Hill Billy Descendants In Ulster Replay

This year's Open House Festival is nothing if not varied and one returning artist is being made particularly welcome - especially as he's really 'Bringing it all Back Home', writes Brian McCalden
Morgan O'Kane will be taking to the stage at McHugh's with Ferd 4, Zeke Healy and their distinct brand of 'Savage Blueridge', otherwise known as Brooklyn-influenced Appalachian music.
'Hill Billy' music has long since been traced back to these shores - from where Scots-Irish migrants sailed west from ports like Groomsport in Co Down to the New World - so this return visit is actually a homecoming.
Settling along the Appalachians, all the Ulster-bred Williams (Billy) soon took up their respective instruments and played and sang the old folk tunes, with musical history made as the Hilly Billy tunes metamorphosed into what is today known as 'Bluegrass'.
Generations later, O'Kane emerged as an intensely talented musician from the Ulster-Scots heartland of Charlottesville, Virginia, who is now residing in New York.
His own distinct sound is an evolution of his work and from the mountaintop 'removal protests' of West Virginia (nothing changes for the fighting Irish) to the clubs of Williamsburg and later Brooklyn, to the pubs of Belfast and through Holland and back again, these days O'Kane's is more soulful.
His brand new album 'Pendulum' will be pre-released at Open House festival this year with Ferd and Zeke also back on a musical journey like no other.
O'Kane is supported by Wookalily, who are sometimes referred to as having chill-Billy roots, but with an old-time feel and offering a young-time appeal.
The show is in McHugh's on Friday 24 June, 8pm. £12, (£10 advance).
(BMcC)