Jamm On It

amm On It

As previously celebrated on this blog , One Big Weekend put much energy into the Ebrington site in Derry, Yet across the river at the Playhouse Theatre, there was another quality draw. This time, the emphasis was on the local and putting on two days of Derry music for the ticketless wans. The event was called North By North West and the author was John Ross. He’s a regular feature about these parts - champion of the bi-monthly Jammhouse Sessions that started in March 2012 and have supported the likes of Soak, The Clameens and Little Bear.

NXNW was built to meet a one-off demand, but as you walked through the Playhouse and encountered the series of stages and event spaces, it was clear that this could be an annual throw-down. Certainly there was little sign of slack on the 40 act schedule and enough curious visitors to make it swing. One of the Saturday highlights was Leila Jane, deep into her delta blues, enraptured by Robert Johnson, Charlie Patton and with folkniks like Karen Dalton. When she crooned ‘Where The Sun Don't Shine’ with just the right amount of malice, she gave voice to a different, but equally valid sentiment for the city. It was heartening to see the grass roots being tended so well.

More Jammhouse activity will follow, including CultureTECH action in September and other programming feats. See www.facebook.com/thejammhouse for updates.