Flann O?Brien?s darkly comic masterpiece The Third Policeman forms the basis of this very special Festival event. Narration is by Stephen Rea with music by Colin Reid and guests. Reid will perform Quintet No 2, a brand new suite inspired by The Third Policeman, blending the music to the wry...

With plays and films such as Educating Rita, Shirley Valentine, Our Day Out, and Blood Brothers, Willy Russell has won huge and appreciative audiences all over the world. His most recent novel The Wrong Boy has been translated into fifteen languages. What is perhaps less well known, is his...

Linton Kwesi Johnson and the Dennis Bovell Dub Band have been performing together for over 25 years, travelling around the world to bring Johnson's reggae poetry and music to a huge variety of audiences. Linton Kwesi Johnson writes the poems and the bass lines to all the tracks which are...

Grammy Award winning artist Boz Scaggs' newest album But Beautiful is an assured, logical next step in an enduring musical career. But Beautiful, which will be released on Scaggs? own Gray Cat Records, showcases his vocal artistry and sets a new benchmark for a career that has spanned 30...

Arty McGlynn is unarguably the most influential guitarist in Irish music today. He is also a highly sought after recording artist and producer. Testimony to his craft can be heard on countless albums produced in Ireland over the past twenty years. Also central to his working life is his...

Labelled by many as the Jimi Hendrix of the pipes, Carlos Nu?ez is one of the best pipers in the world. His debut album Brotherhood of Stars (1996) which featured and was co-produced by Ry Cooder and The Chieftains? Paddy Moloney went platinum in Spain, selling over 100,000 copies and...

Husband and wife duo Mair?ad N? Mhaonaigh (fiddle and songs) and Dermot Byrne (accordion) form the cornerstone of the superb traditional music band Altan. Both are from extraordinarily musical families in Donegal, a county rich in music and song. Their close personal relationship and long...

The Waterboys make a welcome return to Galway Arts Festival, following the release of their new album Universal Hall, the follow-up to 2000's critically acclaimed comeback album A Rock In The Weary Land. This latest album contains songs in a series of unique, uncompromising and...

Canadian singer/songwriter Ron Sexsmith has earned worldwide acclaim not only from critics but also from fellow performers. Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello and John Hiatt - some of the same artists who initially inspired Ron to become a musician - are among his supporters. He released his...

Karan Casey is one of the most instantly recognisable, alluring and original voices in all of world music. Her new recording Distant Shore is a collection of potent and beautiful Irish and contemporary ballads. The former longtime lead vocalist with the Irish supergroup Solas exhibits the...

Born in Massachusetts, 24 year old Erin McKeown is boundlessly original and infinitely talented. Brandishing one of the most distinctive guitar styles around, with a voice to match, Erin McKeown is also proficient on bass, piano, mandolin, and banjo. Her debut album Distillation finds her...

He?s just twenty-one but he?s single-handedly turning the English folk music world on its head. Jim Moray is a massive talent who has taken songs from English traditional music and re-worked them to create some of the most startlingly original, contemporary recordings to come out of the folk...

U.K. He?s just twenty-one but he?s single-handedly Jim Moray Masterful tunesmith and former frontman of The Prayer Boat, Emmett Tinley has just finished recording his first solo album for Atlantic Records in New York. The album was produced by Victor Van Vugt who has previously worked...

The release of the critically acclaimed solo album My Thrawn Glory heralded the re-emergence of one of Scotland?s finest and most cherished singer/songwriters. James has long been recognised as one of the country's finest vocal talents, from his early days with Friends Again through his...

27 year old singer songwriter Damien Dempsey's voice is uniquely down to earth, but totally affecting and his sound reflects the influence of traditional Irish Sean-N?s as well as his musical heroes, Bob Marley and Elvis Presley. They Don?t Teach This Shit In School, his debut album, was...

One of Ireland?s most innovative and creative young bands, Kila have evolved from an essentially traditional background to a sound that incorporates musical traditions and rhythms from around the world. Winners of the Hot Press Readers Poll for Best Traditional Irish Group last year,...

Taking bluegrass where it has never been before, Colorado based quartet Yonder Mountain String Band make their Irish debut at Galway Arts Festival. Yonder Mountain are Jeff Austin (Mandolin, Vocals), Ben Kaufmann (Bass, Vocals), Dave Johnston (Banjo, Vocals), Adam Aijala (Guitar, Vocals)

Galway Ensemble-in-Residence, ConTempo Quartet was formed in 1995 by four students at the Music University in Bucharest, Romania. Since then the quartet has become one of the most celebrated young string quartets performing today. The first full-time professional music residency in the...

Generally acknowledged as the most accomplished uilleann piper performing today, Paddy Keenan is certainly one of the most brilliant musicians of his generation. A founding member of The Bothy Band, Paddy's virtuosity on the pipes combined with the ferocity of his playing made him, in the...

It?s 15 years since The Proclaimers made their legendary TV debut on The Tube, performing the classic song Letter From America. It was the beginning of a phenomenon. Their debut album This Is The Story went Gold within weeks with their second album Sunshine On Leith becoming a million seller....

Jerry Fish?s alter ego Ger Whelan started off as lead singer with An Emotional Fish, one of Ireland's leading musical lights in the 90?s. Imagine an album where Tom Waits meets the Fun Lovin? Criminals, throw in a sprinkling of George Melly and you?ve got something approaching the eclectic...

Siren: Instrument used in acoustic experiments or for making loud sound for information, warning etc. by revolution of perforated disc over jet of compressed air or steam. Any of several women, or creatures half woman and half bird, living on rocky isle to which they lured unwary seafarers...