their influence had a lasting impact on the music of the regions in which they settled. The fiddle, a distinctively Irish and Scottish instrument, plays a huge role in all kinds of music including bluegrass, roots, folk and country. The accordion and flute have also made their way into music in many places throughout the world. Traditional Celtic music too has been influenced by migration and cultural interchange. Cultural Crossings celebrates traditional music and its connections to cultures around the globe with an eclectic fusion of musical traditions.

T H U R S 6 F E B | 8 p mBallymoney Town Hall

THE DOWN AND OUT BLUEGRASS BAND

In the last few years, the Down and Out Bluegrass Band has established a reputation as one of Ireland’s finest bluegrass bands, and is also making its mark beyond these shores. With Roy Brown on double bass, Mal Duffin on fiddle, Richard Leeman on guitar, Howard Walker on banjo, and John Denby on mandolin the band plays traditional bluegrass straight out of the foothills of Tennessee and North Carolina. Their hard-driving banjo and three-part vocal harmonies evoke the golden age of bluegrass, and are heavily influenced by classic artists such as Bill Munroe, Flat and Scruggs and the Stanley Brothers. The band has performed widely throughout the UK and Ireland, including television and radio appearances, and released their first album,

Lowering the Tone, in 2013.

Admission: £9, conc. £7

W E D 1 2 F E B | 8 p mBallymoney Town Hall

WHITHER THE ULSTER-ENGLISHTalk by Paddy Fitzgerald

Since the Good Friday or Belfast Agreement of 1998 a significant amount of energy has been expended in promoting awareness of an ‘Ulster-Scots’ cultural identity. Ulster Protestants, of course, largely trace their family roots here to the substantial inward migration of the seventeenth century, which drew upon Scotland, England and Wales.

Dr Fitzgerald, Lecturer and Development Officer at the Mellon Centre for Migration Studies at the Ulster American Folk Park, will explore more fully the heritage and cultural identity of those who may deem themselves in the early twenty-first century to be ‘Ulster-English’. A primary question to be considered is why this ethnic identity remains so much less prominent in our collective consciousness today than either ‘Ulster-Scots’ or ‘Ulster-Irish’. Looking towards the future, it will be argued that much of the richness which characterises the province’s cultural life derives from the constant exchange and interplay between these three ethnic groups and the sense of ‘throughotherness’ which resulted.

Admission: £2

F R E E A D M I S S I O N

interact-uk.org.uk/interact-art-exhibition

Interact Art ExhibitionSt John on Bethnal Green, 200 Cambridge Heath Rd, London Borough of Tower Hamlets, E2 9PA

1 4 - 2 0 M A R C H 2013O P E N D A I LY

WHITHER THE

ULSTER-ENGLISH

S AT 1 5 F E B | 8 p mRiverside Theatre, Coleraine

THE HENRY GIRLSThe Henry Girls, three sisters from Donegal,

are establishing a reputation as one of the finest musical groups in Ireland. The group was formed in 2002 and released its debut album, Between Us, in 2003. Since then the trio has rapidly gained critical acclaim at home and abroad.

In 2010 they were nominated for an Irish Film and Television Award for Best Original Score for the film A Shine of Rainbows, which featured songs from their third album, Dawn.

Since the 2011 release of their much-acclaimed December Moon, the sisters have brought their music to numerous international audiences, and are about to deliver their finest work to date in their forthcoming album, Louder than Words.

The three are multi-instrumentalists who perform an eclectic mix of traditional Irish music, folk and blues, with spine-tingling three-part vocal harmonies, to produce a musical fusion of the Donegal coastline and the Appalachian Mountains that combines something of our Irish heritage with a more contemporary backdrop.

...their music is a compelling combination that finely blends traditional Irish folk music with American bluegrass and soulful roots

music… a band not to be missed… Irish American Post

Admission: £12, senior citizens £10, students £6

THE PLANTER AND THE GAEL

T H U R S 2 0 F E B | 8 p mBallymoney Town Hall

THE PLANTER AND THE GAEL: TOGETHER IN ULSTER SPEECH Talk by S Alex Blair

The Gaelic language still exerts a big influence on the sound and colour, rhythm and texture of our Ulster speech. However, the speech is basically the English which the Planters brought to our northern province. It mingles with the Gaelic in an interesting and colourful harmony which is recognised beyond our shores.

This talk, by popular local historian Alex Blair, will deal with the Gaelic and the Planter contributions to our speech, and he will discuss words and phrases from both sources. It is a talk full of humour which will give us a better understanding of the way we speak and help us to appreciate the united heritage we have in the words we use each day.

Admission: £2

T H U R S 2 7 F E B | 8 p mFlowerfield Arts Centre, Portstewart

BLUEGRASS, COUNTRY AND ROCK ‘N’ ROLL: A SCOTCH-IRISH CULTURAL CROSSINGTalk by Alister McReynolds

Author Alister McReynolds draws on his research and his new book, Kith and Kin, to present a lively look at how popular music genres emerged in America and how Scotch-Irish immigrants contributed to this fusion of culture and geography.

He will explore how Scottish and Irish tunes mixing with black plantation rhythms, and the emergence of African instruments such as the banjo playing alongside fiddles and guitars, helped to create bluegrass. There will be some surprising discoveries as he uncovers the Ulster roots of many of the major travellers in this musical odyssey, including those of Clayton McMichen, fiddle player, Moon Mullican, boogie woogie piano player, and Elvis Presley, the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll himself.

