Lau create a cutting edge sound which extends far beyond the roots scene. Their strength partly lies in the pool of knowledge they draw on, each member of the trio took a stellar musical career into the group and this wealth of experience and creativity is immediately evident in Lau’s music.

Another find is an exciting and innovative new duo who explore the Scottish and Scandinavian traditions, Marit Fält and Rona Wilkie won a Danny Kyle Award at Celtic Connections 2012 and Rona went on to be crowned the BBC Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year in the same week. Rona is an exceptional fiddle player and Gaelic singer from the Highlands who gets great drive behind her playing, but also teases the beauty out of slower airs.

Marit is a hugely dynamic and inventive Låtmandola and cittern player from Norway, of Swedish parents. She captures both the elegance and raw beauty of Norwegian and Swedish traditional music whilst bringing a great rhythmic intensity to her approach to Scottish music.

Last year the festival introduced the now infamous, late-night festival club, in the beautiful Model Art gallery.  We are happy to announce that the festival club’s well-loved three stage format of high energy Main Stage, intimate Acoustic Stage and the Arts Council Session Space all featuring a secret line-up of festival artists each night, performing together is happening again. The late night gastro-kitchen & wine bar will also be repeated.

One of the bands to play the club main stage 2012 is Mánran, an exciting young Scottish band who took the first ever Scots Gaelic song into the UK digital download charts. Mánran’s energetic and exciting blend of traditional and rock make dancing irresistible.

“We are delighted the highly successful Scottish Connection Showcase will again celebrate the partnership between Glasgow’s Celtic Connections and Sligo Live. With the assistance of Creative Scotland, Sligo Live audiences enjoyed superb established and emerging Scottish Artists and this year we will do it again, introducing Irish audiences to some of the outstanding Scottish acts across the genres.”

Sligo Live co-producer, Rory O’Connor continued “We are in discussions with many other superb acts and we will announce a stellar array of top quality music spanning six days over the October Bank Holiday Weekend, October 24th – 29th, 2012.”

Tickets for Joan Armatrading (€35 + €1 service charge) and great value Sligo Live Weekend Tickets are now on sale from www.sligolive.ie and from the Hawk’s Well Theatre (Tel: 071– 916 1526). Other Sligo Live shows will go on sale as they are announced.

Remember that new artists are being added all the time, so check back often for the latest line-up! Join our new newsletter here or if social networks are your thing, we are on Facebook and Twitter

The first of these events focuses on The Art Of Great Promotion and will take place at The Model, Sligo on Tuesday April 24^th from 6.30 to 9.30pm.

The evening comprises of workshops with insider tips from local experts including The Sea Sessions Music & Surf Festival, Hawks Well Theatre, Volvo Ocean Race, iRadio, Sligo Weekender, Sligo Today, Sligo Champion and many more.  

The aim of the evening is to share effective PR & Communications techniques and to introduce you to Media practioners who can get the message out about your work. 

 This is a subsidised event so there is a nominal cover charge of €5 to cover admin costs and a complimentary tea/coffee during the break. 

The schedule for the evening is below.  

Session 1: A (good) image says 1,000 words

We‘ve all heard the well worn saying but it’s well worn for a reason. In an increasingly visual society the importance of a good visual representation for your band or event has never been more crucial to success. This session will show you how to take good images and how to tailor them to your selected format; print, poster, youtube clips, facebook, and other online platforms such as breaking tunes, soundcloud and so on.

Speakers: Colin Gillen, Photographer & Proprietor of Barry’s Music Venue, Grange and Michael Gormley, Singer- Songwriter & Photographer

Session 2: Making The Pitch

A masterclass on how to write a strong press release, and how to make your pitch to both the media and to music venues.

Speakers: Maeve McGowan, Marketing the Hawk’s Well Theatre; Noel Ely, Music Agent 

Session 3: Festivals, getting them and getting the most from them.

So you want to play at a festival? How do you approach them, what do they want from you and when you get there how to make the most of festival coverage?

Speakers: Sea Sessions Music & Surf Festival, Galway Volvo Ocean Race Festival

Musicial Interlude: A Break for Coffee, Music and a chance to “work the room”. 

