The third instalment of Your Roots Are Showing attracted an impressive cohort of talented musicians from near and far, including Irish acts like Patrick Stefan, Lorraine Nash and Tadhg Williams, as well as a host of international acts including bluegrass young guns The Litch Brothers from the US, Canada's The McDades and Gavin and Chucky from Guyana.

Kicking off last Wednesday, the folk and roots music conference honoured Massachusetts bluegrass hero Peter Rowan with its inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by Emmy and Grammy winning banjo player Allison Brown and Anna Kline from IBMA World of Bluegrass.

Your Roots Are Showing honours music icon Peter Rowan with its inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award during its Folk In Fusion concert. L-R: Anna Kline, Peter Rowan, Allison Brown.

Highlights of the five day music event included dynamic panel discussions including 'How To Build A Business Plan with 'Lisa Schwartz (Festival Programmer at Cambridge Folk Festival) and 'Balancing Family & Music' with Liam O'Maonlai of the Hothouse Flowers, amongst others.

With its multiple stages, conference rooms and idyllic surroundings, the INEC was the perfect venue for an international music conference with a wholly welcoming atmosphere, promoting both professional and musical collaboration.

Two-time GRAMMY winner and Pulitzer Prize recipient Rhiannon Giddens gave a powerful keynote speech on Saturday where she discussed cultural appropriation, seizing the day and the role of luck in an artist's musical journey.

"Any great career starts with luck. It may have been a lot of hard work up until that lucky point but if you don't have that lucky moment, all that hard work will never be known'.

January 14, 2025 Your Roots Are Showing Conference, “Folk In Fusion” Concert, INEC Arena, Killarney, / Photo Credit: Colin Gillen

For those who didn't have to jet back home on Sunday, ​Your ​Roots ​Ar​e Showing hosted a brilliant music trail around Killarney town featuring​ Dirk & Amelia Powell, Hannah Rose and Ben Gage.

For a roots music conference in its infancy, Your Roots Are Showing delivered an inspiring schedule of talks and live performances that could compete on any international stage. Hopefully it will become an annual pilgrimage to Killarney for Irish and international artists alike.