Cork Folk Festival: Not just a folk revival, it’s a rejuvenation!

The Cork Folk Festival’s 43rd edition will be staged across the city, with an array of folk and traditional musicians playing indoor and open-air céilís, and with pub session trails, classes, workshops, film screenings, and concerts.

One of the most anticipated concerts will be Live At Saint Lukes, with an album launch by Clare Sands, self-titled and co-produced by her and Brian Casey. She is delighted to be coming back to her old stomping ground.

“It’s amazing to be doing my own gig, with my own album with my own band, after playing at the Cork Folk Festival through the years. It’s particularly good for me to be playing this in St Lukes, as I lived in the area for five or so years and set up a studio there, it’s a homecoming. I played Live At Saint Lukes with The Hothouse Flowers and knew it’d be perfect for my album launch. It’s an honour to be taking part in the festival.”

Clare’s concerts are renowned for her musical prowess, as well as her passion, and this album launch tour promises more than usual, as “each night I’ve put together on this launch tour is a different, but an important part of each one is my sister, Lainey Sands, a fantastic fiddle player and singer and a pure ball of energy, which is greatest when you are on the road for a few weeks. I’ll have double bass, drums, and harp at Live At Saint Lukes — with a few special guests that I can’t disclose just yet — and I’ve incorporated live visuals into the show as well.

“The album itself is a journey from Malin Head to Mizen Head, the whole West Coast. The themes surrounding the album are tradition, the sea, our ancestry, and the power of women, so it’s important for me to have my sister involved, because of all those themes, and to embrace the big space that is Saint Lukes.”

Clare’s debut at the Cork Folk Festival was with another member of her family.

“I played my first Cork Folk Festival joining my dad, Seamus, at the fiddle concert. It was such an honour for me to be part of that, accompanying him and joining the other musicians of such a calibre. A few years ago I joined in with the ‘Gals At Play’ concert, along with Mary Greene and other artists. It was great to be have the support of the other women playing and be able to lend mine back. Both of those concerts were in An Spailpín Fánach, which is a venue I love for the sessions and the craic, the dark corners and ceoil.”

Another musician looking forward to that venue is Eoin Stan O’Sullivan. “I love the different concerts in An Spailpín Fánach, where the focus is on one instrument. There’s always different ones, such as the fiddle, accordion, concertina, the flute and whistle, and even though you get four or five musicians all playing the same instrument, you really hear how everyone has their own style. It really shows how traditional music is such a great celebration of self-expression.”

How the music performance is presented is of note to O’Sullivan. “One of the things that sets Irish music apart is that it’s never very formal at all. The most formal element is the stage. The music will be just like you wandered into a special gathering where really good musicians are sharing their tunes. Our concert on Thursday is made up of musicians who have released music on the Sliabh Luachra label. I set it up in 2020 to release music from the area, following on from the work I’ve been doing with Cork, Kerry and Limerick county councils, helping to support and promote the traditional music of Sliabh Luachra.”

O’Sullivan has even longer standing connections to the Cork Folk Festival, and he credits it with influencing other projects he has taken on. “I’ve been attending the festival since the mid-1990s.

“I know that, over the years, different formats and sponsors have come and gone, but the festival remained great for bringing great music to Cork. Back in the early 2000s, I actually worked at the folk festival for a few years. Later, I got a chance to run a festival in Newmarket, called Scully Fest, so I used my experience from Cork Folk Festival when putting on events and programming.”

William Hammond, one of the organisers of the Cork Folk Festival, continues the theme of reflecting on the festival while also looking forward. “Each year, we programme the festival with an eye on the very first festival we ran in 1979. Back then, it featured with a strong input from local musicians, musicians who toured the folk clubs in the 1960s and 1970s and one or two international names.

“The focus was always on Cork, its musicians, its music, its songs and dances, and it included a big cohort of traditional musicians, a good few old-timey and bluegrass musicians, and some singer-songwriters.

“This year, the line-up is similar to 1979 and there are a few who featured back then, including Jimmy Crowley, Mick Daly, Garry Cronin, Máire Ní Chathasaigh , Frankie Gavin, Matt Cranitch, Jackie Daly, Charlie Piggott, and, of course, Mary Black, who played with her family in the early years.”

“This year’s line-up will reflect on new talent in Ireland, young musicians such as Caitlin Ní Gabhann (concertina), Paddy Egan (concertina), Aoife Granville (flute), Bryan O’Leary (accordion) and singers like Nell Ní Chroinín with DANÚ, Emma Langford, Clare Sands, Alannah Thornburg, Aran Islander, Padraig Jack and Thomas McCarthy, who collects and sings songs from the travelling community. The festival is also delighted to celebrate the Baltimore Fiddle Fair, who are coming to Cork Folk Festival to celebrate 30 years of incredible music.”

Clare is forthright about the state of Irish folk music. “There’s a revival happening. I do believe in 50 years’ time or so people will look back at the 1960s, when The Chieftains happened, as one, and now as another one, and it’s very exciting for me, someone who has been playing fiddle since I was three and to have that music received so well at home and abroad, it’s not just a revival, it’s a rejuvenation, really.”

A Celebration of Sliabh Luachra with will be held in An Spailpín Fánach on Thursday, September 29. Clare Sands plays Live At Saint Lukes on Saturday, October 1. The Cork Folk Festival runs from Thursday, September 29, to Sunday, October 2. The full programme of ticketed events, workshops, and free trail is at www.corkfolkfestival.com.