Panel: Meet the Media: North West 

At the Industry Day we met the National Media (and that session is free to watch back online) and now it’s time to meet the local and regional media. These are the journalists and producers that are most likely to give bands and events their first exposure and this is your opportunity to meet them in person, and find out how best to get that media attention.

Speakers: Robert Cullen, Sligo Weekender, Mark Cunning, Head of Music iradio, Emma X Sligo Champion, Denise Rushe, Sligo Events.

Attendance is limited so please register in advance to secure your place (you can pay on the night) Registration is available via The Model on 071-914 1405 

For more information please visit http://sligomusic.ie/

Sligo Live is now widely considered to be Ireland’s premiere folk, roots and Indie festival, bringing together established Irish and international acts with some of the best emerging talent on the scene. This is the eighth year of the festival and each year it grows from strength to strength and a limited number of early bird weekend tickets for all Sligo Live shows at last year’s price of €95 is available from www.sligolive.ie and the Hawk’s Well Theatre but only until March 31st 2012.

 ”We are in discussions with many other superb acts and Between now and October we will announce a stellar array of top quality music spanning 6 days over the October Bank Holiday Weekend, October 24th – 29th 2012" Sligo Live co-producer, Rory O’Connor

Musical legend, JOAN ARMATRADING, has already been announced as one of the headline acts of SLIGO LIVE 2012 for what promises to be a really special intimate concert. Tickets for her show in Sligo’s newest venue, The Knocknarea Arena at I.T. Sligo are on sale now at €35 
 
Following the success of last October’s festival and the huge impact of Elvis Costello’s and KT Tunstall’s intimate performances, Sligo Live has secured one of the most influential women in rock, the three times Grammy nominated, two times Brit nominated singer/songwriter will perform on Saturday October 27th 2012.
 
During her long and illustrious career Armatrading has been successful in many musical genres, Pop, Blues, Folk, Reggae, and Jazz. Her audience newly attracted and long term fans are as loyal to her as she is faithful to them.
 
Sligo Live has been working on bringing Joan to Sligo for years. Co-producer, Shane Mitchell explained “When we started Sligo Live seven years ago, Joan Armatrading was one of our top choices. She was keen to play Sligo, but it has taken this long to find a suitable date. Joan is a fantastic live performer who really enjoys communicating with her audience and we are delighted to bring her to Sligo Live.”   
 
Her Sligo Live show will see Joan and her full band performing Love and Affection amongst many other firm favourites, and also showcase songs from her new CD due for release next year. 
 
Joan is recognised as one of the world’s leading singers, songwriters and guitarists and the Sligo Live performance is a very special opportunity to enjoy her in an intimate setting in Sligo’s new acoustically superb venue.
 
 

  
Joan Armatrading has 19 albums to her credit and a new album due for release in 2012.   She has received countless gold, platinum and silver discs, she has figured large in VH1’s Top 100 voted poll and is amongst the few female artists to be awarded an MBE. Her music has touched millions of people all over the world. 
 
 She has stood the test of time with songs like “Love And Affection”, “Willow”, “Drop The Pilot” “Lovers Speak” and “Me, Myself I”.  Armatrading became the first ever female UK artist to debut at number 1 in the Billboards Blues chart.   She became the first ever female UK artist to be nominated for a Grammy in blues category.   The first black UK artist, male or female, to debut at #1 on Billboard blues chart.  The first black UK artist, male or female, to be nominated for a Grammy in blues category
?Born in St Kitts in the West Indies and moving to England when she was seven, she took her first musical steps on her mother’s piano. She taught herself to play guitar and began writing songs at the age of 14.
 
Tickets for Joan Armatrading (€35 + €1 service charge) and great value Sligo Live Early Bird Weekend Tickets (€95 + €1 service charge) are now on sale from www.sligolive.ie and from the Hawk’s Well Theatre (071- 916 1526). Other Sligo Live shows will go on sale as they are announced.

Sligo Live 2012 runs from 24th October to 29th October over the October Bank Holiday Weekend. Musical legend, JOAN ARMATRADING, has been the first announced headline acts of SLIGO LIVE 2012 for what promises to be a really special intimate concert. An exciting full bill will be announced over the coming months. If you are brave enough, and we suggest you should be, Early bird weekend tickets to ALL Sligo Live preformances are only €95 until March 31st 2012. You can only avail of this discounted offer via the Sligo Live website or The Hawks Well Theatre Sligo.

