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Väsen
Ahimsa
Fiddlers' Bid
Baskery
Lau
The Chair
The Unwanted
Simon Thoumire & Ian Carr
Foghorn Stringband
Session A9
New Rope String Band
Eva Hren & Sladcore
Mórga
Paradiso Jazz Quartet
Bodega
The Wiyos
Feolta
Brooklyn based quartet, The Wiyos are a band said to be “full of surprises” by Seasick Steve. Living up to this reputation, they were one of the most talked about bands at Celtic Connections 2010 and subsequently, we simply couldn’t resist a last minute invitation to this year’s festivities!
Formed in 2002, the band started out busking the streets of New York and New Orleans but they were soon to be invited to the prestigious Newport Folk Festival, which in turn led to appearances at all the major festivals in the USA. Well grounded in early and obscure stringband fare, with a repertoire that spanned Tin Pan Alley to Texas, the band described their early-days brand as 'vaudevillian ragtime-jugband-blues and hillbilly swing'- a description equally applicable eight years on. As each band member has always shared a common passion for the old-time stringbands, blues singers, jugbands and hot jazz ensembles of the 1920s and 30’s, this ensures that their original material retains that feel and sound.
2009 has been the Brooklyn-based combo’s busiest year ever and included a 27-date tour across America and opening for Bob Dylan (by invitation) in a nationwide run of baseball park shows. Other than Celtic Connections, they have previously appeared in the UK at the Barbican Theatre in London along with a host of other top American roots music acts in a series that was filmed and broadcast by the BBC.
Named after an Irish street gang that ruled the lower east side of Manhattan during the late 1800s, The Wiyos have recently released their fourth album to widespread critical acclaim, receiving regular airplay on the Bob Harris BBC Radio 2 show amongst others. The Wiyos are Parrish Ellis on resonator and archtop guitars, guitjo, banjo, ukulele, vocals, Seth Travins on double bass, Michael Farkas on washboard, harmonica, kazoo, vocals and sound effects and Teddy Weber on steel guitar, guitar and vocals.
As Sweden’s leading acoustic band Väsen marks 20 years of touring together, we are delighted to invite them back to help celebrate our 30th Anniversary. Väsen’s band members are already legendary among string players all over the world. Comprised of Olav Johansson on nyckelharpa (the keyed fiddle unique to Sweden), Roger Tallroth on 12-stringed guitar and Mikael Marin on 5-stringed viola, together they transcend barriers and delight listeners with their telepathic musical intensity, personality, energy and tunes that are irresistible and unforgettable.
As audiences from the 23rd Shetland Folk Festival will remember, Väsen play traditional music with a modern attitude, emulating sounds that can connote classical string quartets at one moment and upbeat folk/pop/rock in another. More than one rock critic has proclaimed them “the best band in the world” claiming that together they create more electricity on their acoustic instruments than most rock bands can generate with their amps turned up to the max!
Their latest release, Väsen Street, is their 12th album, which has recently been nominated for a Swedish Grammy award. As a result of the band’s huge fan base in America, the album title refers to a mission by fans in Bloomington, Indiana to name a street after them. This was achieved in September 2009!
Väsen have been involved with various other musical collaborations through the years, including concert performances and an album with Darol Anger and Mike Marshall from the States.
Ahimsa is a four-piece ensemble based in India and Germany who play a captivating fusion of Indian Carnatic music and jazz. The band is comprised of four brilliant musicians including South Indian violin star Neyveli S Radhakrishna with his rare and unique stereoscopic ten-string double neck violin. Ahimsa was the result of a chance meeting between him and German Jazz guitarist Matthias Muller in 1999, which quickly blossomed into friendship, mutual admiration and musical partnership. Two masters of percussion accompany them, from both Southern Carnatic and Northern Hindustani India - R. Yogaraja on Mrudangam and Ganjira and Udai Mazumdar on Tabla.
With Ahimsa’s compositions, they uniquely balance complex rhythmic structures and raga improvisations with western classical music and jazz. They recorded their first CD “Seven Steps to Liberty-Step One” in Germany in 2000 which went on to receive world wide critical acclaim. A second album followed in 2006 called “What is the nature of Spirit?”
The Sanskrit word Ahimsa denotes non-violence, compassion, love and reverence for all beings and all forms of life. Ahimsa represent world music at its very best and are a fantastic addition to our line up. Welcome to Shetland!
There is no way that we could celebrate 30 years of the Shetland Folk Festival without an appearance from the leading exponents of Shetland's unique musical heritage and rich fiddle tradition. Since their formation in 1991, Fiddlers' Bid has played an extremely important role in the success of numerous Shetland Folk Festivals. They have acted as global ambassadors for us as a Festival and Shetland as a whole as they’ve astounded audiences all over the world with their expressive, high-energy music and performances.
