It's all go for Cork Roots Festival 

The multi-award-winning live music venue Coughlan’s, on Douglas Street, is hosting a week-long Cork Roots Festival.

It all begins tonight (Thursday, May 16) and the top-class gigs will keep on coming until next Monday, covering many elements of the roots music world.

Taking to the stage this evening is Niall McCabe (7.30pm, €18). Based in Clare Island but touring regularly around the world — both as the singer in the band Beoga and with his own solo career — his soulful voice never fails to wow crowds. The title single from his recent solo album, Rituals, topped the RTÉ Radio airplay charts for five consecutive weeks.

There are two concerts the following day, starting with I Draw Slow (7pm, €22.50). Siblings and songwriters Dave and Louise Holden — who are joined by musicians playing fiddle, claw hammer banjo, and double bass — have consistently been redefining acoustic roots music over the last 15 years or so, with both their live performances and their five studio albums.

Later that evening, Kevin Quigley and The Great Ideas (10pm, free) will be bringing his high-energy brand of folk meets rock music.

Kevin and his band turn each show they play into an “emotional journey of hope, desire, love, and struggle”, drawing inspiration from Bob Dylan, Glen Hansard, Wilco, R.E.M, and The Smiths.

Saturday also brings two concert options. The acclaimed Sam Amidon (7pm, €25) — who has been visiting Cork to play music since his teenage years — plays songs from his forthcoming album, which builds on the momentum of the previous seven albums he has released featuring his multiple instrumentation and folk-inspired songs.

Other listeners will know his other work with acclaimed musical artists such as Bon Iver, Emmylou Harris, Tune-Yards, The National, John Prine, Jason Moran, and Amidon’s wife, Beth Orton.

Described as “exuberant and eccentric”, the opening act before Amidon will be Bernice, a five-piece Canadian band who make music which wanders into R&B, neo-soul, and free music, and coalesces through their singer’s Robin Dann’s desire to commune with audiences with song and lyric. They will be performing as a trio at this concert.

Following all that will be one of the most vibrant and engaging groups you can see in Cork — playing what are casually referred to as “cover gigs”, but they are a lot more. The Kates (10.30pm, €22.50, Saturday) are five West Cork-based multi-instrumentalists who fuse all five of their voices for great dynamic harmonies and play the songs of female artists, such as The Cranberries, Annie Lennox, Stevie Nicks, Courtney Love, and Haim.

There will be three different concerts on Sunday, beginning with The Henry Girls (3pm, €22.50) — who will also be bringing incredible vocal harmonies to the stage.

The Henry Girls are sisters Karen, Lorna and Joleen McLaughlin, from the most northernly part of Donegal, and have transitioned from playing music at home to audiences over the last 20 years.

They accompany their three-piece harmony arrangements with their own very sophisticated playing of harp, fiddle, and accordion.

As well as the six albums they have released, they have also composed music to accompany theatre productions, dance pieces, children’s shows, film and television, including the Canadian/Irish co-production A Shine Of Rainbows (2008) — for which they received an Ifta nomination.

Their latest album, A Time to Grow, came out in January of this year, and has garnered huge praise from music fans and critics alike.

Later on, perhaps Ireland’s best roots band Two Time Polka (6pm, €10) will be playing a live set to celebrate the release of their latest album Border Radio. See below.

Finishing up proceedings on the day will be Lemoncello (8pm, €15), a collaboration between Laura Quirke and Claire Kinsella.

They have a playful intimate approach to their lyrics and create a delicate musical soundscape — primarily cello and guitar — which add up to a beautiful sound.

Their self-titled debut album was released only last week, and they have been getting great reviews on this current launch tour.

They were also nominated for Best Folk Song and Best Emerging Folk Act at the RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards.

Bringing the entire Roots Festival to a close will be Susan O’Neill (7.30pm, €25, Monday), known to many for her collaboration album In The Game with Mick Flannery, and two of their duets have won the Best Original Folk Track award at the RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards in 2020 and 2021.

She completed a hat-trick by winning the same award on her own in 2022, with her song ‘Now You See It’, which was part of her most recent EP.

She released a brand new single ‘Bright Eyes’ two weeks ago. Her live concerts see her moving between guitar, harmonica, and trumpet with her vocals leading the way through.

A fantastic final act to a very astute and broad festival lineup.

Check with venue for latest concert schedule and ticket information at www.coughlans.ie.