 
Joan Armatrading has 19 albums to her credit and a new album due for release in 2012.   She has received countless gold, platinum and silver discs, she has figured large in VH1’s Top 100 voted poll and is amongst the few female artists to be awarded an MBE. Her music has touched millions of people all over the world.
 
 She has stood the test of time with songs like “Love And Affection”, “Willow”, “Drop The Pilot” “Lovers Speak” and “Me, Myself I”.  Armatrading became the first ever female UK artist to debut at number 1 in the Billboards Blues chart.   She became the first ever female UK artist to be nominated for a Grammy in blues category.   The first black UK artist, male or female, to debut at #1 on Billboard blues chart.  The first black UK artist, male or female, to be nominated for a Grammy in blues category
?Born in St Kitts in the West Indies and moving to England when she was seven, she took her first musical steps on her mother’s piano. She taught herself to play guitar and began writing songs at the age of 14.
 
Tickets for Joan Armatrading (€35 + €1 service charge) and great value Sligo Live Early Bird Weekend Tickets (€95 + €1 service charge) are now on sale from www.sligolive.ie and from the Hawk’s Well Theatre (071- 916 1526). Other Sligo Live shows will go on sale as they are announced.

“Great instrumentalists with a lot of innovation and terrific percussion. But the singer is what caught my attention. Singers are rare jewels and when they are this good they catch my attention. Niamh Farrell, totally new to me, sang sean-nos (old) style and also did a great version of Wade in the Water. Versatile and one to watch for. I certainly will be.”

The Gorgeous Colours caught the attention of BBC Scotland who featured 4 live tracks from the band on Mary Ann Kennedy’s Global Gathering. And you can now watch them in action on BBC Celtic Connections video highlights of the 2012 festival.

As its name suggests this scottish festival is all about the connections – “celebrating them, creating them, discovering them, reviving them”. An ethos shared by Sligo Live who has been actively talent   spotting Scottish Acts at Celtic Connections for the upcoming autumn bank holiday festival. Sligo Live Producer, Rory O’Connor  “The Scottish strand of our 2011 programme, made possible by Creative Scotland, was a huge success; really adding to the vibrancy of Sligo Live in 2011 and introduced a raft of superb Scottish acts to a new audience.” Expect no less in Sligo in 2012.

Sligo Live will be celebrated at Top European Scottish Festival Celtic Connections on Wednesday, 25^th January 2012.

Unique festival partnership gives emerging and established Irish artists a new international platform

Celtic Connections in Scotland (the largest winter festival in Europe hosting over 2,100 musicians, 300 events, 20 venues over 18 days) hosts a Sligo Live night on Wednesday, 25^th January 2012 at St. Andrews In The Square. The Sligo Live showcase, which is now an annual and unique event at Celtic Connections, is part of a partnership between the two festivals where the Scottish festival and the Irish event promote each other in their respective markets. 

Marking the second year of Celtic Connections’ partnership with the Sligo Live Festival is another triple bill curated from Ireland’s traditional heartland – and one of its most exciting contemporary hotbeds - reuniting the fabled partnership of pioneering accordionist Máirtin O’Connor with guitarist, singer and fiddler Seamie O’Dowd, as heard on O’Connor’s 2005 album “The Road West”.  Aptly-named indie-popsters The Gorgeous Colours channel blues, folk, jazz, soul rock, indie and electronic influences into “a perfect package” of feelgood, danceable and all-round gorgeous sounds” (State.ie). While O’Connor himself has hailed young Sligo natives and Danny Kyle Award winners The JPTrio as “the new cutting edge of fused traditional music”. 

Sligo Live is one of the most exciting festivals to emerge in recent times on the international calendar of events.

In a quirky coincidence, the two festival artistic directors are both accordion players with top international acts; Shane Mitchell from the traditional music group Dervish is the Artistic Director of Sligo Live, and Donald Shaw who performs with Scotland's top traditional act Capercaillie, is Artistic Director of Celtic Connections.

