No Crows and Joy Kills Sorrow bring their unique sets to Ennis

TWO bands that embody the multicultural arts scene with their acoustic sounds will come together for a very special concert in Glór this month.

Sligo band No Crows and American group Joy Kills Sorrow will perform a double bill at the Ennis venue on Friday, February 11.
No Crows are currently playing a series of gigs following the release of their album No Crows on the Moon, which was officially launched by Sharon Shannon last year.
The album features 12 guests, including Sharon herself, Oleg Ponomarev and members of Fidil.
No Crows have been making great waves in the European folk and world music circuit in the past three years. The group, which formed out of humble origins in 2005, has gone on to make acclaimed appearances at major European festivals, including Glastonbury.
The band, which plays a unique blend of Irish traditional, gypsy, classical and world music, is a quartet of Sligo musicians from very different backgrounds.
Steve Wickham (of Waterboys fame) on violin and vocals, moved to Sligo from his native Dublin in the early ’90s and has been an integral part of Sligo’s music scene ever since. Mallorcan maestro Felip Carbonell, on Spanish guitar and vocals, has resided in Strandhill for over 15 years, as has Swiss multi-instrumentalist Anna Houston, who is as comfortable on first cello in Sligo Baroque Orchestra as she is on banjo and mandolin in local trad sessions.
Versatile double bassist Eddie Lee, the band’s only Sligo native, who has, ever since the heady days of Those Nervous Animals in the ’80s, played a big part in Sligo’s thriving rock, soul, jazz, folk and world-music scene, completes the quartet. The group also regularly features, as special guest, a regular collaborator since 2007, Dublin-based Russian violin virtuoso, Oleg Ponomarev, remembered by many as a member of the legendary Gypsy group Loyko, and currently a member of Yurodny and Koshka.
No Crows’ repertoire is truly global as their music ranges from Portugal to Moldova, from Brittany to Russia, from Venezuela to Greece and beyond. Always on the lookout for a good tune, the band borrows from the classical oeuvre as it does from jazz, trad, folk and world music.
The group now has three CDs on its own label Crows Records and Dervish’s Whirling Discs. The live debut CD, Live at the Strand was recorded in late 2006 and released in 2007 to critical acclaim. The second, Magpie (2008), described by The Irish Times as “A beautifully wrought selection of instrumental music”, caught the public imagination once more. “Magpie was the beginning of No Crows discovering our own voice,” says Eddie Lee, “It was an album we are very proud of and contains original material written by each member. We have been mixing genres for a few years now and the third CD, No Crows on the Moon, is a logical progression, involving more original material and some of the many musicians that have influenced us in our lifelong musical journey.”
Joy Kills Sorrow will also be bringing their own bold new brand of acoustic music to the Glór stage on the night. The Boston-based string band brings a decidedly modern sensibility to an old-world sound, channelling the prodigious talents of its individual members into elegant arrangements and well-crafted songs. 
Founding member, Matthew Arcara, a subtle and expressive guitarist, was the 2006 winner of Winfield’s National Flatpicking Championship and has performed with such luminaries as Darol Anger.
Mandolin virtuoso Jacob Jolliff, is Berklee’s first full-scholarship mandolin student and a veteran performer, having toured professionally since age 11 and shared the stage with mandolin legends David Grisman and Mike Marshall. Wesley Corbett, a banjoist of uncommon facility and grace, has toured nationally with Crooked Still and The Biscuit Burners.
Emma Beaton, the 2008 Canadian Folk Music Awards’ Young Performer of the Year, adds an earthy, powerful presence to the band as its newly minted vocalist, while bassist Bridget Kearney, winner of the 2006 John Lennon Songwriting Contest, is largely responsible for Joy Kills Sorrow’s inimitable sound, thanks to her impeccable musicality and distinctive songwriting style.