Galway Arts Festival
Asked by Galway Arts Festival to provide talent for an exciting launch for July 2009. The festival and Galway town itself is renowned for its street parades and entertainment, so we chose The Hot 8 Brass Band from New Orleans. We felt there was no better way to initiate the proceedings of the festival than with a bonafide Louisiana Mardi Gras Marching band.
The Hot 8 Brass Band brought an authenticity to photo calls, radio and TV interviews beside Galway’s legendary Spanish Arch monument which was an instant hook on which to promote the festival programme throughout the national press in Ireland.
To further identify the heritage of the festival our second choice was the soul legend Candi Staton. With her superb band Candi produced a breathtaking performance, delivering superior renditions of her classics like You’ve Got The Love and Young Hearts, Run Free. Candi continued to spread the love within the festival by signing autographs and chatting with her fans after the show.
Our goal of integrating talent we already work with into an established festival programme proved to be highly successful. Candi Staton & The Hot 8 Brass Band garnering outstanding reviews for their performances in national press and became the talking points of the festival.