Alister McReynolds is an Honorary Research Fellow at the Centre for Irish and Scottish Studies with the University of Ulster. He has lectured extensively in the United States on Scotch-Irish history and culture.

Admission: £2

AMERICAN

TUNESCaledonian & Hibernian Soul

Together In Ulster Speech

THE PLANTER AND THE GAEL

THE PLANTER AND THE GAEL

&ROCK'N'ROLL

T H U R S 6 M A R | 8 p mFlowerfield Arts Centre, Portstewart

BAP KENNEDY IN CONCERT

Belfast born singer and songwriter, Bab Kennedy, has won a global audience for his music, which fuses elements of folk and rock with Celtic soul.

His new CD, Let’s Start Again, is the much-anticipated follow-up to his five-star album The Sailor’s Revenge, which was produced by and featured Mark Knopfler. The Sailor’s Revenge hit number five in the American Folk Roots Chart and with Let’s Start Again, Bap’s music looks set to continue making waves internationally.

Over the last twelve months, he has toured with his band in America, Italy, Germany, Holland, France, Norway and Switzerland as well as throughout the UK and Ireland.

Now, with a collection of classic new songs, Bap Kennedy is at the top of his game – with a back catalogue that includes collaborations with Van Morrison, Steve Earle and Shane MacGowan, this is a show not to be missed.

Kennedy’s approach blends country, folk and Irish traditional textures with seamless skill.

Hot Press

Admission: £15

S AT 1 M A R | 8 p mRoe Valley Arts & Cultural Centre, Limavady

SARAH SAVOYThe musical force that is Sarah Savoy and

a top Cajun dance band with one foot in the honky-tonk and the other in the juke joint deliver a magnetic performance. Louisiana-born Sarah Savoy is the eldest daughter of the legendary Marc and Ann Savoy and sister of Wilson Savoy of the Pine Leaf Boys. She plays both guitar and washboard and, with an engaging line in humorous chat, she wins over the audience with her easy Southern charm.

Keeping the music traditional, with a nod to Cajun’s Irish and Scots musical origins and a little raunchiness and a lot of rock’n’roll thrown into the mix, this performance promises to be an unforgettable musical experience, complemented by candlelit cabaret style seating, ‘bring your own’ and room to dance the night away!

A rocker’s voice and a solid guitar scratch...and what stage presence!

TRAD Magazine

Admission: £12, conc. £10

F R I 1 4 M A R | 7 . 3 0 p mMarine Hotel, North Street, Ballycastle

INTERNATIONAL MUSIC FROM GUADELOUPE AND IRELAND

Traditional instruments and songs from Guadeloupe combine with traditional Celtic music for an exploration of musical influences.

The music troupe Pitak, which includes musicians from Guadeloupe who are now mainly based in Ireland, are part of the shifting musical dynamic in Ireland which contributes to expanding cultural horizons here. Their performance offers an authentic experience of music from Guadeloupe and demonstrates how it fuses with other musical influences.

Pitak will be joined by the well-known folk and traditional musicians Michael and Catherine Sands and Aodan Jeffries, multi-instrumentalists who between them play banjo, whistle, flute, accordion, pipes, bouzouki and more.

There will also be a short performance by Ballycastle Comhaltas which promotes Irish music in the area.

In this exploration of the different musical traditions in Ireland and Guadeloupe traditional musicians from both cultures find meeting points through the power of music.

Admission: £6, conc. £5

AMERICAN

TUNESCaledonian & Hibernian Soul

T U E S 1 1 M A R | 8 p mMarine Hotel, North Street, Ballycastle

AMERICAN TUNES: CALEDONIAN AND HIBERNIAN SOUL Talk by Frank Ferguson

The Atlantic has proved a valuable gateway for centuries for the peoples and cultures of Scotland and Ireland to find new homes and expression in America. Prominent in this interchange has been the ballad and song tradition which has found exciting and radical transformations in the New World.

In this talk, Frank Ferguson will explore how Irish and Scottish song has proved influential in the work of a variety of American songwriters from Stephen Foster to Bob Dylan and how Ulster-Scottish connections are found everywhere in the music of the United States from country to rap.

Dr Frank Ferguson is Director of the University of Ulster’s Centre for Irish and Scottish Studies and project manager of the Ulster-Scots Poetry Project, which is based at the University and was funded by the Ministerial Advisory Group for the Ulster-Scots Academy. He has written extensively on Ulster-Scots literature and its influences.

Admission: £2

Tickets an

d Information

f o r e v e n t s i n : T E L :

Ballycastle, Marine Hotel 028 2076 2024

Ballymoney Town Hall 028 2766 0230

Flowerfield Arts Centre 028 7083 1400

Riverside Theatre 028 7012 3123

Roe Valley Arts & Cultural Centre – Ionad Ealaíon agus Cultúir Ghleann na Ró 028 7776 0650

Bookings can be made in person or by phone. Payment accepted by cash, cheque or debit/credit card. (Payment for talks by cash only.)

F o r g e n e r a l i n f o r m a t i o n a b o u t a l l C u l t u r a l C r o s s i n g s e v e n t s c o n t a c t :

Development and Alumni Relations 028 7012 4683University of Ulster, Coleraine campus

This brochure is also available on the University’s website at: www.culture.ulster.ac.uk/CulturalCrossings2014.pdf

It can also be made available on request as a Word document.