Clew Bay Folk Club up for international honours

‘Not a gig, not a session, a space to play and to listen’

Ciara Moynihan

Word is spreading far and wide about the Clew Bay Folk Club, an open music group that meets monthly in Westport. Proof positive of this comes with the popular club’s latest accolade – a nomination for an Epic Award, which celebrates the achievements of voluntary arts groups across the UK and Ireland. The Clew Bay Folk Club is one of eight Irish arts groups to have been shortlisted. The ultimate winners will now be decided by a public  online vote.
Clew Bay Folk Club was set up two years ago by local musicians Tim Rogers and Tony Reidy. Tired of playing in noisy pubs, they set up the club in Matt Molloy’s Yard Bar where the emphasis is on the music rather than boozy socialising. The club now boasts a great mix of performers, aged four to 84, as well as a wide range of music genres, from folk, bluegrass and Irish, blues to traditional, country and rock.
The Clew Bay Folk Club’s ethos is perfectly encapsulated in its own description of itself: ‘Not a gig, not a session, a space to play and to listen’. Key to securing a nomination for the awards, says Epic, was the club’s unique appeal and welcoming spirit: ‘Musicians and singers love coming to perform in such a supportive environment. The club helps focus people and encourages them to try new genres and subject matters, and it is a huge confidence builder for inexperienced musicians’.
“We are delighted that our little folk club has been shortlisted,” says a proud Tim Rogers. “The club has developed naturally within our community and includes the very young and our elders. We gather monthly and share songs and verse around an agreed theme. It’s lively and informal … everyone is welcome and everyone shows respect and support for one another.
“That the Epic Awards recognises how such a simple idea can produce a meaningful and creative interactive space reminds us that what we are doing is important and worthy of celebrating.”

The Clew Bay Folk Club is held on the second Saturday of every month, from 4pm to 6pm in Matt Molloy’s Yard Bar, Bridge Street, Westport. All are welcome. To vote for the club in the Epic Awards, visit www.shortlist.epicawards.co.uk.