About the film

In 2013 Arlo Guthrie played at the Hawkswell Theatre in Sligo, Ireland. I'm a big fan of him and his dad. I'd never seen him in concert, and thought any excuse to go to Ireland is a good excuse, so as I live in France it would save me a trip to America.

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So off I went.

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While waiting for the concert to begin the woman next to me started chatting, then another woman turned and joined us. Michelle was a friend of Arlo's. 

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Enchanted by this I asked if they were going to a pub after the show. She said, "Shoot the Crows". Thinking I'd gotten the brush off and it had been a long day, I headed back to my hotel, as everyone else I'd spoken with had a 45 minute drive ahead of them. I was sad to not have gone to a pub, but glad I'd gotten myself to the concert. It was so worth it.

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The next day I asked around about pubs in Sligo where trad (traditional) music was played. Someone named a pub just around the corner. I missed the name, but later I was driving through town and there in front of me was the sign - Shoot the Crows. It was a pub! After nearly crashing the car, I laughed it off and went inside. The place was heaving - crowded, loud and with great craic. The music was magical - some kind of gypsy jazz? A stool was empty so I asked the guy sitting next to it if it was free. He said to "work away". I didn't know what that meant, but I sat down anyway.

 

A post of Dervish - my favorite Irish trad band, was on the wall, so I took a couple pictures of it. The guy sitting next to me introduced himself - Shane. He asked if I liked Dervish. I waxed lyrical - been listening to them for 20 years I said. Shane said, "Well,  you'll want to say hello to Brian then. He plays the Mandola." I looked at Brian, looked at the poster, back to Brian and we both just laughed. This was too much fun.

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The band playing was the NoCrows. They started at Shoot the Crows a few years ago. They play gypsy-jazz-trad with Russian and Spanish influences as three band members are from Russia, Switzerland, and Mallorca.

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As the pub was closing and we were getting ready to go I said to Shane that someone should make a documentary film about music in Ireland. He agreed, but said that it should be just about Sligo, as in this town alone there are well over 500 great musicians. 

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That night I couldn't sleep. I knew I had to do this project.

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I stayed for a few days in Sligo, and was swept away by the density of virtuosity in this small friendly town. It never ceases to entertain and inspire. There is a tight community of musicians who support each other by doing random drop in guest performances on a given night. In spite of John the Map's obsession with maintaining "what's on"website for music in Sligo, mostly unannounced, the spontaneity is hard to beat. 

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I'm a music addict. I lived in LA and travelled a lot. No where, not even in the largest cities in the world can you find this rich of a musical mosaic where you can simply walk from pub to pub with no entrance fee, and have this variety of great entertainment, plus wonderfully funny people to chat with. 

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~ Lauren Hakulinen, Director/Producer/Writer

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