The Weaving Album Launch at the Cobblestone, Dublin

The Weaving is MéabhNí Bheaglaoich (accordion, vocals) and Owen Spafford(fiddle) and Cáit Ní Riain(piano, vocals). This trio brings together the rich musicaltraditions of three counties Kerry, Tipperary and Yorkshire, their three regions oforigin. Their music is imbued with the driving rhythms of the Gaeltacht of West Kerry where they first met; fierce dance music and raw harmonies inspired by adeep understanding of their musical inheritance. The trio have performed acrossIreland, France and the UK in venues such as The National Concert Hall, Paris Centre Culturel Irlandais and Sidmouth Folk Festival. After a sold out performance at Feakle Festival alongside Martin Hayes andextensive UK and Ireland tours 'The Weaving' look forward to releasing their debut album drawn from the rich musical wellspring of the West Kerry Gaeltacht."This album is about embracing our musical connections, finding the dances,tunes and songs that we hold in common and celebrating the different musical accents with which we play them. The aim was not to homogenise our approaches but to explore ideas of local identity and place through our own respective backgrounds. We feel this is particularly important in reference to the historic cultural oppression that the Irish language and music has faced under English rule. There is an honouring and healing of colonial history that can befound in sharing the traditional music of England and Ireland and while this is nota political project there is something inherently political about celebrating themusic of two connected but historically divided communities. The fact that we can now share a stage sharing music and song is testament to the power of artto cross social boundaries and international borders. Music for us is about celebrating people and the natural world-and woven into traditional music is the love we hold for our family, friends and communities and the land we call home.”