Other Voices 2012!

Other Voices frenzy is upon us and music fans across the country are preparing to make the annual Dingle pilgrimage later this week. With only one artist yet to be confirmed, event organisers have confirmed the day to day line-up as follows:

Saturday December 1st: Villagers, Owen Pallet, Kodaline, The Strypes and SOAK

Sunday December 2nd: Paul Buchanan, Aaron Dessner with Local Natives, Luluc and This is The Kit

Monday December 3rd: The Unthanks, The Staves, Palma Violets and TBC

From 7pm on Sunday December 2nd, RTÉ Two will broadcast live from St. James’ Church in Dingle, bringing the Other Voices experience live to living rooms across the country and online at www.RTE.ie. The broadcast will be a mixture of pre recorded segments and real time performances from the church and already confirmed to appear are Blue Nile legend Paul Buchanan, one of Ireland’s biggest worldwide breaking bands, Villagers plus many more. Other Voices fans who can’t make it to Dingle, will also be able to watch the Church performances on Monday December 3rd at RTE.ie, as well as on the Guardian website.

The IMRO Other Room, which is recorded on a closed set on Friday November 30th, will feature an eclectic mix of emerging acts - from Dingle, Walking on Cars; from around Ireland, Ghost Estates, Bleeding Heart Pigeons and Forrests; from Derry-Londonderry, Our Krypton Son and from the UK, Drenge. The final slot for the IMRO Other Room was an open call to artists across Ireland, Northern Ireland and the UK. Over 400 acts applied through www.othervoices.ie and three artists – Ocho, Hidden Highways and Riona- were chosen by an industry panel to go forward for a public vote through the Other Voices YouTube Channel. Hundreds of Other Voices fans are currently voting and the band taking the final IMRO Other Room spot will be announced on the Other Voices Facebook page this evening (Monday).

Many of these excellent new talents will also join the Other Voices Music Trail, which will take place in some of Dingle’s finest watering holes including McCarthy’s, Geaney’s, Adams and many more. Also taking to the Other Voices Music Trail will be In The Willows, Like A Fire, Neon Wolf, Daithi, Toy Soldier and many more. A number of St. James’ Church artists are also expected to make surprise appearances across the weekend in local venues.

The Phoenix Cinema will be screening the documentary Amy Winehouse: The Day She Came to Dingle. The intimate set, recorded as part of Other Voices in 2005, was last week nominated at #17 in a London Times article on the greatest concerts of all time. The Who Live in Leeds took the top spot and the only Irish related event in the collection was Amy’s Dingle concert.

Banter Salon at Other Voices, hosted by Jim Carroll, will take place at Foxy John’s between 4pm and 7pm on Saturday and Sunday. New additions to the salon include Peter Murphy and Siobhan Mannion reading their work from Silver Threads of Hope, an anthology of new Irish short stories. They will be joined by anthology editor Sinead Gleeson for a discussion on Irish literature in post-boom Ireland. Dermot McLaughlin, director of Derry City of Culture 2013, will be joining Banter to talk about what can be expected in the Maiden City next year; John Mulholland, editor of The Observer, on the view from the editor's chair and much more discussion, debate and no doubt an argument or two. See www.thisisbanter.com for the full list of activities.

Make sure to check out the Other Voices radio channel at www.deezer.com, where fans can also find plenty of Other Voices performances from over the years, including rare and unreleased audio recordings.

A number of tickets for St. James’ Church will be made available through competitions on Other Voices social media (Twitter: @OtherVoicesLive & Facebook: ‘Other Voices’) as well as on national and local radio shows and online outlets. Please see Other Voices website for all the details on how to win tickets: www.othervoices.ie. This year, the majority of tickets will be given away in raffles and competitions in Dingle on show day, giving those who travel to Other Voices the best chance of getting a precious seat in the Church. All of the events in the Church will be streamed to the big screen in a number of locations in Dingle including Benners Hotel, Foxy John’s, McCarthy’s and Geaney’s, so no one need miss out on a single note!