Ciara Moynihan
The Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival may be over for another year, but music fans need not despair. The festival’s organisers, who operate under the umbrella Electric Cave Productions, are not sitting on their collective laurels.
A full programme of live music has been arranged for Geraghty’s Pub on The Octagon in Westport, and plans for the winter months are already afoot.
One of the highlights will definitely be the Geraghty’s gig this Saturday night, July 17, when Galway band The Rye will perform their first-ever Westport show.
Dubbed ‘the new Pogues’, The Rye churns out a lively fusion of Irish trad, country, reggae, folk, rock, blues and soul. This group really knows how to throw a party and get a crowd dancing – especially with their original compositions (‘There’s a Moth at your Window’ being a standout number).
Ross Christopher of Awaken Music Review gave the band a four-out-of-five star rating, saying their music is “full of danceable percussion, Celtic ferocity, and enough auxiliary instrumentation to put a smile on anyone’s face.” Mike Farragher of The Irish Voice was equally enthusiastic: “The Rye play, in their words, ‘savage driven ceoil.’ They throw together modern rock melodies into a stew of expert traditional playing, turn-on-a-dime chops rarely seen outside a lower Manhattan jazz club, and an irreverence that ties the whole package together in a rowdy, exuberant bow!”
Admission to the gig is free, and the fun and games kick off at around 9.45pm.
