Belfast, Northern Ireland and Music City USA are currently celebrating 16 years as sister cities, a partnership designed to promote cultural, tourism and business development opportunities between the two cities. One highlight of the sister city relationship is the annual Belfast Nashville Songwriters’ Showcase, a three night series of performances featuring top writers from Belfast and Nashville. This year’s event is scheduled for March 11, 12 and 13 at The Belcourt Theatre, Bluebird Café and Dan McGuinness Pub.
Both cities enjoy a rich musical history incorporating a variety of genres. Belfast has produced stars from a wide-variety of formats including multi-Grammy winner Van Morrison, movie soundtrack composer David Holmes (Oceans Eleven, Out of Sight) ‘70s rock hitmakers Thin Lizzy and acclaimed flautist Sir James Galway. Bringing together songwriters from Belfast and Music City to celebrate the art of songwriting enables everyone to discover more about the links between a shared musical heritage and the traditional roots of American songwriting.
Scheduled for the Belfast Nashville Songwriters’ Showcase are: (admission to every event is free):
Thursday, March 11, 8:00 p.m., Dan McGuinness Pub: Aaron Shanley, Ricky Warwick, Anthony Toner.
Friday, March 12, 6:30 p.m., Bluebird Café: Tia Sillers, Mark Selby, Gareth Dunlop, Iain Archer.
Saturday, March 13, 7:00 p.m., The Belcourt Theatre: Bobby Bare, Jr., Elizabeth Cook, Dave Olney, Pat Alger, Aaron Shanley, Ricky Warwick, Iain Archer and Gareth Dunlop.
