Another new platform for original music in Galway

Groove Tube with Cian O’Connell

Original music nights in Galway have, against all odds, sprouted back up in the city over the last couple of months. The returning Free House has been a frenetic revelation in Áras na nGael, laced with emerging talent from around the country – and last month, A Modern Movement came back to the Loft Venue two years on from its debut and, although its next instalment has now had to be postponed, the showcase will be back as soon as restrictions ease.

Now following suit is Rough Cut – an extension of Kevin Maurice Handler’s Tigh Aoibhneas project that, much like the work done by the Black Gate in recent years, is seeking to facilitate and embolden local artists on every front.

Having moved to Galway six months prior to the start of the pandemic, Kevin set about repurposing a former crèche in Shantalla to be used as both his home and a makeshift arts centre.

The hope is for Tigh Aoibhneas to evolve into a practice space, a studio, a showcase and a collective. It is an ambitious blueprint, and, through Covid, progress was slower than Kevin may have liked.

Thankfully, Rough Cut’s debut on Wednesday December 8 – a bill in De Burgo’s featuring Jack Lee & Aubrey Hennessy, Colohan and Craig Cameron – is allowed to take place within the latest Covid guidelines.

“The inspiration for Tigh Aoibhneas was originally a yoga studio,” Kevin explains. “Enso was down the street from my house in California. They had an art gallery and occasionally they would do events. They’d have plays and audiences – they would also feed people every Friday or Saturday with vegan options and all for donations. It was multi-disciplinary.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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