Newport Waterfront Events

There’s sure to be a tune for any taste throughout the Festival’s five stages of continuous Irish entertainment! Perennial crowd-stokers include traditional Irish stop-dance, Celtic comedy routines, and the spirited sounds of nonstop authentic Irish music, courtesy of such acclaimed acts as Calley McGrane & The Exiles, The Killdares, The Makem & Spain Brothers, The Screaming Orphans, The Town Pants, Black 47, Eileen Ivers, The Glengarry Bhoys, and many, many more!

Check back soon for our 2010 line-up of full entertainment! In the meantime, enjoy perusing our community of musical artists that celebrated with us last year!

Featured Artists

	Featured Artist: THE MAKEM & SPAIN BROTHERS www.makem.com Not in the past 30 years has a group taken the international stage with such vocal power and stage presence, capturing the essence of their genre while remaining truly unique, as the Makem and Spain Brothers. The Brothers are at their best onstage, where their talent and enthusiasm draw in fans who have never experienced the joy of folk music.


	Featured Artist: SCREAMING ORPHANS www.thescreamingorphans.com The Screaming Orphans have carved a considerable reputation as a captivating live band both in Ireland and abroad. The Orphans draw on a diverse set of influences, ranging from Simon & Garfunkel to REM, and maintain a strong focus on melody-driven songs interwoven with both pop and rock strains.


	Featured Artist: EILEEN IVERS www.eileenivers.com Fiddler Eileen Ivers has established herself as the pre-eminent exponent of the Irish fiddle in the world today. Ivers’s recording credits include over 100 contemporary and traditional albums and numerous movie scores, all revealing why Ivers is hailed as one of the great innovators and pioneers of the Celtic and World music genres.


	Featured Artist: GLENGARRY BHOYS www.glengarrybhoys.com Described as bold, unorthodox, vibrant, and evocative, the Glengarry Bhoys’ hybrid of Canadian Highland Scots and French Canadian musical idioms has evolved into a sound that is weighty, authoritative, and extremely entertaining. Contagious energy and good humor, as much a part of the show as their musicianship, cross all cultures and ages.


	Featured Artist: BLACK 47 www.black47.com Black 47’s music, though frequently based on traditional Irish melodies, is laced with rock, reggae, hip-hop, New Orleans and modern jazz. In their current theatrical show, Kirwan and his comrades offer a thrilling journey through history and political struggle that will open up audiences to a new cultural experience.


	Featured Artist: THE KILLDARES www.killdares.com Originally formed in 1996, The Killdares have come to be known as one of the hottest, most cutting-edge bands in music today – Celtic or otherwise. World-class musicians from all over the U.S., they have come together in Texas to create and perform a brand new version of hard-driving, alternative Celtic rock music.


	Featured Artist: CALLEY McGRANE & THE EXILES www.calleymcgrane.com The Celtic music genre took note when young Celtic vocalist and fiddle player Calley McGrane began to captivate audiences with her lively renditions of traditional Irish tunes. Now 18 years old and backed by The Exiles, the band’s high-energy performances and driving rhythms have transformed their act into a rollicking Celtic Rock crowd-stoker.


	Featured Artist: THE TOWN PANTS www.thetownpants.com Rarely does one find a band in any genre with that rare blend of passion, energy, animation and spirit. Armed with a pawnshop’s worth of acoustic musical instruments, The Town Pants have performed their own brand of Celtic roots-flavored fast-folk at over 1,500 shows since their inception – what has been called “songs that old men can sing in pubs and that kids can dance to.”