The inaugural Your Roots are Showing conference will take place from 22 to 26 January in the Four Seasons Hotel, Monaghan town. The event, which is focused on folk, roots and traditional music from Ireland and abroad, will present a programme of panel discussions with industry professionals, workshops, mentoring sessions, vendor exhibits and artist showcases. Over sixty speakers will host sessions on topics such as touring overseas, international visas, mental health in music, fusing multicultural influences with Irish traditional music, and music publishing. 

The five-day event will feature contributors from a range of organisations including Philadelphia Folk Festival, Grand Ole Opry, WOMEX, Rounder Records, Compass Records, Glastonbury, Milwaukee Irish Fest, English Folk Expo, Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival, Midnight Mango Booking Agency, Sligo Live Festival, Music Network, the Arts Council and the Irish Traditional Music Archive. Speakers include Aidan Butler (RTÉ/TradFest Temple Bar), Paul Flynn (Arts Council), Garry West (Compass Records), Toner Quinn (Journal of Music), Tom Besford (English Folk Expo), Sharon Rollston (Music Network), David Teevan (Irish Arts Festival Archive/University College Dublin Heritage Collections), Barry Stapleton (Milwaukee Irish Fest), Gay McKeon (Na Píobairí Uilleann) and artists Emma Langford, John Spillane, Niamh Parsons, Cathy Jordan, Clare Sands and Liam Ó Maonlaí. 

There will also be over sixty artists performing in showcase events including ALFI, Rebecca Loebe, George Crotty, Christian Wethered, I Draw Slow, TRÚ, Sarah Buckley, Elena Duff, The Remedy Club, Lucy Grubb and Maija Kauhanen. 

The final event of the conference will be a gala concert featuring folk artists Old Sea Legs, Damien O’Kane and Ron Block, and Kíla. There will also be sessions on event production, visual branding, the importance of archiving your work, managing digital royalties, social media and online marketing, tour management, and a screening of a documentary by filmmaker Joanne Gardner Lowell, Will the Circle Be Unbroken – The Making of the Album Vol II.  

For further information and tickets, visit: https://www.showingroots.com/