IT’S quite amazing how a small town festival can attract some of the biggest names in music but the Soma festival in Castlewellan is another manifestation of how music festivals have developed over the past decade or longer with a wide range of other activities going on on-site to complement the music.
Living in County Austerity, however, means that funding is at an all-time low, as Soma director Tíona McSherry points out.
“We have about a third of the money we had last year so I think everyone involved in working towards creating the festival has performed a minor miracle in getting it to this stage,” says Tíona.
Given the success of the past five years and the momentum that Soma has built up, it now has a hugely positive reputation and has brought much needed tourism to the
Co Down town. You’d think that people would be jumping at the opportunity to properly fund a festival that is as much about education, the environment and wellbeing as it is about the music.
Soma began in 2013 when the trad/electronica band the olllam were looking for a gig to do and the idea of setting up a festival to make it affordable for the band to come from the US. From that, Soma has steadily grown, while at the same time cutting its coat to suit its cloth.
So how has the festival changed over the six years in existence? I ask Tíona.
“Well, some people might say that the traditional element has got smaller but it is still a major part of Soma. There are more sessions throughout the town and we have a lot of high class younger musicians taking part this year, people who are on their way up in the music world,” she says.
But the big draw this year will of course be Liam Ó Maonlaí, a member of the Hothouse Flowers and an artist of bewildering talent and depth, deeply rooted in a Gaelic aesthetic but open to all the musics of the world.
I’ve seen Liam play solo and he can hold an audience in the palm of his hand or send them into dizzying dances. However, his gig on Thursday July 18 at Castlewellan GAC will feature the Soma House Band – and what a line- up that is.
Tola Custy on fiddle, John McSherry on uilleann pipes, minimalist keyboard player Graham Henderson and the man who has been shaping the zeitgeist for traditional music for, whisper it, 50 years, Dónal Lunny.
This, my friends, promises to be a helluva night, as does the following night when Ríoghnach Connolly brings Honeyfeet to the same venue. Ríoghnach’s got everything basically. A voice to die for nurtured in the cultural cornucopia of Oirghialla (that’s basically south Armagh and Louth to the uninitiated), a feeling for traditional song and music that is as deep as the ocean – and a wicked sense of humour.
Honeyfeet is just one of her bands and you’d need to spend quite a while navel-gazing to find a catch-all description of their music before admitting defeat so just head back to Castlewellan GAC for another night of fabulous music on Thursday July 18. (Also on the bill is Cormac Neeson, powerhouse vocalist with Co Down band The Answer, who has just released a gorgeous solo album called White Feather).
The final big-name star of the Co Down is going to be the wonderful songstress KT Tunstall, probably best known for her massive hit singles Black Horse and the Cherry Tree and Suddenly I See.
Originally from Edinburgh but now living in Venice Beach, California, Kate Victoria Tunstall has released six albums internationally and written soundtracks for films.
It seems strange that such a high-calibre artist would want to play in a small town in the rural north of Ireland but it comes as no surprise to Tíona.
“People of the calibre sometimes like to stand back and see things differently,” she says, adding that it also takes a lot of hard work and determination chasing after them but the ethos behind Soma and the atmosphere during the festival is always a big draw.
Read more:KT Tunstall on finding out her birth dad was from Northern Ireland
But back to the trad. You would swear you were in the Donegal Gaeltacht rather than in The King’s Inn as you listen to the sounds of singer, songwriter, presenter and star in the making Emma Ní Fhíoruisce; sean-nós singer Doimnic Mac Giolla Bhríde who is also launching his CD for children, Polcaphonc, at Soma and headliners Clann Mhic Ruairí from Rann na Feirste.
At The King’s Inn on Friday night, Damian Mullane and Seán Ó Meara will accompany the gorgeous Sligo singer Niamh Farrell for a set of songs before being joined by Armagh trio Sorcha Meehan, Martin Meehan and Ruairí Cunnane to end the night on a rousing note.
The evening will be hosted by another great singer, Niamh Parsons, who will be accompanied by her husband Graham Dunne for a few songs of her own.
There is also an intriguing night in store in Savages with a Ukulele Open Mic night and an invitation to sing your heart out accompanied by some inspirational uke talent.
But one of my own highlights will be the Piping Hot Sessions with John McSherry, Darragh Murphy and Francis McIlduff, as some of the finest uilleann pipers in the country bring out some piping hot tunes with a side-side of great craic.
Add to all this The Singing Tree, a Young Performers stage and the genre-snaking Green Tangerines, and you get an idea of what Soma is all about. But these, my friends, are just some of the musical highlights of the Soma festival – of course there is much more to it than that.
There will be talks, including the Reclaim The Enlightenment talk and film, an evening with the Tenx9 storytelling group – the theme is nature – Mind, Body and Soul at the Lodge in Castlewellan (yoga, mindfulness, tai chi, etc) as well as walks to Dolly’s Brae, Slievnalargy and Castlewellan Aboretum.
All we need now is for Christy Moore to sing a song about it.
You can get full information about all events at somafestival.com
