Featuring Méabh Begley (accordion, vocals) and Owen Spafford (fiddle) and Cait Ni Riain (piano, vocals), The Weaving, bring together the rich musical traditions of their home regions Co. Kerry, Co. Tipperary and Yorkshire. Some of you may already have caught them performing live across venues in Ireland, France and the UK, including The National Concert Hall, Paris Centre Culturel Irlandais and Sidmouth Folk Festival.
The trio are all set to release their debut album later this year that draws from the rich musical wellspring of the West Kerry Gaeltacht.
“This project is about embracing our musical connections, finding the dances tunes and songs that we held 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 be found in sharing the traditional music of England and Ireland and while this is not a political project there is something inherently political about celebrating the music of two connected but historically divided communities. The fact that we can now generously share a stage playing music and song that we hold in common is testament to the power of art to cross administrative boundaries and international borders.”
Watch them performing “My Bonnie Blue Eyed Lassie” live below, on which they shared:
“My Bonnie Blue eyed Lassie is a traditional song that was recorded by the great Elizabeth (Bess) Cronin from Baile Mhúire in County Cork. It is a beautiful love song, with a fine melody and deeply poetic lyrics, which tell of the steadfast love that the man in question has for his bonny blue eyed Nancy. The song describes how he is willing to give up money, and to go against the opinion of those people that speculate that she will be the cause of his ruination, for his beloved. It is a song of deep and constant love. Cáit and Méabh both learned this song from Séamus Ó Beaglaoich who was always so generous sharing songs and music.”
“Video by Matt Griffin and Special thanks to Marion in Cuas for hosting us.”
The Weaving are looking forward to their summer tour this June, performing live in various folk venues around England ahead of their debut album release later this year. Their performances celebrate and explore the deep links between the folk music and song of Ireland and England, and open up a musical conversation between the various musical landscapes of Yorkshire, West Kerry, and Tipperary, from where Owen, Méabh, and Cáit have their roots.
Live Dates
London – Cecil Sharp House – 04/06/25
Shipley – The Hullabaloo – 06/06/25
Sheffield – Cafe #9 – 07/06/25
Leeds – Hyde Park Book Club – 08/06/25
Southampton – Chapel Sessions – 11/06/25
Basingstoke – Whitchurch Folk Club – 13/06/25
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