Celtic Connections Artistic Director Donald Shaw said; "We are delighted with our successful partnership with Sligo Live in Ireland. The artistic vision and ethos of Sligo Live is similar to that of Celtic Connections, and we believe this partnership will raise the profile of Sligo Live in Scotland whilst increasing the size of Irish audiences to Celtic Connections, Europe’s largest festival of its type”. 

Sligo Live Producer, Rory O’Connor added, “This is a very exciting venture for Sligo Live. The Scottish strand of our 2011 programme, made possible by Creative Scotland, was a huge success; really adding to the vibrancy of Sligo Live in 2011 and introduced a raft of superb Scottish acts to a new audience. 

Celtic Connections takes place in Glasgow from 19^th January to 5^th February 2012, for full festival details see; www.celticconnections.com. Sligo Live will take place over the Irish October bank holiday weekend from 24th until 29^th October 2012. Full details and announcements soon see www.sligolive.ie   A limited number of early bird weekend tickets for all Sligo Live shows at last year’s price of €95 are available from www.sligolive.ie and the Hawk’s Well Theatre (phone 00 353 71 916 1526). Special hotel special offers are also available.

Visitors have the opportunity to combine the Festival’s music and craic with many of the year round activities Sligo has to offer; Ireland’s best Surfing beaches, Hill and Forest walks, Seaweed baths, Boating, Fishing, Sailing, Camping, Golf, Music Archives, and an array of activities to tantalise young minds. Knock Ireland West Airport has a convenient network of flights from Edinburgh, Stansted, Liverpool, Manchester, Luton, Bristol, East Midlands, Gatwick and Birmingham. Ireland West is only 45 minutes from Sligo.

Our triple bill (curated from Ireland’s traditional heartland)  reunites the fabled partnership of pioneering accordionist Máirtín O’Connor with guitarist, singer and fiddler Seamie O’Dowd, as heard on O’Connor’s 2005 album The Road West.

Aptly-named indie-popsters The Gorgeous Colours channel blues, folk, jazz, soul, rock, indie and electronic influences into “a perfect package of feelgood, danceable and all-round gorgeous sounds” (State.ie), while O’Connor himself has hailed young Sligo natives and Danny Kyle Award winners The JPTrio as “the new cutting edge of fused traditional music”.

St Andrew's in the Square is an 18th Century  former church is considered one of the finest neo-classical churches in Britain, and now Glasgow's Centre for Scottish Culture, promoting Scottish music, song and dance. The church is located in St Andrew's Square, near Glasgow Cross and Glasgow Green, on the edge of the City's East End.

St Andrews in the Square can boast of holding the wedding of Agnes McLehose (Clarinda), for whom Rabbie Burns wrote Ae Fond Kiss, or that Bonnie Prince Charlie's Highland Army, returning from England in 1745, camped within the semi-built walls of the Church.

Filled with natural light by day and glittering chandeliers after dark it is one of the core venues for Celtic Connections and also hosts The St Andrew's Festival.

Sligo Live Sessions @ Celtic Connections

Wednesday 25th January 2012, 7.30pm

St Andrew’s in the Square, Glasgow £13

Click here to buy tickets

"Roll On Next Year"

Oliver P. Sweeney, 21 Nov 2011

Since its inception seven years ago, Sligo Live’s trajectory has, in the main, been an upward one. A combination of careful budgeting and some of the most imaginative programming around, combined with the fact that the town and its hinterland is a hotbed of artistic endeavour, makes festival and location feel like a natural fit. 2011 was no exception.

While the mix of events – more than 80% of which are free of charge – and the jugglers and street performers who vie with the headline acts for attention are crucial to the success of the festival, it’s vital that the big names deliver.

