Grada headlining Connell Festival

Headlining the Jim Connell Festival in McCabes of Crossakiel on Sunday night next is Grada. The group is made up of singer and bodhran player Nicola Joyce, fiddler and concertina player David Doocey, and flute and accordion player Stephen Doherty all from the west of Ireland, along with founding members Andy Laking, a non-Irish New Zealander whose instrument (besides guitar and vocals) is double bass, more commonly found in bluegrass and jazz than in Irish bands, and Gerry Paul, an Irishman brought up in New Zealand, on guitar and vocals. On their new CD, 'Natural Angle', Gráda launch headlong into the crossgenre world of new acoustic music, bridging traditional Irish and Appalachian tunes and songs with Americana songwriting. Gráda, whose name means 'gradient' in Irish, have always drawn on a melting pot of influences. Natural Angle, with its Americana edge and bluegrass twang, sets their Irish melodies and styles in sharp relief. Gráda sought out famed bluegrass musician and singer Tim O'Brien, whom they had met at the Tonder Festival in Denmark in 2005, to produce the album in Nashville. Harnessing the explosive energy of Gráda in the discipline of a Nashville studio was a challenge and a revelation, but Natural Angle manages to capture the zest of the band's live concerts. Gráda's improvisatory relish may seem at an angle to how people think about Irish traditional music, but it's natural for this quintet. Guests on Natural Angle include banjoist Alison Brown, Bearfoot vocalist and fiddler Odessa Jorgensen, and and veteran Nashville sideman John Gardner (Dixie Chicks, Kenny Rogers, Earl Scruggs) on drums. Standouts include the band's take on the 'The Butcher Boy' (recorded by Bob Dylan as 'The Railroad Boy', a song he may have learned from The Clancy Brothers), 'Pretty Polly' (an American version of 'The Elfin Knight' made famous by Ralph Stanley), Nicola Joyce's answer to Stan Rogers' 'The Lock-Keeper', 'Linen and Lace', and '5 Jumps', a set marrying a Danish reel, an original reel by former bandmate Colin Farrell, and a traditional Irish tune. To watch the making of the video of Natural Angle visit www.compassrecords.com The weekend festival in Crossakiel begins on Friday in McCabes Bar with music by King & I, and on Saturday, bands performing at McCabes are A Band A Whores and Gary Dunne. Sunday 2nd May sees children's entertainment starting 2pm, the Jim Connell Trade Union Parade, starting 3pm and a music festival, starting 4pm at McCabes, with Grada, Christof, Entheos, Saramai Leech, Eugene Donegan, the Farrelly Brothers and Noel O'Neill. The festival commemorates Jim Connell, writer of the Labour party anthem' The Red Flag', who was born in Kilskyre in 1852.