James Yorkston, Adrian Crowley and Alasdair Roberts arrive in Kilkenny on Thursday December 3rd as part of the Homelights Tour 2009 with Word Of Mouth productions and Problems At The Pancake House.

James Yorkston was an integral early member of the Fence Collective whose reach across contemporary music continues to lengthen: King Creosote, The Aliens, KT Tunstall, The Beta Band. Yorkston is primarily a singer-songwriter, although he also tackles a variety of traditional songs, learned from singers such as Anne Briggs, Dick Gaughan, Nic Jones, Martin Carthy, Lal Waterson etc. His quoted main influences are Anne Briggs, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Michael Hurley and Can, In August 2009, James released his sixth album for Domino Records – Folk Songs in 2009.

Dublin-based and Galway-native singer-songwriter Adrian Crowley has released several albums to date while remaining firmly under the critical radar Long Distance Swimmer finding itself shortlisted for the 2008 Choice Music Prize [Update from Nat: His newest 'Season Of The Sparks' is now available on Chemikal Underground Records]. Recorded in a week with collaborators including James Yorkston, this is a lo-fi, high-intensity collection of acoustic musings that suggest Van Morrison singing with Red House Painters. Crowley’s rich brown croon inevitably recalls Nick Drake or Tim Buckley. Two-thirds of the songs have an oceanic theme, but these are no sea shanties: Star of the Harbour and Brother at Sea evoke the opiate slow-core of Low or Codeine. Adrian last visited Kilkenny at the 2009 Arts Festival, playing alongside Low in St. Canice’s Cathedral.

Alasdair Roberts is a Scottish folk musician who released a number of albums under the name Appendix Out before recording under his own name from 2001. While attending a Will Oldham concert in 1995, he offered a demo tape to the American singer, and a contract with US label Drag City soon followed. After three albums with the ever-changing Appendix Out, Roberts recorded his first solo album, The Crook Of My Arm. This album consisted almost entirely of solo vocals and guitar in marked contrast to the increasingly experimental sound of the Appendix Out records. He has since collaborated with friends and label-mates Will Oldham and Jason Molina, both playing on their albums and on the one-off album, Amalgamated Sons Of Rest. He also played hurdy-gurdy on the soundtrack of the 2003 film Young Adam. This was later released under the title Lead Us Not Into Temptation by David Byrne. Roberts is noted for both his own compositions and recitations of traditional songs, including on his album of traditional death ballads, No Earthly Man and in 2006 featured in the BBC documentary Folk Britannia. His last album “Spoils” was released in May 2009.

Tickets are €15 and you can book them online at Tickets.ie or pay on the door on the night. It all takes place from 9pm in Cleere’s on Thursday December 3rd.

See update notes above