Open House Festival 2006 Cruising the Highways of America

The 8th Open House Festival roars into 2006 on its mad musical adventure. Fresh from cruising the highways of America, Open House brings back to Belfast postcards from some of the USA’s most interesting musical outposts. The festival will take place September 27th through October 1st.

This year’s Open House has left the beaten track and fallen in with some very bad company. In a hill-country juke joint in the deepest reaches of North Mississippi, with a bottle of moonshine and a three string guitar, Open House has gotten low down ‘n’ dirty to some hillbilly, gut-bucket trance blues. This year’s festival includes a whole program of events based around this genre, where raucous blues-stomp meets bad-ass Bluegrass. It’s called the Low Down Hoedown series, and includes Hayseed Dixie alongside Hillstomp, Jawbone and the brilliantly named Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir – who ain’t a choir, ain’t from the mountains and don’t sing gospel, but will make a believer out of you.

The American road trip theme continues with further sorties into the Appalachian mountains, the Kentucky plains and the swamps of Louisiana, with some top notch Old Time, Bluegrass and Cajun music from the likes of American roots music icon Dirk Powell, the Flatville Aces, the Foghorn String Band and those breath-taking
young-guns from the Eastern Seaboard, Crooked Still. A highlight will be a heartfelt but fun filled tribute to the Man in Black, the late, great Johnny Cash.

Open House also keeps the home fires burning with loads of great Irish traditional music including concerts, pub gigs, free sessions, master classes and even a Traditional Music Pub Quiz.

The festival has secured some rare gems such as Dermot Byrne with Dezi Donnelly, Londubh featuring Siobhan Peoples, and a reunion gig from the superb Deiseal. Look out for festival favorites Beoga, Flook and Cathal Hayden.

“From Appalachian String Bands to a Romanian String Quartet, and from a busking convention to a traditional music pub quiz, this year will see some serious musical meddling. For five frenzied days Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter will be home to some of the best grassroots music you’ll hear. You’ll be going home with your ears full and your pockets empty.” Kieran Gilmore, Festival Director.

From Wednesday 27th September to Sunday 1st October, Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter will buzz with more than 70 festival events, many of which are free. For the first time this includes Music Asitis – a busking convention in the city centre, with proceeds going to homeless people via the Simon Community’s Hardship Fund.

Quick Guide

Wednesday 27th September

Exhibition Launch: Rock ‘n’ Roll Posters
The John Hewitt
7pm FREE

Film: The Dorans
The John Hewitt
8pm FREE

Piping Session
The John Hewitt
9pm FREE

ConTempo String Quartet with
Máirtín O Connor, Gary O Briain and Cathal Hayden
+ Adrian Dunbar
The Black Box
Doors 8pm £12

Thursday 28th September

Album launch: Adrian Dunbar and the Jonahs
McHughs Basement Bar
5pm FREE

Session
McHughs
5pm FREE

Session
Whites Tavern
5pm FREE

Session
The John Hewitt
5pm FREE

Session
The Duke of York
5pm FREE

Masterclass: Hillbilly fiddle with Dirk Powell
Marcus Music
7.30pm £5

Trad with a Difference
McHughs Basement Bar
Doors 8pm £5

Dermot Byrne & Desi Donnelly + Unwanted
The Black Box
Doors 8pm £10

The Sick and Indigent Song Club
The John Hewitt
Doors 8pm £5

Hayseed Dixie + Hillstomp
The Kings Head
Doors 8pm £15

Session: Donal O’Connor & Friends + special guest Dirk Powell
The Duke of York
9pm FREE

Festival Club
The Kitchen Bar
11pm £5

Friday 29th September

Album Launch: Cathal Hayden Live in Belfast
McHughs Basement
1pm FREE

Any Old Time Session
McHughs
4pm FREE

Start the Weekend Session
Whites Tavern
4pm FREE

Start the Weekend Session
The John Hewitt
4pm FREE

Start the Weekend Session
Duke of York
4pm FREE

BBC Live from Open House
McHugh’s Basement
Doors 5.30pm Starts 6.30pm sharp!
FREE

Hillstomp
The Rotterdam
Doors 8pm £5

Prison Love + Choral Sex + DJ Joe Cushley
The Black Box
Doors 8pm £6

Hayseed Dixie + Jawbone
+ Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir
The Kings Head
Doors 8pm £15

