Festival frolics - my highlights

The enormous crowd that showed up at Madisons on Sunday afternoon for the final day of the Belfast Nashville Songwriters Festival were a testament to how far the event has come in the last five years. Everything about the festival seemed completely grown up this year: the brochure design, the stature of the artists, the attendances at the events – and the quality of attention that was paid during the concerts. Hats off to Colin and Anne and everyone who was involved in the week - it was a triumph. For me there were so many high points, but here’s a selection – in no order:

• Meeting Josh Rouse (above) – of whom I’m a huge fan (picture by Fran McCloskey);
• Getting to play lead guitar on 'Dance the Night Away' with Raul Malo;
• Meeting a man who worked at Belfast Harbour for 43 years, who had come to the Black Box just to hear ‘Sailortown’;
• Belfast Mayor (right) Tom Hartley’s speech on Sunday afternoon, celebrating songwriting talent and the creative spirit of the city;
• The Aphrodite pizzas at the Black Box café;
• Singing harmonies with Nanci Griffith on From A Distance.
• Hearing Ben Glover and the Earls in full flow for what looks like the last time in a while;
• Trying out new song 'The Duke of Oklahoma' in front of an audience;
• The free Jack Daniels shots at Madisons on Sunday;
• The Harvest Revisited night at Oh Yeah;
• The fact that EVERYBODY YOU MET wanted to tell you about the gig they had just come from, or went to last night, or were angry at having missed...