Looking for something different this bank holiday weekend?

Then why not head along to the inaugural Greystones Americana & Roots Weekend which takes place over this coming June bank holiday weekend. The first of its kind in Co Wicklow, the festival will feature lots of fine live music, family activities and master-classes, oh and the sun may well shine! And better still all music events are a recession busting FREE of cover charge! The festival will feature bluegrass, roots and alt country acts from both sides of the Atlantic. You can be sure they’ll be bashing out all kinds of Americana goodness. It’s an all day event Saturday and Sunday, buskers are welcome and there will be an abundance of sessions. There’ll be a good old timey atmosphere, banjos, washboards and a full pig on a spit barbecue for that down home authenticity! For the kids there’ll be bouncy castles, face painting, hot dogs and a rodeo bull! Artists … There’s more

Johnny Massacre- I wonder where he got it.

Julian Gough thought he saw Johnny Massacre in Berlin last night. Johnny was never one of the best buskers. He was the best. If you had to walk down Shop Street on a summer’s evening you’d want to give yourself an extra half an hour for your journey. Johnny would have brought the street to a standstill. I never caught up with him for that pint after he got back to Ireland from his travels. He was dead within a month of a quick chat in Easons. His funeral was one of the best day’s craic I ever had. The priest struggled to give a convincing eulogy as his inexperience with beds of nails showed. The congregation rippled with laughter and rippled with grief- we knew the enormous talent that had passed. His mother invited about a million of us to stay for dinner in the hotel afterwards. She wouldn’t … There’s more