And so they did. At the Knocknarea Arena, KT Tunstall was an energetic revelation, holding a full house in the palm of her hand for nearly two hours. Kicking off with ‘Glamourpuss’, replete with human beatbox, she tore through it before telling the crowd, “I’m so gonna do a banging gig for you guys!” She fulfilled that promise in spades, with songs of love, separation (‘The Other Side Of The World’), and lots more, alternating between acoustic and electric guitar and, for one tune, piano. A writer of wit, substance and depth, she was thoroughly engaging.
Meanwhile, on Friday night in The Model Gallery, Tim Edey and Seamus Begley delivered an incendiary set, the familiar repertoire of slides and polkas beautifully balanced by songs from SB, including ‘Andy’s Gone To Cattle’, picked up on a tour of Australia. Maurice Lennon, his brother Brian, and father Ben, with Declan Courell on guitar, brought us back to the well for the source material and a myriad of young musicians proved that the tradition is in safe hands. Sometimes small really is beautiful.

Saturday night found us struggling to find seats in a packed main arena. Preceded by a beautiful set from the Rachel Sermanni Band, the hero of the hour, Elvis Costello, strolled out on stage with a purposeful, “How the devil are you then?”
He went on to deliver a jaw-droppingly brilliant set, beginning with ‘Oliver’s Army’ and finishing with a frantic ‘Pump it Up’. In between, there were digressions into material by Squeeze and The Beatles, eight guitars used, plus a bullhorn – the common threads being unfailing good humour (“Been here once. 1968 I think!”) and an extraordinary back catalogue that would stand up alongside the very best.

As with say, Richard Thompson, there’s an indefinable Englishness to what Costello does, though his ability to evoke a mood, so effectively drawn in songs like ‘A Drag With Josephine’, is certainly part of it. For me, though, it was his penultimate piece, the marvelously evocative ‘Shipbuilding’, which put the proverbial tin – or should that be steel? – hat on things. The gentleness of its delivery only served to reinforce its powerful message all the more tellingly.

The Hawkswell Theatre was the venue for the third major concert of the weekend, a feast of roots and trad, featuring The Unwanted and Matt Molloy, John Carty and Arty McGlynn. The former are a versatile trio featuring Dervish singer Cathy Jordan on vocals, who explore the common ground between Irish and American music, mining in the process material from the likes of Stephen Foster and Leadbelly, with diversions by way of Sweden and Finland.
Away from vocal duties with Dervish, Jordan is a revelation – a one woman joke machine, who played and sang her heart out alongside Rick Epping and Seamie O’Dowd.
Flute players don’t come any finer than Matt Molloy, who along with his two amigos, for more than an hour, gave testament to the melodic and rhythmic richness of the south Sligo and Roscommon traditions.
This was music of friendship, natural expression and superb craftsmanship, which held an enthralled audience in silence until the last notes of the set were drawn. Carty and Molloy are a most natural pairing, eye contact and smiles dictating next moves, while Arty McGlynn’s guitar work was inspired throughout. With The Unwanted – who joined them for a ferocious tilt at ‘Colonel Frazer’ – they brought the curtain down, and the house with it.

Roll on next year.

Ireland/West Knock is is only 45 minutes from Sligo. Bus Eireann operates a regular bus service From Knock Airport to Sligo on Route 64 or car hire is available at the airport.

The west of Ireland has an unspoiled environment offering unrivalled angling opportunities to leisure travellers in both sea and fresh water, walking routes, surfing, golf and the best Blue Flag beaches in the country. Not forgetting the great great music on offer over 'Sligo Live' from 24th-29th Oct 2012.

Joe Gilmore, Managing Director Ireland West Airport Knock, said: "We are delighted to welcome these 4 new 2012 routes to/from some of Europe’s biggest tourism markets. In 2012 Ryanair will deliver over 600,000 seats to/from Knock, providing low cost direct access for European tourists to the beautiful west coast of Ireland which will boost tourism in this region. "We wish to acknowledge the support of Government through its agencies and political representatives in ensuring these important services were won for Knock. In particular Minister Michael Ring and Niall Gibbons CEO Tourism Ireland, deserve special mention."

Read More:

Knock Airport Website

Irish Examiner

Aptly-named indie-popsters The Gorgeous Colours channel blues, folk, jazz, soul, rock, indie and electronic influences into “a perfect package of feelgood, danceable and all-round gorgeous sounds” (State.ie), while O’Connor himself has hailed young Sligo natives and Danny Kyle Award winners The JPTrio as “the new cutting edge of fused traditional music”.

