MUSIC Spuds, with strings attached

WESTPORT BOUND?Ben Belcher, Aaron Jonah Lewis and Lindsay McCaw of The Corn Potato String Band.

The Corn Potato String Band, authentic purveyors of American Appalachian folk music, will perform in Matt Molloy’s Yard Bar this Thursday, October 8, at 8.30pm.

Champion US musicians Aaron Jonah Lewis, Lindsay McCaw and Ben Belcher have delighted audiences with their driving fiddle tunes and harmonious singing across the US, Canada, Europe, Central America and even India.

All three are award-winning multi-instrumentalists dedicated to continuing the traditional fiddle and banjo music and dance of the Central Southern US. In addition to being award-winning fiddlers, they play banjo, guitar, bass and mandolin and cover many different antiquated styles, including ballads, ho-downs, country rags and southern gospel.

Reviewing the band for ‘Songlines’, Doug DeLoach wrote: “What sets the music of the Corn Potato String Band apart is a deeply pervasive strain of soulful spontaneity, which so many similar groups seek but never manage to find. From hootenanny send-ups such as ‘Raleigh and Spencer’ and twin-fiddling showcases like ‘Russian Rag’ and gospel-tinged toe-tappers like ‘Little Black Train’, the Corn Potato String Band reel with virtuosic swagger, never letting sentimentality or historiography get in the way of a wailing good tune.”

The band were one of the headline acts of the 2014 Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival, the organisers of are bringing them back to Westport for the October 8 performance, part of a national tour.

Admission €10.