David Kitt performing at Guildhall for the Samhain Sessions
A GIANT moon hanging from the ceiling of the Guildhall’s main hall will provide a stunning backdrop to two intimate concerts planned for this year’s Hallowe’en celebrations in Derry.
‘Samhain Sessions’ will be headlined by popular Dublin singer songwriter David Kitt alongside local favourite Our Krypton Son on Saturday October 28th while talented Derry band Ports will take the lead on Sunday October 29th with support from Joshua Burnside.
The Guildhall is hosting the ‘Museum of the Moon’ for the four day festival, featuring a seven metre diameter illuminated moon that uses NASA imagery to create a detailed scale model of the lunar surface.
Festival and Events Officer at Derry City and Strabane District Council, Liz Cunningham, said the organisers were delighted to secure such a high calibre line up for the unique setting.
“The Samhain Sessions concerts promise to be an unforgettable experience this Hallowe’en, as some of the hottest acts in Irish music perform in the Guildhall’s ornate main hall,” she said.
“We are delighted that David Kitt and Ports are headlining our concerts with support from Our Krypton Son and Joshua Burnside all under the intimate light of the Samhain Moon.
“With tickets priced at just £10 we expect the concerts to sell out fast and would advise the public to book early to avoid disappointment.”
Having spent the last year on the road with David Gray, David Kitt is now touring his own solo show performing many of his much loved and well known songs along with eagerly awaited new material ahead of the launch of his seventh solo album later this year.
The stunningly talented Margie Lewis will also take to the stage throughout the electric set, as the talented pair belt out some old, new and borrowed classics.
Chris McConaghy, aka Our Krypton Son, first cut his first musical teeth with psychobilly art-rockers Red Organ Serpent Sound.
Having graduated unscathed from those rambunctious ranks, Chris established his song writing credentials as an acoustic solo act sharing stages with David Kitt, Gemma Hayes, Jape and Cashier No. 9 around the Irish club circuit.
Gathering plaudits as a writer of note, Chris gathered close musician friends together in early 2010 to create Our Krypton Son and record a debut album of the same name.
His sophomore album, Fleas and Diamond’s, has been nominated for the NI Music Prize 2017.
Four piece Derry band Ports are made up of Steven McCool (Bass and Vocals), Mark O’Doherty (Drums), Ryan Griffiths (Guitar) and Conor Mason (Piano). After the release of their first demo ‘I’d Let You Win’, the band received a flood of fantastic reviews including; ‘Flavour of the Month’ and ‘Ones to Watch’ from BBC Introducing which resulted in extensive airplay from BBC Radio 1, RTE and countless others.
Ports rose to prominence in Ireland after an exciting performance at ‘Other Voices’, Derry-Londonderry when they stepped in to replace Two Door Cinema Club which led to an invite to return to the Other Voices stage, this time in London’s own Wilton’s Music Hall, joined by Villagers; John Grant; SOAK and Imelda May.
Their debut album, ‘The Devil’s A Songbird’, was released in 2016 to rave reviews and has seen the band’s reputation as an unmissable live band grow across Europe, USA and Australia.
Hailing from Lisbane, County Down, Joshua Burnside is an experimental folk songwriter and producer.
With a brooding, powerful sound echoing artists of places afar and time long gone, his enthralling craft defies local comparison in striving towards an aesthetic as much as visual as it is sonic. Joshua Burnside’s debut album ‘Ephrata’ is OUT NOW.
Stumbling beats, vocoder, banjo, robots, lightning and dark matter are just a handful of the flavours to expect
Tickets for Samhain Sessions are just £10 each and are available from the Guildhall or at derryhalloween.com/tickets. Halloween in Derry is organised by Derry City and Strabane District Council with support from Tourism NI Events Fund and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.
For more information and the full programme of events for this year’s Hallowe’en festival go to – www.derryhalloween.com.