Since the creation of the band nineteen years ago, their open mindedness and desire to constantly develop has seen the band turn into an international act in every sense of the word. Band members now travel from the U.S.A. Norway, Scotland and of course Shetland to share their music with other cultures worldwide, including Japan, Australia, USA and all over Europe.
With five albums to date, their most recent release 'All Dressed in Yellow' has won them the prestigious Album of the Year Award at the Scots Trad Music Awards in November 2009. It has also garnered rave reviews as their finest album to date where the 'Bids' now trademark raw energy and emotion combined with stunning precision has been captured to dazzling effect.
Fiddlers' Bid are Kevin Henderson, Chris Stout, Maurice Henderson and Andrew Gifford on Fiddles, Catriona McKay on Clarsach and Piano, Jonathan Ritch on Bass and Fionan DeBarra on guitar.
Although a relatively new band, Baskery is comprised of three Swedish sisters who have been sharing stages for over ten years. They describe their music as “high voltage” and use expressions like 'killbilly', 'banjo punk' and 'mud-country' rather than traditional ones since they’re certainly not bound to any genre. Although respectful to their musical fore runners, Baskery is an original band showcasing original compositions featuring killer musicians with distinctive character and a reckless, unafraid punk attitude.
Their debut album 'Fall Among Thieves' was released in Sweden in May 2008 and since then the band has successful toured Ireland, USA, Sweden, France, Canada, Denmark and Norway as well as being support act for Seth Lakeman during his UK autumn tour in 2008. The album holds no over dubs and consists primarily of first or second takes, capturing the same raw energy as their live performances. Greta, Stella and Sunniva sing three part harmonies as well as play acoustic guitar, upright bass, six-stringed banjo, tambourine, kick, snare & harmonica. Indeed, their live performances regularly generate excellent reviews.
Baskery is a natural progression for the Bondesson sisters from their former band Slaptones with their dad on drums. Signed to EMI, the group released 2 albums and toured the US with The Brian Setzer Orchestra. Baskery was founded in spring 2006 and signed with Veranda Independent Records the same year.
As one of the most sought-after acts on the folk music scene, Lau have been described as a formidable union of three of the finest and most innovative exponents of modern traditional music in Scotland today. Featuring Martin Green on piano accordion, Kris Drever on guitar and vocals and Aidan O'Rourke on fiddle, these three musicians are no strangers to Shetland. But in the formation of Lau, this is their debut appearance at the Shetland Folk Festival.
Martin Green, who has frequently attended the Festival since the early 1990s, grew up playing English and Irish traditional music in the south of England. He has played with many of the great singers and players of English music including Martin Carthy, Norma Waterson, Kathryn Tickell, Linda Thompson and Eliza Carthy.
Orcadian multi-instrumentalist and singer Kris Drever has been involved with a myriad of different projects and worked with a variety of artistes including the Battlefied Band, John McCusker, Session A9, Kate Rusby as well his father Ivan Drever. He was voted instrumentalist of the year at the 2008 Scot Trad Music Awards.
Aiden O'Rourke is a fiddle player and composer from Oban who has toured extensively in Europe and North America from the age of 15. Having performed with several hugely successful bands, he is also a much sought after session musician. He has performed on over 60 albums to date ranging from Runrig to Michael McGoldrick and Karen Mathieson.
Together in Lau, this trio won Best group at the 2009 and 2008 BBC Folk Awards, won Best Live Act at Scots Trad Music Awards in Novebmer 2009 and have been nominated in the same category in BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2010. Their highly anticipated second album, 'Arc Light' has also received considerable praise for being 'a truly magnificent album' (The Scotsman).
They’re back! For one night only, Orkney based band The Chair will take to the stage of the Clickimin for a special folk festival musical Inter-County gig. With their third invitation within four years, The Chair is one of the few bands that have ever been invited to play at the Shetland Folk Festival for two consecutive years (2007 and 2008).
Since their last Shetland appearance, the band has taken the folk world by storm. The latter part of 2008 saw stomping performances by The Chair at the Hebridean Celtic Festival, Cambridge Folk Festival, Stokes Bay and Brampton Live. In November 2008, they were named Band of the Year at Scots Trad Music Awards and in 2009 were invited back to the Hebridean Celtic Festival as a headline act (having, according to many, outshone the Saw Doctors the year before!) With loads of new material, the band are now back in the studio beginning work on the follow up to their debut album Huinka.
The Chair, who continue to be a riot of fiddles, accordions, banjos, guitars, drums, bass and percussion, will also headline Celtic Connection’s 02 ABC gig during the 2010 Showcase Scotland weekend. They boast a stellar cast of musicians; Fionn Macarthur and Douglas Montgomery on fiddle, Gavin Firth on guitar, Bob Gibbon on accordion, Robbie Thomson on percussion, Chas Milne on bass guitar, Erik Laughton on drums and last but certainly not least is Brian Cromarty on banjo and vocals.
