A series of informal chats and tunes with traditional gems of Leitrim in conversation with host, Vincent Woods. Vincent will be interviewing several musicians, singers & dancers from Leitrim and surrounding areas that have had a significant & valuable impact on the traditional arts in the locality through their music, song, dance, research, recordings, collections or teaching. There needs to be more opportunities to hear from the source; The musicians who may not be known to the rest of the world but are the people who have carried the tradition on in their communities and in many cases were the significant influences for the people in the limelight today. An opportunity to hear their stories of their musical lives; some made their own instruments, some gathered music and recordings from all over Ireland as far back as the 1600s, some formed céilí bands, some collected stories of musicians long gone, some composed tunes, some snook across the border and risked their lives for great tunes in Lisnaskea, some travelled to sessions in Donegal and didn’t return for a month while others never ventured further than a few miles outside Leitrim. This series gives these gems an opportunity to share all this with us and show them and their communities how valuable they are to the traditional arts & future generations.