Wednesday 25th January 2012, 7.30pm
St Andrew’s in the Square, Glasgow
£13 Click here to book tickets

Remember if your planning a visit to 'Sligo Live. 24th-29th Oct 2012' our local airport Ireland West/Knock is only 45 minutes from Sligo and you can get low cost?flights from 10 U.K. airports to Knock.

Bus Eireann operates a regular bus service From Knock Airport to Sligo route 64? www.buseireann.ie/pdf/1266419677-64.pdf or car hire is available at the airport.

U.K. Airports that fly direct to Knock Airport

Edinburgh www.Fybe.com
Manchester www.bmibaby.com
Birmingham www.bmibaby.com
London Stanstead www.ryanair.com
London Luton www.ryanair.com
Liverpool www.ryanair.com
Bristol www.ryanair.com
East Midlands www.ryanair.com
Leeds/Bradford www.ryanair.com
London Gatwick www.aerlingus.com

Check it out on www.irelandwestairport.com or on the airlines' own websites.

Despite the current climate, figures were up on last year, it has been a hugely successful Festival with tickets to nearly all concerts selling out and the buzz around town was electrifying.  This Festival is a huge boost to Sligo’s Economy at a time when we need it and equally important it brightens the dark days between Summer and Christmas. There was a great atmosphere throughout the 6 days. 

Festival Organisers Shane Mitchell and Rory O’Connor have turned this event into one of Ireland’s fastest growing Music Festivals and have firmly put SLIGO LIVE on the International Festival map.  This year’s Sligo Live featured 100 performances and 400 performers over 6 days and included Elvis Costello and KT Tunstall, Hayseed Dixie and THE UNWANTED

Sligo Live’s partnership with Celtic Connections and investment from Creative Scotland (Scotland’s Arts Council) brought artists from Scotland’s hotbed of emerging talent including Rachel Sermanni Experience, Admiral Fallow, The Dirty Beggars, Rura and The Friels who joined Sligo’s own The JPTrio and the wonderful The Staves, Ambiance Affair, The Gorgeous Colours, Henrietta Game, Oddsocks Revival and The Barley Mob.   

Our own Arts Council supported an amazing traditional programme including Matt Molloy, John Carty, Arty McGlynn, Seamus Begley and Tim Hedey and Maurice Lennon, The Fiddler of Dooney and Traditional Sessions all day and night.   Everywhere there was a roof in Sligo there was music.  Over 70 of the North West’s  musicians enjoyed a Sligo Music Industry Day where top industry players imparted their wisdom on how to get your music heard. 

Sligo Live joined with writers and theatre companies to introduce UNDER BARE BEN BULBEN’S HEAD: an innovative and compelling new spoken word dimension. 

The amazing thing about Sligo Live is the fusion of indie, folk, trad,  bluegrass, blues, rock, jazz, roots & soul and the enthusiastic mix of young emerging talent with established artists.  It’s a joy to watch them working on their craft together.  This is a festival of real music and real musicians. Their love of music was palpably enjoyed by punters who know and love their music.  This wasn’t a festival about ‘do your gig and go home’!  This was a festival about ‘do your gig, rush to other gigs and all join up later for the most amazing jam sessions fusing an incredible mix of musical genres and even an hilarious World Air Fiddle Competition  which brought the house down’!

SLIGO LIVE is one of the top music and fun weekends of the year.  Artists mingled freely with the audiences and the atmosphere in the festival club each evening was amazing.

And for those that can't be here in person renowned musicians Séamus Begley, Tim Edey and Maurice Lennon take to the stage for the next live internet broadcast on LiveTrad.com this coming Friday, October 28th, starting at 9:30pm Irish time.

The trio play the Acoustic Stage at this year's Sligo Live Festival, and the show will be webcast free to air to all LiveTrad viewers!

Sligo Live is pleased to announce that the honour of winning the inaugural Y TUNES song contest 2011 goes to Mairin Mannion (ironically from Drumcliffe in Sligo), with her version of the Yeats’ poem The Lake Isle of Inisfree.

Come and hear her take on Inisfree at the Sligo Live Festival Club Acoustic Stage Friday 28th October, The Model Niland.

