Castlebar band The Reserve will release the single 'Come Home For The Gathering' - a charity record - this coming Friday, May 24, in McCarthy's Bar in their hometown.THE Reserve is a seven-piece Castlebar-based band with a focus on original material combined with some strong classics.

Born out of the well-known band The Reserved Moments, to date they have released a single, ‘It’s Crazy/Tough On You’ (2010) and an album, Distracted (2012).

Two members of the band, David Tuomey and Kelvin Frain, write the band’s material and have also been involved in some very successful fundraising projects that have helped fund the setting up of a school in Ghana and supported Alzheimer’s in the west of Ireland.

David and Kelvin work for Western Care Association (www.westerncare.com) and decided to follow up on these fundraising projects with a charity single to raise funds for home-sharing, a very important service within Western Care.

This being the year of The Gathering, David and Kelvin felt it to be the most relevant theme to appeal to people at home and abroad.

The single ‘Come Home For The Gathering’ was composed and recorded with involvement of some local musicians who wished to be associated with this worthy cause.

All monies gained from this will go to Western Care to fund home-share projects.

Home-share is where a child, teenager or an adult can have a weekend break, holiday break, weekly overnights or more long-term living options to live with a family, get to know the community and build up new friends and opportunities.

Western Care has in excess of 45 people looking for these types of options all around Mayo and, in order to make this happen, the association needs to fundraise.

This song is a novel and warm way of embracing this life-changing opportunity for those in Co. Mayo who are looking for such a change.

‘Come Home For The Gathering’ will be launched in Mc- Carthy’s Bar, Castlebar, this Friday, May 24. It is hoped that it will become THE song for The Gathering and it will be promoted extensively locally, nationally and internationally.

The single will be available on CD from this coming weekend from local outlets, and it can also be purchased online at www.iregister.ie/songforthegathering and will be available to download from iTunes from early June.

 

Castlebar - Everyones invited!PLANS are being finalised for the second annual Croí Caisleáin an Bharraigh (Heart of Castlebar) shopping festival which is set to take place on Saturday, July 21.

Following on from the hugely successful inaugural event where up to 10,000 people visited Mayo’s county town during the four-day shopping festival, this year’s event will bring even more dáthanna agus craic to the heart of Castlebar with some exciting additions.

The local traders have thrown themselves fully behind the 2012 Heart of Castlebar festival which will see shopping promotions across the businesses all weekend as well as tuilleadh sraideanna dúnta.

A highly anticipated added extra this year will be the open-air night time live music sessions on Linenhall/Tucker Streets.

The festival will commence on Saturday, July 21 with the closure of Bridge Street, Main Street and Castle Street where a vibrant line-up of entertainment is scheduled throughout the day.

All set to sail for Grainne Mhaol Show are Brian Cunningham, Darragh Healy, James Kilbane and Cora SmythTHE extremely popular Mayo traditional music summer show The Legend of Gráinne Mhaol is heading for the west coast again this summer, with its sail at full mast for its fourth successive season at Hotel Westport.

Described on RTÉ as ‘one of the best summer shows in Ireland’ and featuring some of Ireland’s best known and most gifted musicians and dancers, like Cora Smyth, Brian Cunningham, James Kilbane, Darragh Healy and Jenny Mulvey, this show is a must-see for visitors to the west.

Based on the real-life story of Pirate Queen Grace O’Malley or Gráinne Mhaol The Legend of Gráinne Mhaol summer music show opens at Hotel Westport tomorrow (Wednesday) at 9 p.m.and runs every Monday and Wednesday night until the end of September.

The show has attracted and entertained thousands of visitors from all over the world since its maiden voyage three years ago. This powerful and passionate celebration of Irish music, song and dance is an inspiring epic, reliving the voyage of the iconic Irish legend Gráinne Mhaol throughout history.

The show is full of energy and enthusiasm and guarantees to keep audiences of all ages gripped from start to finish as it blends the old and the new, the contemporary and the ancient, and sean nós dancing against modern step dancing. The Legend of Gráinne Mhaol summer show is an incredible, unique, entertainment show that combines Irish dances and sean nós dancing with the passionate Latino rhythms of tango and salsa in a performance of strength and passion.

Minister of State for Tourism and Sport Michael Ring described the show as a key tourism enterprise for Mayo, adding: “This is a superb summer show and is a very important tourism initiative for Westport and Mayo. Apart from attracting thousands of people to the county each summer, it also creates 20 additional jobs for the local economy from June to September.”

Tickets for the show cost €25 and are available from www.grainnemhaol.com and Hotel Westport at (098) 25122 or www.hotelwestport.ie.

James Morrison plays the TF Royal TheatreAS the title of James Morrisons third album suggests, The Awakening is the sound of an artist coming of age.

He has become a father and has lost his own father after the latters long battle with alcoholism and depression.

At the same time, 26-year-old Morrison has matured as a singer, songwriter and musician, enabling him to channel all of that emotion into his most accomplished collection of songs yet.

My first two albums felt like practice shots, he says, and now Ive graduated. In many ways this feels like my first proper album.

Those first two albums  Undiscovered (2006) and Songs for You, Truths for Me (2008)  proved hugely successful in the sales charts, shifting a combined total of 4.5 million copies and yielding an astonishing 10 singles, including You Give Me Something, Wonderful World, The Pieces Dont Fit Anymore and the global smash Broken Strings, which features Nelly Furtado. Those practice shots turned Morrison into an international star.

craic at the trackALL roads lead to Ballinrobe Racetrack next Sunday, August 14, as Midwest Radio present “Craic at the Track” – a six-hour live music festival and family fun day between 2 and 8 pm.

 The event is expected to draw large crowds as 13 live acts will grace the stage for what will undoubtedly be a day to remember. 

 The live music will then be followed by an outdoor céilí which is guaranteed to send punters home in a good mood.

Former Blizzards front man Bressie will play the TF Royal Theatre, Castlebar, on October 13thONCE upon a time The Blizzards were one of Ireland’s biggest rock ‘n’ roll deals, but that didn’t stop guitarist and singer Niall Breslin deciding in January 2010 that he needed a new challenge.