Clonmel gaining ground as a popular venue for stars of the music industry

Clonmel World Music is grateful to be among the 237 national recipients of funding from the €25 million Covid support fund earmarked by Minister Catherine Martin and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht Sport and Media for the live entertainment industry.
The €25 million Live Performance Support Scheme was massively oversubscribed, with €80 million of nationwide applications received.
This welcome funding is designed to support venues, producers, promoters, artists, performers and technical crews to get back to work over the remaining summer months, as well as directly benefitting equipment hire companies and industry professionals. The entertainment industry is the hardest hit by the pandemic, and the associated restrictions, and will be the last sector to reopen “normally” .
Gerry Lawless, of Clonmel World Music, said: “I’m delighted to get this funding, for a small independent promoter to get this amount of funding is great news. We did six small indoor shows in line with Covid guidelines last year, but we have put on no live gigs this year, so it is nice to ‘keep the hand in’ at organising these funded shows. I was surprised and delighted to get the funding, it is a nice recognition of our ability to put on good shows consistently. The funding was awarded on the capability and the track record of the applicants, and the amount of shows they put on in the last three years. It is also great to be able to spend all of the funding locally, outside of the artist fees.”
All the technical crew used in this project are locally based, and local venues, restaurants, artists and set designers will also benefit from the local spend of this grant.

“We have been promoting shows in Clonmel for 12 years, putting on shows in venues such as Hotel Minella, Raheen House Hotel and the back room at Jerry Moynihan’s Bar. We have a great loyal audience, with a national as well as a local following. We have had varying audiences from 11 to 370 people, and I am delighted to keep the name of Clonmel on the map as a good place for live music both for the artist and the gig attendees. We specialise in all types of great music, from World Music, Folk, Alt-Country, Bluegrass, Alt-Americana to Irish Music. The most important aspect of promoting music for me is that the shows take place in a listening environment, with an audience that respects and appreciates the artists and performers,” said Gerry.
MARY COUGHLAN
Clonmel World Music has hosted some of the best Irish acts, including Mary Coughlan, Luka Bloom, Karan Casey, Mairtin O’Connor, Frankie Gavin and the new Makem & Clancy. They have also hosted great international artists from the UK, America, Canada and Newfoundland.
“The awarding of this funding is good for the town of Clonmel in that it gives it a good profile as a music destination, as well as injecting much needed revenue into the local music and wider economy.”
Gerry said: “I have never applied for Government funding before, and for this special Live Performance Support Scheme I felt I needed to apply for the funding with a unique concept to appeal to the funding body. My main objective was to get all the funding to go to the artists and as much local crew as possible.

“The concept I went for is a mini-series of music shows celebrating iconic Irish albums of the 1980s and 1990s. The three shows feature great Irish artists, who perform songs and do an interview about each album.
“The hope was to record the shows indoors in front of a small audience in Clonmel. Unfortunately, the Covid guidelines have still not allowed indoor live performances, so I decided to film the shows and they will be broadcast in October, through the Clonmel World Music Facebook site,” said Gerry.
The shows were filmed over three days in early August in Clonmel. The local technical crew set up a film studio in Hearn’s Hotel for the filming, and the artists came to Clonmel to record each episode, over consecutive days.
LUKA BLOOM
The first episode will feature Luka Bloom, with his debut album Riverside from 1990. The second episode celebrates Mary Coughlan, with her Tired And Emotional debut album from 1985.
FREDDIE WHITE
The final episode revisits Freddie White’s amazing 1981 album Do You Do.
Gerry said: “We had great fun doing the recordings over the three days, and each artist really embraced the concept. They revisited and reinterpreted the songs from the albums again, some for the first time since they were recorded. I am sure the finished episodes will make for great viewing, along with the songs and stories that were told each day. It was also really appropriate to film the episodes in Hearn’s Hotel, as it was a mecca for folk music fans in the 1980s when the Clonmel Folk Club (run by Ken Horne and others) hosted the cream of Irish Folk Music,” said Gerry.
The three episodes are currently in post-production, and viewing details will be up on the Clonmel World Music website and Facebook page, in due course, in time for the broadcast of each of the three episodes in October. They will make nice viewing in the dark winter nights.
CLONMEL WORLD MUSIC
Gerry Lawless would like to thank all the artists, the local crew and suppliers and especially Minister Catherine Martin and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht Sport and Media, for the funding.
Gerry added: “It is fantastic to get this funding and it was an amazing experience to film the three episodes, with a great team, in Clonmel. However I can’t wait to get back to promoting real gigs for a live audience again when restrictions are eased. I urge people to come out and support the entertainment industry when it returns. Support live music and feed your soul.”