TRADITIONAL
April Verch Band
The Dock, Carrick-on-Shannon, Co Leitrim 8.30pm €15/€12
thedock.ie
Bluegrass, old time and western swing are the language spoken with enviable fluency by Ottawa Valley step dancer and fiddler. This debut tour by April Verch and her band is likely to find many resonances in the far corners of the country, where tunes and steps will be brought back home, only to be turned inside out and upside down by local punters with ears pricked for connections between past and present. Verch has a reputation for whooping it up in her live performances, so be sure to bring a store of adrenaline – not to mention your elasticated pelvic girdles.
ART
Gypsy Ray: Photographs
Butler Gallery, The Castle, Kilkenny May 2-Jun 21
butlergallery.com
Ray, an American long based in Ireland, works primarily with photography and drawing. Teaching is also central. She has an exceptionally empathic, patient approach and is equally sensitive to people and landscapes. Both feature in this show, from portraits of Dervla Murphy to landscapes made with a plastic camera called the Holga.
