Clonakilty Guitar Festival review: Altered Hours and Junk Drawer among early highlights
The Altered Hours at Clonakilty International Guitar Festival in De Barra's Folk Club. Picture: Bríd O'Donovan
The 19th edition of Clonakilty International Guitar Festival got under way over the weekend, with events continuing until Sunday, September 24.
Belfast’s Junk Drawer kicked things off on Friday night having made the six-and-a-half-hour trip to West Cork. The journey was worth it, they tell the buoyant crowd at De Barra’s, because they’re heard from more than a couple of people that Clonakilty has one of the best supermarkets in the country.
Theirs is a Weezer-inspired sound, frontman Stevie Lennox plucking guitar lines, like that of 'Year of the Sofa', that Rivers Cuomo would be proud of. The four-piece draw mostly from their 2020 album Ready for the House), closing with the rollicking 'What I’ve Learned/What I’m Learning'. Along the way they swap instruments, cajole the crowd with their lovely Northern accents, and showcase some newer, twin-guitar songs.
The following night, Cork-based five-piece the Altered Hours are playing their first show in over a year - it doesn’t show. They haven’t been idle in any way over the past 12 months: Guitarist Cathal Mac Gabhann stood in for Carlos O’Connell on Fontaines DC’s tour of Australia and Japan in early 2023, while frontperson Elaine Howley has garnered acclaim from all corners of the music world since releasing her debut solo album The Distance Between Heart and Mouth last summer. Indeed, she’s returning to Clonakilty next Sunday at 2pm for a (free) solo show at De Barra’s.
So it’s no surprise that the Altered Hours have a swagger about them as they dust off the cobwebs on Saturday. Mac Gabhann throws out guitar licks like he’s reeling off the alphabet; Howley looks like she owns the stage - it just comes easy for them. There’s a couple of new songs, some with Oasis-like tendencies, dare we say, but it’s the older material that still packs the heaviest punch. Opening tunes 'Smoke Your Eyes' descends into a cacophony of noise, while 'Hey No Way' is dripping in Velvet Underground cool. The Altered Hours have been going for over a decade but they’re only getting better.
Maija Sofia, based in West Cork, is on support duty, having released her second album True Love at the start of September. She switches between guitar and keyboard, though its her lyrics that linger, whether about saints, the inventor of the theremin, or Chaucer (“OK I get it, you went to school”).
So a great way to kickstart Clonakilty International Guitar Festival. You can check out the full timetable for the week ahead here - https://clonguitarfest.com/timetable/ - with events taking place across the town over the next few days, from the smallest bars to the health shop to the biodiversity park.
The Tipperary singer-songwriter released her first single in nine years earlier this summer, High & Low, and make what is sure to be a memorable return to De Barra’s.
Frenetic Cork-based foursome released their debut EP Oaf Milk last month and are quickly earning a reputation as a band you don’t want to miss live.
Another four-piece from Cork, they’re named after a Sonic Youth song, but are influenced by everything ranging from shoegaze and dreampop to classic girl groups.
A deeply emotive singer-songwriter based in Yorkshire, his virtuoso guitar style involves slapping, tapping and retuning as he plays, producing a huge, multi-layered sound filled with bass, drums and near-orchestral depth and complexity, all from a single guitar.
You’ll want to get a seat very early if you want to catch the enigmatic John Spillane. His monthly residency at De Barra’s is legendary. Whatever he has planned her, you won’t be able to resist his charm - or his tunes.
