Mazz adds a gem to catalogue of music from Dingle

ANOTHER gem has been added to the catalogue of recordings from West Kerry with the release of the new CD ‘Fare Thee Well to Sessions from the Shop’, by Mazz O’Flaherty of The Dingle Record Shop.

Complied by Mazz to mark the end of her innovative ‘Sessions from the Shop’ project, the CD will be launched by singer Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh on Friday evening in O’Flaherty’s Pub.

Sessions from the shop was a podcast in which Mazz recorded musicans and singers in the shop using a hand held recording device and streamed the results over the Internet on her website dinglerecordshop.com. In the nine years that the podcast has been available it has eceived almost 3 million hits.

Because of failing eyesight Mazz can no longer continue to record the sessions from the shop but as a tribute to the sessions and to Mazz herself musicians have provided a selection of tracks for the ‘Fare Thee Well...’ double CD, which will be released on Friday.

The Dingle Record Shop, though only 12ft by 10ft in size, packs a powerful punch when it comes to supporting local and independent musicians. Providing this support is central to the role of the shop, according to Mazz. “The shop promotes, as much as possible, local and independent musicians. We work on connections: local musicians and their friends – and friends of friends – are our friends. We were there before social media,” she said.

People have travelled from far and wide to see the shop and most are amazed that such a small space could be the source of so much great music. In 2013 award winning music documentary maker Myles O’Reilly made a sort film on the Dingle Record Shop, entitled ‘ The Greatest Smallest Record Shop in Ireland’, featuring amongst others Lumiere and Walking on Cars as they recorded songs in the shop on Green Street.

The launch by Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh will take place between 7pm and 10pm on Friday, November 8, in O’Flaherty’s Pub.