As festival season 2011 well and truly gets underway, RTÉ Radio 1 is hitting the road and bringing you the best live music on offer this summer.

The Willie Clancy Summer School on RTÉ Radio 1

Céilí House, Saturday 2 July, 21.00

South Wind Blows, Sunday 3 July, 21.00

The Rolling Wave, Sunday 3 July, 22.00

The Willie Clancy Summer School is one of the best known and most prestigious of the many traditional music summer schools in Ireland and RTÉ Radio 1 will be there to capture the atmosphere and sounds it has to offer.

Thousands of musicians, singers, music lovers, enthusiasts and fans descend on the West Clare town of Miltown Malbay to hear, meet and learn from some of the biggest names in traditional music.

On Saturday 2 July, a group of hardy cyclists will be making their way west on the 270km trip from Dublin to Miltown Malbay to raise money for Pipecraft which is an initiative to advance the craft of pipemaking.

Céilí House will be in Feakle, Co Clare to meet them on their way west to hear about how the trip is going and to see how well they play after two days hard cycling - literally "Hitting the Road".

On Sunday 3 July, Philip King's South Wind Blows and Peter Browne's Rolling Wave will preview the Summer School; hearing about the week's events and meeting some of those taking part.

Throughout the week, RTÉ Radio will be recording music and song from the cream of musicians who will be in attendance and playing at the many events.

Cork by South West

From festival heavyweights to the cream of boutique outdoor gatherings, we'll be on location broadcasting the best interviews, news and, of course, music, from Ireland's best festival sites.

The season kicked off with a bang on the June bank holiday weekend as Aidan Butler and Niall Toner broadcast an hour of music from the artists such as The Coronas, Key West and Republic of Loose live from West Fest in Co. Mayo on Saturday 4 June.

On June 5th and 6th, a country estate in West Cork rocked to the sound of some classic acts. Patti Smith, Echo & The Bunnymen and Peter Hook & The Light were the headliners at Cork X Southwest, in the stunning location of Lissard House in Skibbereen. And RTÉ Radio 1 was there so you could share in the best of the music and chat from backstage. Join Fiachna Ó Braonáin and Jim Lockhart for a flavour of the sunny June bank holiday weekend.

Part 1

Part 2

KATELL KEINEG

There was a time when singer/songwriter Katell Keineg was a regular fixture on Ireland's music scene. Well, she's back and sounding better than ever, which is saying something. These days Katell divides her time between Dublin and New York. She took time out from her Lissard weekend to talk to old mucker Fiachna and give us a live version of "St Martin", from her current album "At The Mermaid parade".

WE CUT CORNERS

We Cut Corners are Conall O'Breachain and John Duignan, who sing and play guitar and drums, though they sound like a lot more. In their short career to date the Dublin lads have charmed the critics with their clever, catchy and witty songs. Here's a slice from their well-received set at Lissard. The tracks are Toll-Free, The Leopard, A Pirate's Life and Go Easy.

DRUGSTORE

Brazil-born Isabel Monteiro is the vibrant singer and songwriter with Drugstore, who enchanted Lissard on Saturday night. Before hitting the stage, she talked about the band's dreamy path back to Skibbereen and their associations with Radiohead and others.

KEN GRIFFIN / FAVOURITE SONS

Favourite Sons hail from Brooklyn but are fronted by Dubliner Ken Griffin, onetime singer with Rollerskate Skinny and hence assured a place in the Irish rock pantheon. Jim Lockhart caught up with him just before their set at Lissard on Saturday night.

IVAN STJOHN

With a musical background going back to St Patrick's Cathedral Choir and a penchant for doing things differently, Ivan StJohn's debut album Up To Snuff was always going to be an intriguing prospect, and it didn't disappoint. Backstage at Lissard, Ivan gave Fiachna a bit of background and showed off some tasty harmonies!

LENNY KAYE

Lenny Kaye has been a stalwart of Patti Smith's band for thirty-odd years, and his rock'n'roll smarts show no sign of dimming. A longtime fan of Lissard, he sang Fiachna a song he wrote there back in the day, and talked of everything from New York to old crooners, like those he documented in his book You Call It Madness: The Sensuous Song of the Croon, an impressionistic study of the romantic singers of the 1930s. This is the full version of that interview - an edited version was broadcast on the night.