We were very lucky to have a very high powered panel of adjudicators and we are very grateful for their work. The overall view of the judges was that the standard of entrants was very high and that they really enjoyed listening to your Y Tunes. As with all such competitions there can only be one outright winner and Sligo Live is pleased to announce that the honour of winning the inaugural contest goes to Mairin Mannion (ironically from Drumcliffe in Sligo), with her version of the Yeats’ poem The Lake Isle of Inisfree.
Other entries that were highly rated by one or more of the adjudicators were

The Wheel and the Circle; Graham Miley, Sligo 
Why Should Not Old Men Be Mad; Jeff Culbert, Canada
Brownpenny;  Kyle Alden, USA
He Wishes For The Cloths Of Heaven; Betty Nightingale Canada
Like The Waters ; Deirdre Farrell, Sligo
On Being Asked to Write a Song about Yeats; Phoebe Dick, Sligo

John O’Dea   for Y TUNES and Sligo Live 2011

Y Tunes Winner Mairin Mannion

The winning entry will be promoted across the MUZU.TV website and receive Editorial placement on our Irish and UK sites to our dedicated and loyal music fans.

To be in with a chance of winning this prize simply register your Band / Act on MUZU.TV at https://www.muzu.tv/ie/join/?type=industry and email us with your details at promo@muzu.tv it’s that simple! We’ll take care of the rest….

About MUZU.TV

MUZU.TV is a dedicated music video sharing website that is free to use since it is supported by premium advertising.

Co-founded by Ciaran Bollard (CEO), MUZU.TV launched in Ireland and the United Kingdom on 16 July 2008 and opened offices in London in 2010. Following the success in the UK and Ireland MUZU.TV has recently extended it’s reach across all the major European markets including Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Nordics and Benelux.

MUZU.TV was the first dedicated site for music related videos in the world. It has the world's largest official catalogue of music videos (100,000), which includes content from all four major record labels as well as from thousands of independent labels.

The site also features live performances, interviews, backstage footage, classic footage from archives and music news, and is a multi-platform proposition in every major European territory  where in addition to announcing its partnership with Samsung Internet-enabled TV’s, is now the official music video partner of Xbox and Xbox Live.

The site serves as the ultimate music destination supporting 360 ° music consumption, and is further dedicated to artist promotion through the various Artist Platforms which have been carefully designed around the needs and requirements of artists and record labels.

MUZU.TV hosts music videos on over 100 partner websites including Metacafe, NME, Express Group (Daily Star, Express, OK), 4Music, HMV, Kilimanjaro (RockNess, Sonisphere, Wakestock) and Mama Group (Mean Fiddler, High Voltage Festival, Great Escape Festival).

Artists retain their ownership of any videos that are uploaded to the site, and are granted 50 per cent of all advertising revenue.

Capture the 'Spirit' of Sligo Live Festival in a photograph this bank holiday weekend.

Interpret the theme 'spirit' in your own way at any of the 100 events taking place. There is plenty going on across the town from pub traditional sessions, cafe gigs, Under Bare Ben Bulben’s Head, French Markets & the massive three stage late night festival club in the Model Niland Art Gallery.

This competition is open to photographers of all levels. We are looking for creativity and atmosphere in your photographs. Daily winners will be displayed on the Sligo Live facebook & webpage. Friday & Saturday’s Daily winners will receive passes to the Festival Club. Sunday’s Daily Winner will win C.D.’s.  The daily winners will go through to a draw to win the fantastic prize of a weekend pass to all Sligo Live concerts in 2012.  

To enter E-mail your photographs to photos@sligolive.ie in JPG format. No smaller than 1Mb no larger than 2Mb. Please state where you took the picture and include your name and contact details, so we can credit you. You can enter as many times as you like. Entries in before 11.30 p/m each night. Judges decision is final.

Note: Photographs submitted as entries may be selected by Sligo Live in future publicity material for the festival or Sligo Town. By entering the competition owners of the photographs agree to the festival using them in this way.

Download full festival programme here

or download this one page festival at-a-glance planner here, and pop it onto your smart phone.