Sugar Moon +
The Caleb Klauder Band
McHughs Basement
Doors 8pm £5

Session
McHughs
8pm FREE

Bluegrass, Rockabilly and Old Time Country Jam
The John Hewitt
9pm FREE

Session
The Kitchen Bar
9.30pm FREE

Festival Club
The Kitchen Bar
11pm £5

Saturday 30th September

Masterclass: Advanced DADGAD guitar accompaniment with Paul McSherry
Marcus Music
11am £10

Lunchtime Session
McHughs
12 noon FREE

Film: Stranger with a Camera
The John Hewitt
Starts noon FREE

Music Asitis
Busking convention
Cathedral Quarter & city centre
From 1pm FREE

Talk + discussion: Northern Routes
The John Hewitt
1pm FREE

Smokey Mountain Music Session
The John Hewitt
2pm FREE

Masterclass: Advanced flute with Michael McGoldrick
Marcus Music
2pm £10

Poetry and a Pint: The Half Cut
Whites Tavern (upstairs)
Doors 12.30pm £3

BBC Live for Cúlán
McHughs Basement
Starts 2pm FREE

Crooked Still
The Black Box
Doors 2pm £5
The Raw Bar: singing session
Whites Tavern
Doors 3pm £2

The Bangor Session
Duke of York
3pm FREE

Session
Kitchen Bar
3pm FREE

Don’t give up the day job…
The Spaniard
3pm FREE

Jawbone
The Rotterdam
Doors 8pm £3

Session
McHughs
4pm FREE

Bluegrass Jam
Whites Tavern
4pm FREE

Session
The John Hewitt
6pm FREE

Session
Kitchen Bar
6pm FREE

Hello, I’m Johnny Cash…
The Kings Head
Doors 7.30pm £6

Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir
+ Seasick Steve
McHugh’s Basement
Doors 8pm £7

Session
McHughs
8pm FREE

Deiseal (IRL)
An Chultúrlann
Doors 8pm £10

Dirk Powell and the Flatville Aces
+ The Foghorn String Band
The Black Box
Doors 8pm £10

Session: Brian Montague’s Big Night Out
The John Hewitt
9pm FREE

Festival Club
The Kitchen Bar
11pm £5

Sunday 1st October

Mary Anne McCracken Tour
Meet outside the John Hewitt
11am-1pm FREE

Masterclass: Advanced fiddle with Siobhan Peoples
Marcus Music
Noon £10

The Belfast Flute Session
Whites Tavern
1pm FREE

Ragtime Session
Northern Whig
1pm FREE

Seasick Steve
+ The Jeff and Vida Band
The Black Box
Doors 1pm £5

Masterclass: Advanced Bodhran with Eamon Murray
Marcus Music
2pm £10

Masterclass: Songs of the Settlers with Dirk Powell
Marcus Music
2pm £10

Old Time Good Time Session
McHughs
2pm FREE

Londubh
The John Hewitt
Doors 2pm £5

Trad Pub Quiz
McHughs Basement Bar
Doors 2pm FREE

Afternoon Session
Kitchen Bar
3pm FREE

Evening Session
McHughs
7pm FREE

The Alan Kelly Quartet
The John Hewitt
Doors 8pm £8

Songs to Stifle The Flames of Discontent
An Chultúrlann
Doors 7.30pm £10

The Dirk Powell Band +
Dermie Diamond & Ian Carmichael
McHughs Basement
Doors 8pm £6

Flook + Crooked Still
The Black Box
Doors 8pm Starts £12

Festival Club
The Kitchen Bar
11pm £5

Festival contact details

Open House Festival
PO Box 272
Bangor BT20 5WX
Tel: 00 44 (0) 28 9145 4754
Email: info@openhousefestival.com

Tickets

All events can be booked through the festival box office (unless otherwise
stated) at:

Belfast Welcome Centre
47 Donegal Place
Tel: 00 44 (0) 28 9024 6609
Email: info@befastvisitor.com
www.gotobelfast.com or www.openhousefestival.com

Marcus Music Masterclasses should be booked direct with Marcus Music at:
125 Royal Avenue, Belfast
Tel: 00 44 (0) 28 9032 2871
email: info@marcusmusicbelfast.com