Monday
Once Removed
Millennium Court Arts Centre, Portadown, Co Armagh Until Sep 24
millenniumcourt.org
Ian Cumberland's figurative paintings consider a culture in which the individual physical and emotional presence has given ground to virtual, consumerist avatars. The virtuoso realism of his imagery asks us to look beyond the deceptive surface to the palpable physical reality, just as that reality is supplanted by the lure of "the spectacle" in a digital, sensationalist age.
Cleek Schrey
Rothe House, Kilkenny 10.30pm €16/€14
kilkennyarts.ie
Apart from possessing one of the coolest names, Cleek Schrey is a Virginian fiddler who, like Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh, has made the Hardanger d'Amore fiddle his own. An experimentalist whose feet are firmly rooted in American tradition, Schrey is no stranger to stretching and bending boundaries to suit his needs. A veteran of The Ghost Trio (with Iarla Ó Lionáird and piper, Ivan Goff), Schrey promises to surprise and delight in equal measure.
Tuesday
Hypnagogia
Douglas Hyde Gallery, Trinity College Dublin Until Sep 21
douglashydegallery.com
American photographer Alec Soth may first came to attention with a superb body of work, Sleeping by the Mississippi, a haunting, hallucinatory account of a fascinating collection of individuals living on the great river. he may not have suprassed himself with this new show, but here's a chance to find out. Photographs from that series are juxtaposed with works from Songbook and other subsequent projects.
Wednesday
Roots Manuva
National Concert Hall, Dublin 8pm €35
nch.ie
UK rapper Rodney Smith emerged in the late 1990s and gained success with such groundbreaking albums as Run Come Save Me and Slime & Reason. Self-described as a "British Black musical Mark Rothko", Smith can lay claim as one of the most important UK hip-hop acts of the past 20 years. Past collaborators such as DJ Shadow, Beth Orton, UNKLE and Gorillaz would surely agree.
Ricky Skaggs
St Canice's Cathedral, Kilkenny 7.30pm €33/€30/€27
kilkennyarts.ie
The US country/bluegrass singer-songwriter headlines a one-off show (titled These Ancient Arts) that explores the interweaving between Irish and Appalachian traditional music. Quality guests include Martin Hayes, Dennis Cahill, David Power and Maighread and Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill. As part of Kilkenny Arts Festival.
ProdiJig: Revolution
Cork Opera House. Ends Aug 14
corkoperahouse.ie
If you can get past the title, which sounds (not unintentionally) like a rogue addition to the Step Up franchise or, perhaps, its spin-off videogame, this new production from Cork Opera House is set to stun. Winning vociferous acclaim and thrilling audiences with its collaboration between Irish Dance world champion and TV talent show star Alan Kenefick, his dance troupe Prodijig, composer Peter Power, prog- trad band Moxie and director Wayne Jordan, it is presented – in every sense of the word – as a riot. That's partly political, such as the rebellious inheritance we are apparently commemorating through other achingly polite spectacles. But mainly it's about a new generation's navigation through tradition, collision and fusions in the modern world. Here they make their bracing introductions. Irish dance, meet hip-hop. Hip-hop, meet jazz. Arms, meet freedom. Prodijig: Revolution meet world.
Thursday
All Tvvins
The Liquor Rooms, Dublin 8pm €25
eventbrite.ie
Those smart folks from the Vinyl & Wine series are behind this special event, wherein the debut album (IIVV) by Irish band All Tvvins will be premiered via vinyl playback on a high-grade sound system. Following this exclusive is a public interview with the band. And if you think the admission price is steep, let it be known that it includes a vinyl copy of the album. Sounds fair enough, yes?
I Went to the Woods
Lewis Glucksman Gallery, University College Cork Until Nov 6
glucksman.org
Henry David Thoreau, who famously went to the woods to be alone and self-reliant, less famously brought his laundry home to mum and availed of other civilized comforts. Here curators Chris Clarke and Pádraic E Moore consider the work of artists who venture off-grid or just wander, "taking note of their surroundings via the collection of materials, objects and images". They are Anna Bak, Brendan Earley, Fiona Kelly, Juha Pekka Matias Laakkonen, Richard Long, Helen Mirra, Ria Pacquée, herman de vries and Walker & Walker.
Ronnie Greer Organ Trio
JJ Smyths, Dublin 9pm €10
jjsmyths.com
Guitarist Ronnie Greer may be a legend of the Belfast blues scene, but he has more than a little jazz in his soul. His latest project features four of the island's leading jazz musicians, including fellow Northerners Scott Flanigan (organ) and Linley Hamilton (trumpet), with two of Dublin's finest, Richie Buckley (sax) and Dominic Mullan (drums).
