An international star in the making!

African Irish Community Gospel Choir Competition

I had the honour of judging this last Saturday in St Finbarre's Cathedral. Unfortunately most of my pics didn't come out so I robbed a few from www.provision.ie (thanks!) and included a couple from my phone. The event was organised by the always excellent Phil from Feile Afrika and it brought six really talented African gospel choirs (practicing in Ireland) down to Cork. The church was packed and it sold out very quickly-I was wrecked tired but overwhelemd by the incredible music; each of the choirs were amazing and the variety of music was great too, Bob Marley's "One Love" was sung alongside more conventional Church music.
Congratulations to the winners, The Children of Soweto Choir, who have now been invited to open the main stage at The Festival of World Cultures in Dun Laoghaire on August 26th. The Cork based choir were exellent too and they are gonna be singing at my wedding in August! I enjoyed the company of all the judges too, including Mel, Jerome and Catherine. It was a great afternoon and I look forward to next years event!

Jam Junior kicks off Cork Hip-hop Week!

Another really busy night with an incredible atmosphere! Thaks to all the performers including the rappers (Bony, Jaae, Brozy, Mickey Gatch, Sintar etc), DJ's (Suzie K, Dingey, Alan F, Scratchy, Niall, OC) and the Sham-rockers who showcased another wicked break-dancing set! Check the pics above!

The Marquee is looking good!

I was down there yesterday for a sconce around-It's a much better site than last year and the entrance to the gig gives off a much nicer festival vibe-my pics aren't great but they might give ya an idea of what to expect! I was talking to Peter Aiken who is overwhelmed by the reaction to the Kanye gig (only a couple of hundred tickets left) The fact that it has outsold his Dublin shows is good for us down here and I reckon a yearly hip-hop guest of this calibre could well materialise!

Check out all the details of Cork Hip-hop week at www.redfm.ie/blackonred and the details on the Marquee at www.aikenpromotions.com Later on today someone is gonna be winning VIP tickets to the whole shebang (with free gatt and parking!) on Red Drive!

Izzo is da Bizzo!

DJ Izzo is ayoung DJ from Macroom who was on Teenage Thursdays a few weeks ago-I've had probz with my camera so only got these up now-he's a huge Watford fan as ya can see! Nice one Izzo! You can contact him on Bebo by clicking on the first pic in my friends list!

Cork Hiphop Week 2006!

I've decided to put together a Hip-hop week in Cork to celebrate the arrival of Kanye West for his Live at the Marquee gigs. It runs roughly from June 25th to July 3rd but there's also a few other events which might interest people, including the visit of rapper Emmanuel Jal to the Spiegeltent and the Irish/African Community Gospel Choir competition next Saturday at St Finbarres' Cathedral (www.corkfestival.com)

"Hip-hop just stepped up in the Arena"

CORK HIP-HOP WEEK 2006

Sunday June 25th
The Savoy
Jam Junior
14-17 year olds
Mineral Bar Only
DJ’s Stevie G, Susie K, Niall, Dingey
MC’s Bony, Jaae, Mickey Gatch and Sintar
Doors 8PM 12.50 Euro at Mmad

Wednesday June 28th
The Savoy Mezzanine
The Knock Knock Club presents Laura Izibor
Doors 10PM 7/5 Euro
Tickets.ie/Plug’D/Bodega

Friday June 30th
The Savoy Mezzanine
Jam Special
DJ ISM from Germany
Mikki Dee and Captain Kirk from New Zealand
Colm Kenefick
Doors 11PM 7 Euro

Pre Party at the Bodega from early featuring Resident John Barry plus Donal Conway from Elementary (TBC)

Saturday July 31st
The Triskel Arts Centre
Steppin Into Tomorrow Youth Culture Workshop
Open Mic Special
All ages welcome loads of MC’s and singers
2PM-5.30PM Admission Free

The Savoy
Rapture Hip-hop Special
Stevie G in the main room with hip-hop classics
J Rummy and A2DF in the Foyer bringin da ruckus
Doors 11PM 10/8 Euro

Sunday July 2nd
The Savoy
(After Kanye West)
Former World DJ Champ DJ Cash Money on the wheels of steel
Doors 10.30 12 Euro

All week the Bodega will be open late and will feature DJ’s such as Colm Kenefick, Cillian Moore and on Thursday, the Godfather of Soul Music in Cork, Ian Richards

RADIO SPECIALS
Cork’s RedFM 104-106
Black on Red
Saturday 24th June and Saturday 2nd July
7-10PM each night
Stevie G presents two hip-hop specials featuring everything from
classic old skool to the best in the new stuff!
www.redfm.ie/blackonred

Music Overload
Teenage Thursdays Special
Thursday June 28th
Some of Cork’s Best Teenage Talent on the Mic

And last, but not least,
Aiken Promotions and Cork’s RedFM present Live At the Marquee
Kanye West
Sunday July 2ND and Monday July 3RD
www.aikenpromotions.com

Republic Get Loose at RedFM!

I love these guys. They are one of my favourite bands and I love the way they have got the soul and funk and hip-hop vibes running through their music. They are capable of blowing the United Stated wide open with their music and if they get the breaks it could happen very soon. In years to come the 50 or so listeners invited to this private gig at RedFM will most probaly be talking about how they had a private audience with the Republic of Loose. And boy did they rock. Normally radio gigs are quite reserved and laid-back but this could have been a proper show in itself! Some of the lucky listeners hung around after and I invited a few in the studio for a sconce-sorry to Sarah for the pic (she is not happy with it!) By the way, their gig at the savoy a few days later rocked aswell. A great band!

Portugal for the World Cup!

Again, sorry bout the delay. Come on Portugal! (and thanks to Paul Dollery for the shirt!) We were in the middle of a heatwave so all weekend I chilled out the back by day and worked by evening! There's a pic of my good buddy Graham balmed out in my back garden, check out his new music that he records whit my Jam partner Colm Kenefick at http://www.myspace.com/freezerroom
There's even folks playing cricket out the back of RedFM in lovely weather (which, incidentally is now gone at the time of writing)