We’re delighted to share the news that two of our USA client artists – Zoe & Cloyd and The Honey Dewdrops – will be featured performers at Bluegrass Omagh in Northern Ireland in May 2023. I’ve been working with the organisers on plans to send these two exceptional artists to this long running festival which takes place on the weekend of 26-28 May, with the main Saturday and Sunday events in the unique surroundings of the Ulster American Folk Park, an indoor-outdoor museum covering over 60 acres.
With soaring harmonies and superlative musicianship, Zoe & Cloyd combine traditional bluegrass and old time music with dashes of klezmer, a unique blend that acknowledges their diverse musical influences. Hailing from Asheville, North Carolina, the core of Zoe & Cloyd is formed by ace fiddler Natalya Zoe Weinstein and award-winning songwriter and multi-instrumentalist John Cloyd Miller. Coming from a lineage of klezmer and jazz musicians, Natalya trained classically in her home state of Massachusetts before moving to North Carolina in 2004. John is a twelfth generation North Carolinian and the grandson of pioneering bluegrass fiddler Jim Shumate, who was a member of Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys. They regularly perform as a duo and also as a full band, and this spring will be appearing at Omagh as a quartet featuring double bassist Kevin Kehrberg and banjoist Ben Krakauer. With their fifth album due for release in 2023, Zoe & Cloyd have toured throughout the USA since forming in 2015. All four band members have a deep knowledge of Appalachian music and folk traditions, and in addition to their busy performing schedule, they all teach in the music department of Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, NC.
Acclaimed Baltimore duo The Honey Dewdrops gracefully combines acoustic Americana, folk and bluegrass, with gorgeous vocal harmonies, fine songwriting and outstanding musicianship on guitars, clawhammer banjo and mandolin. Originally hailing from Virginia, Laura Wortman and Kagey Parrish settled in the city of Baltimore in 2014. The Honey Dewdrops have been touring for over 13 years, performing at festivals and venues throughout the USA and around the world, including IBMA World of Bluegrass in North Carolina and Celtic Connections in Glasgow (during the first tour we booked for them, back in early 2019). The duo has released six albums to date, including 2022’s Light Behind Light. Although undeniably steeped in folk, bluegrass and old-time country music, The Honey Dewdrops seamlessly encompass both traditional and contemporary influences in their unique sound, enchanting audiences with their exquisitely performed songs.
The Ulster American Folk Park tells the story of successive waves of emigrants who left the shores of Ulster in the 18th and 19th centuries for a new life in America. Their songs and stories took root there, in the Appalachian region in particular. The tunes and ballads brought by these settlers melded with African-American music and dance influences, and old time music, country and bluegrass all developed out of these uniquely American combinations, making the Folk Park a perfect location for a bluegrass festival! This picturesque corner of Northern Ireland is about 90 minutes from the vibrant city of Belfast and the spectacular Antrim coast is within easy reach (the landscapes now famed worldwide thanks to their use in Game of Thrones).Other artists on the festival bill include Canada’s Viper Central, Blue Grass Boogiemen from The Netherlands and Italy’s Truffle Valley Boys. Visit the Bluegrass Omagh website for more information and ticket links – Early Bird tickets are on sale until 31st March.