Ceol Anocht - The Podcast - with Martin Bridgeman

I was joined by Mick Foley and David Tuohy who are part of the hard working Kilkenny Pipers Club, which was set up to further the art and craft if Uileann Piping. We spoke about the great work that the club has done and the challenges they face and, as you 'll hear, their passion and commitment to piping. They spoke about some upcoming events, including their fundraiser, which features piper (and TG4 Gradam Ceol winner), Mick O'Brien, his daughter Ciara Ní Bhriain and Ciarán Ó'Gealbháinhttps://cleeres.com/events-guide/an-evening-of-traditional-irish-music-song-with-mick-o-brien-ciara-ni-bhriain-and-ciaran-o-gealbhain/

I caught up with Niamh on her album launch tour in June, 2024. She played a lovely (and an all too brief) gig in Rollercoaster Records. We chatted for a few minutes after, about the work involved in the production of "Come As You Are".

I caught up with Oram Grace, AKA Organic Produce who has produced his third album "Rush", due for release on August 3rd. Born and raised in Kilkenny, Organic Produce is a young up and coming producer/DJ. He first learned how to make beats when he was only 14 years old and within a few months he had released his first album "Hazy Instrumentals" in 2022, consisting of soulful sample based hip-hop. In early 2023 he released two more albums in the same genre expanding his skillset and only getting better, and in the same time releasing his first project exploring house music genres. With three official house music releases and a few remixes under his belt he is confidently making his way into the dance/rave scene. We chatted about his coming to this style of music, and what started out as a brief chat about the upcoming album, soon moved into (me mostly) asking questions about his own form of music and the similarities to other forms of music, his preparation and approach to producing. I learned a lot, and I would highly recommend this artist. The album will be on all the usual platforms and you'll be able to see Organic Produce on stage in Cleere's as part of the "You Bloom - The Future Sound Of Kilkenny", a series of gigs organised through the Arts Office Of Kilkenny County Council, on September 1st, 2024.

he late, very great Philip Chevron, of the Radiators and The Pogues, wrote songs for a musical (or a ‘tuner’ as he called it) which he devised with Declan Lynch, friend, journalist and novelist. With an Irish-American boxing theme on the life of a fictional character, Jack Rooney, the work in progress featured not only Philip himself, but also Ronnie Drew and Kirsty McColl. The music was thought ‘lost’ for many years, but has been recovered, curated and collated by Philip’s sister, Deborah Blacoe, and produced by his former colleague (and all round legend) Pete Holidai, with a beautiful and timeless cover design by Steve Averill. Pete arranged for me to chat with Declan about the genesis of the album and shone a light on a largely unknown aspect of Philip’s musical life.You can buy a copy of this wonderful album on Bandcamp: https://philipchevron.bandcamp.com/album/the-tunerc

Emlyn Holden & Madeleine Leclézio of the Southern Fold dropped in to chat and play songs from the new release. Emlyn has returned with a new lineup of Stephen Doohan (guitars), Brian McGrath (bass), Peter Flynn (keyboards), Gregor Beresford (drums) and Madeleine Leclézio (vocals), joining him to work on his collection of songs, old and new with a view to an album later in the year. It's to be entitled "Beneath the Blaze of the Burning Sun” and is the result of initial home recordings and further band recordings with acclaimed producer Leo Pearson in Barn Studios, Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny. We recorded the music with Emlyn and Madeleine and Emlyn returned to chat about things

I got to catch up Annika, a young musician and songwriter in Studio 2. We discussed her musical starting points and how she came to move from classical music to her own compositions.