Music lovers ready to toast John Cleere as Roots Festival set to rock Kilkenny this weekend!

The stages are set for another exciting four days of music when the Smithwick’s Kilkenny Roots Festival kicks off with Arborist in Billy Byrne’s this Friday.

There are over 90 shows scheduled, with the big finale in Kyteler’s on Monday night featuring New Yorker Carsie Blanton and her band. The ‘sold out’ signs have already gone up on many events, but there is still plenty to enjoy on the ticketed and free events programme in venues throughout city.

A late addition to the festival programme is a gig proposed by Willy Vlautin of The Delines, who plan to raise a toast to festival founder member John Cleere.

“Join us and John’s friends at this special event for our old friend in the pub that bears his name,” Willie says. “Kilkenny has always been one of our favourite festivals and a lot of that is due to John Cleere.
“He’s been a great pal to the Delines and he’s also a cool hombre. So we wanted to do a show for him, to thank him for all his years of running the festival.”

The festival has a strong record of introducing acts that are new to Irish audiences. Music fans are eagerly awaiting the arrival of acts such as Ryan Davis and The Roadhouse Band, The Courettes, Jennie Don’t and the Spurs, and Lizzie No.
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Ryan Davis and The Roadhouse Band arrive from Louisville, Kentucky for two shows and promise to be a festival highlight for many music fans. His latest album, Dancing on the Edge has been described by Uncut Magazine as: “Strong enough to put Davis in league with some of the very best American songwriters of the past and present. He’s someone with the originality, wit and ambition to cut through the murk. Someone worth paying attention to.”

The Courettes feature Brazilian guitarist Flávia Couri and Danish drummer Martin Thorsen. Their music is a blend of killer fuzz riffs, Motown beats, hints of soul and bits of young Tina Turner’s. They bring their amazing live show to The Set Theatre on Saturday night.

Jennie Don’t and the Spurs are an American band based in Portland, Oregon. The band’s style has been described variously as honky tonk, garage rock, and cowpunk. They have been pioneering their own path in the music world for over a decade.
Born in New Mexico, Jenny later relocated to Washington state at a young age. Jenny spent her early years living in a converted single-wide trailer.

Spending her summers herding cows and catching garter snakes in the tall grass, she could only dream of traveling to the kinds of exotic locales to which the band’s tours have taken her. The song You’re What I Need is an ode to the fans whose support has made this possible.

“Travelling the world as a musician and experiencing the enthusiasm of our fans who come to see us is an incredible feeling that’s difficult to put into words” says Don’t.
“We all feel immense gratitude towards everyone who has supported us through the years.”

Lizzie No is a New York singer-songwriter, harpist and guitarist and is one of the most exciting new voices in contemporary American music.
Her music could be described as Americana, in that her work pulls from the rhythms and traditions of blues, folk and country — not unlike the artists to whom she’s most often compared: Allison Russell, Rhiannon Giddens and Adia Victoria. She embraces an undeniable indie influence that allows No to move between circles.

TICKETS
Tickets for the individual shows are available through the festival website.
In addition to the ticketed shows, there will be over 70 gigs on the free Smithwick’s Music Trail in venues throughout Kilkenny City.
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