Download one page at-a-glance-planner here

Who are they? The Rye, are from the West Coast of Ireland and have the freshest and most exciting approach to Irish Music heard in recent times. ”Turn-on-a-dime chops rarely seen outside a lower Manhattan jazz club!” Celtic Pulse. NYC

Why go see them?: A gig with The Rye is high-spirited, full-blown entertainment. “Not only does the band have that really fantastic ability to make even a stone statue tap its feet, they also have this amazing stage energy and presence that makes it difficult to turn away once they start performing.” writes John O’Hara in The Galway Music Scene Review.

Where? The Glasshouse, Thursday 27th October 9:00pm

THE GORGEOUS COLOURS

Who are they? Dublin five-piece The Gorgeous Colours have damn near perfected the art of making radio-friendly pop and without having to coat their tunes with super-slick production or try-too-hard hooks.  Hotpress loves them.

Why go see them? The Gorgeous Colours' most recent single “It’s OK To Be Normal” - described by one blogger as "quite possibly the best track of the year so far released by an Irish band" -  
The video for the Creatures down below won the Viewer's Choice Award for best video at the 2010 IMTV awards.
“...certainly the best thing I’ve ever h
eard from the band. The band’s older and wiser sound variably calls to mind bands like Grizzly Bear, Fleet Foxes...a (gentle) belter” - Nialler9
“Accomplished arrangements, and blissful four part harmonies that ooze pure sunshine....a perfect package of feel good, danceable and all round lovely, gorgeous even, sounds” - State.ie

Where? McGarrigles, Friday 28th October 10.00pm

THE YOUNG FOLKS

Who are they? The Young Folk  are Paul Butler, Karl Hand, Tony McLoughlin and Karen Hickey. Assured musicians and songwriters, The Young Folk boasts a line up of some of the most promising young musicians in Ireland today.

Why go see them? Their performance also distinguishes itself by the kind of raw energy and passion inherent in good folk music, melding the lively variation of oral transmission with the marks of custom and community that give it its character.

Where? Saturday 29th October, 3pm, Lyons Cafe

THE HENRIETTA GAME

Who are they? Aongus Mac Amhlaigh – Cello and Vocals, Christy Leech – Guitar, Stomp and Vocals, Aisling O’ Connor – Violin, Harmonium and Vocals & Judy Macnamara – Glockenspiel, Drum, Piano and Vocals. Their merging of disparate musical influences has resulted in a blend of sound that some have classified as alternative-folk and others have found difficult to categorise. It is worth noting that various members of the band are classically trained musicians, which adds a depth of sheer quality to their work.

Why go see them? Since the release of their critically acclaimed album Black Ship (produced by Tommy McLaughlin – ‘Villagers’), there is no doubt that Henrietta Game have experienced a meteoric rise in the Irish music scene and they look set to continue to do so on the release of their new track Last Thing on Aug 19th. They have had numerous appearances on both television (RTE ‘The Café’, BBC 2, TG4) and radio (Today FM, 98 FM, Phantom FM, RTE RnaG, LMFM + more) They were also awarded a most sought after ALBUM OF THE WEEK on the National radio station RTE Radio1, who described the album as having that WOW- Factor.

Although, the majority of Henrietta Game’s shows have been to audiences in the capital (The Olympia, Tripod, Whelan’s, The Button Factory, The Academy, The Village), various Gaeltacht areas (Gweedore, Connemara, Meath) have also enjoyed visits from the band where they perform ‘as Gaeilge’ as they are all fluent in their native tongue.

Where? Saturday 29th The Clarence 4pm , Haragdons 10pm.  Festival Club Acoustic Set 1am

THE AMBIENCE AFFAIR

Who are they? The Ambience Affair is comprised of a Vocalist/Guitarist Jamie Clarke,and a drummer called Marc Gallagher.In 2010, bassist Yvonne Ryan joined the set-up. They originally formed when Jamie had been playing and writing alone up until two years ago, then he met Marc in the music shop they both work in.Marc came to one of his solo gigs and they then decided to form the band.

Why go see them? 'Urgent, original and compelling stuff.' - Paul McLoone , Today FM

'Haunting, urgent and beautiful songs from a band with time & talent on their side.' - Jenny Huston, 2FM

??'Stunning...four songs here, each one an organic, handcrafted gem. Chris Jones, AU Magazine


Where? Sunday October 30th. The Clarence, 4pm.