Music from the Heart

They say dreams come true when you have faith in your goals and you are willing to work hard to make your dreams come true. Danish singer Rune Herholdt has been dreaming of coming to the Czech Republic and playing there together with The Gospel Brothers for a long time. He himself has been to Czech Republic and particularly to Brno, 4 times before but never with his fellow musicians. Now the time has finally come and his dream has been realized.

The courtyard of Kurim castle hosts a Celtic party every July. Even though the weather can be tricky, it always attracts a community of people who are ready for a great craic.

There are events that need to be seen to be believed. Folk holidays festival in Namest nad Oslavou, Czech Republic, has seen many of them over the years but nothing like this. Sean-nós singer Lorcán Mac Mathúna has never been to Czech Republic before and when he finally did come he brought a truly unique project with him. The project is called Visionaries 1916 And Their Words and consists of poems, songs and other texts written by people involved in 1916 Easter Rising, the most important event in Irish history as the Irish fought for their independence against the British.

Northern Ireland's Peter Wilson, or Duke Special as he's known on stage, is without doubt one of the most original songwriters out there. He's been coming to Czech republic regularly for almost a decade and local audience has seen many different layers of his creativity but nothing like this. On Wednesday June 21^st, as a part of the Valassky spalicek festival, Duke brought a truly unique production to Valmez. This production is called Under the Dark Cloth and it connects the photography as an art form and the music.

There are nights when it doesn't matter how many people are in the room, sometimes less means time for more intimate songs and you feel like in someone's living room. This was the case of the Saturday night, June ^3rd in Stara pekarna in Brno where the Irish songwriters Bob O'Keeffe, from Wexford but currently based in Prague, and Marty Ryan, also known as Anna's Anchor (from Limerick), were the stars of the night.

There are bands that have been playing for years but you may not have a chance to come across them but there are others that have been playing for a short period of time but put themselves on the map. Young indie rock band Her English Blood certainly belongs to the second category. After playing just for a year they now released their debut album Only Breathing and the launch took place on April 18^th in Prague. Irish singer/songwriter Glen Hansard was supposed to be a very special guest of the night.

Glen Hansard has been coming to Czech Republic for 16 years and his relationship with Czech people is very close. He calls the town of Valasske Mezirici (or Valmez for short) his second home. It was there that he met Marketa Irglova with whom he won the Oscar for Falling slowly of the movie Once. Now Glen is back in Czech Republic for a private visit and set up an intimate gig in his favourite town on Easter Sunday April 16^th. It was a last-minute event but an intimate feel promised a unique experience that attracted people from all over.

Lasse Matthiessen isn’t an unknown name for Czech audience anymore. He returned there for a few shows this March and brought a band with him which promised a different experience from solo shows. His Thursday stop was Brno where he played a year ago but in a different venue.

Some live shows need to be seen to be understood. That's the case of Hothouse Flowers too. The band has been playing for over 30 years and getting great reception around the world. They're deeply spiritual, full of energy that goes way beyond just one night. And when you see them playing in front of a home audience, that's really something else. Vicar street was packed on Sunday night and you could feel the anticipation.