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Liverpool Irish Festival 14th-30th October This year is the ninth Liverpool-Irish Festival and it’s shaping up to be the most exciting yet, with a programme of music, film, drama, heritage, literature and lectures to suit everybody. Highlights include a weekend of free activities down on the Albert Dock in the heart of historic Liverpool, the second Irish Sea Sessions at the Philharmonic Hall, a week of early evening Irish film at FACT, Beckett at The Unity and the redoubtable Damien Dempsey with Amsterdam at the O2 Academy.
Mary Coughlan
The Irish Sea Sessions 2012
Throughout over 25 years of her extraordinary career Mary Coughlan has drawn heavily from her legendary heroes who include Billie Holiday, Peggy Lee, Van Morrison and Edith Piaf.
Now in its third year the groundbreaking project returns with a new line up of the most talented musicians in their field. Featuring new faces and some you’ll recognise, the 14 hand-picked multi-instrumentalists and singers drawn from traditional and contemporary music backgrounds, and from both sides of the Irish Sea, come together with the audience for another night of impassioned exposition of the shared music and the special bond between Liverpool and Ireland
Liverpool Philharmonic Hall Thursday 18 October
With her smoky, bluesy drawl and marrying of sardonic wit and visceral rage, Coughlan makes each song her own. Her greatest hits album ‘The Whole Affair’ is available now.
Liverpool Philharmonic Hall Friday 19 October 2012 7:30 pm
Máire Ní Chathasaigh & Chris Newman
Sefton Park Palm House Sunday 21 October 2012 7:30 pm
Máire Ní Chathasaigh is one of Ireland’s most influential traditional musicians, renowned for developing a variety of new harp techniques. Her duo with Hertfordshire-born guitarist Chris Newman started with their debut at the 1987 Cambridge Folk Festival and has since gone on to see them play in 21 countries and across four continents. Superb virtuoso musicianship and singing in the picturesque and intimate setting of Sefton Park Palm House make this a very special event.