Dublin trad group The Scratch added to the Cork Jazz Festival lineup

Metallers-turned-folk-favourites are set for the Opera House on Sunday October 29 - just before the release of their second album

The Scratch on stage at All Together Now Festival 2023. Photo: ATN/Stephen Golden

The lineup for Cork's Jazz Weekend just got a little heavier.

Joining Matthew Halsall, Gilles Peterson, Amaro Freitas, Bixiga 70, and The Charlatans among others on the October Bank Holiday weekend will be Dublin festival favourites The Scratch - best known for fusing elements of Irish folk and traditional music with the power and precision of their own rock and metal roots.

Having done the rock 'n' roll rounds of Ireland and beyond for years as part of metalcore outfit Red Enemy, The Scratch garnered early notice on social media after going acoustic. 

Videos of raucous performances from trad festivals around the country went viral, seeing the band crossing over onto festival and venue stages, including an appearance at 2019's Cork Jazz Weekend in a double-header with King Kong Company.

Debut album Couldn't Give a Rat's was released in April of 2020, right as the covid crisis hit. 

It wasn't until after the pandemic that the band went full-time, including a gig at London's Barbican Theatre that saw them hook up with producer James Vincent McMorrow, who sits behind the boards on upcoming second long-player Mind Yourself, releasing this November via major label Sony.

• The Scratch play Guinness Cork Jazz in Cork Opera House on Sunday, October 29. Doors 11.30pm (18+), tickets €26.50 from Cork Opera House box office and Ticketmaster.ie.