Representing Shetland at this special gig will be Fullsceilidh Spelemannslag with their high octane maelstrom of feverish melodies. They have performed at the Clickimin for the past two Festivals alongside Shooglenifty in 2009 and Peatbog Faeries in 2008. So if there is one thing that can be guaranteed at this Inter-County gig, it is plenty of sweaty dancing!
The source and inspiration of the music of this band comes from the rich traditions of both sides of Atlantic. Featuring three Sligo based musicians, each with exceptional talent and a lifetime dedication to their music, The Unwanted combine traditions from Ireland to Appalachia and beyond.
Roscommon born Cathy Jordan, lead singer for acclaimed group Dervish, moves effortlessly and with soaring voice between Sean-nós, Appalachian ballad and contemporary folk song, lending rich accompaniment on bodhran and tenor guitar. Joining her are Sligo native Séamus O'Dowd on guitar, fiddle and harmonica and Rick Epping, a native of California on harmonica, concertina, banjo and jaw harp.
Séamus grew up steeped in the tradition of Sligo fiddling, early on expanding his repertoire to include the New World traditions. Today, he is as accomplished playing Blues on slide guitar as he is playing jigs and reels. Rick, who has been moving back and forth between Ireland and the United States for over 40 years has played with musical greats as varied as Bill Monroe, Texas blues man Mance Lipscomb and Irish accordionist Joe Cooley.
Together, Unwanted demonstrate a deep understanding and appreciation of the music of both the Old World and the New. Together they have created a seamless fusion of these traditions, showing that the process of transformation arising from the musical ebb and flow along the Atlantic Fringe continues today.
1991 was the year that saw the Shetland Folk Festival being filmed for 'The Shetland Sessions' series on BBC 2. As it featured the extremely popular duo of Simon Thoumire and Ian Carr, we thought it was about time that we invited them back!
Having won the prestigious BBC Radio 2 Young Tradition Award in 1989, Simon Thoumire was already an acknowledged concertina virtuoso on his first appearance in Shetland. He has since dazzled audiences all over the world with his playing. Always been keen to explore different genres of music, Simon has released many records over the years delving into folk, jazz, improvisation and composition. Simon has also pursued interests in the industry side of music too forming Foot Stompin’ Records in 1997, the Scottish Traditional Music Trust in 2000 and Hands up for Trad in 2003 – an organisation dedicated to increasing the profile and visibility of Scottish traditional music through information, education and advocacy.
A highly original virtuoso guitarist, producer and composer, Ian Carr's syncopated style is an inspiration to aspiring accompanists and keeps him in demand as a session musician and performer. He’s a member of the Anglo Swedish group Swåp (who played the Shetland Folk Festival back in 1998) and he tours regularly with multi-instrumentalist John McClusker and singers Kate Rusby, Eddi Reader and Kris Drever. His tunes have been covered by the likes of Sharon Shannon (Diamond Mountain) and Darol Anger (the Seagull) and he has produced albums by Eilidh Shaw and Fine Friday.
Welcome back guys!
Hailing from Portland, Oregon in the United States come the Foghorn Stringband whose sounds of fiddle, banjo, mandolin, bass and guitar is reminiscent of early bluegrass. However, the bands powerful approach is whole-heartedly old time, centred largely on the fiddle as they devote themselves to the interpretation and performance of American stringband music.
The heart of the Foghorn Stringband sound is made up of the unison melody line of fiddler Stephen "Sammy" Lind and mandolinist Caleb Klauder. Along with Pete Foss on Banjo, Mike Leone on guitar and double bass player Nadine Landy, Sammy and Caleb also deliver a seamless blend of richly unadorned vocals. Their style encompasses early country music, the fiddle repertoire of the Southern Appalachians and the Midwest, and the stringband sounds of the Piedmont region. They are highly regarded by traditional music lovers, and frequently perform with Dirk Powell, one of the country's most renowned musicians of the genre (who performed in Shetland with Balfa Toujours).
The Foghorn Stringband have thrilled dancers and concert audiences at festivals throughout the world and will be a guaranteed hit with Shetland Folk Festival audiences.
Since their first ever tour in 2001, Session A9 have been described as a 'Scottish super group', 'The best band to have come out of Scotland in 100 years', 'Tighter than James Brown' and as an 'Amazing Festival band'. With praise like this, we simply couldn’t resist inviting them back four years after their Shetland debut at the 26th Festival.
Featuring Gordon Gunn, Charlie McKerron, Kevin Henderson and Adam Sutherland on fiddles, Brian Mcalpine on piano, David 'Chimp' Robertson on percussion and Marc Clement on guitar and vocals, Session A9 have successfully toured Scotland, England and throughout Europe and the USA.
2008 saw the long awaited release of the band’s second album 'Bottlenecks and Arm breakers'. It features many new compositions and also captures the bands live and energetic sound through full group recording sessions. Touring successes during the past two years have led to the band being nominated for best folk band in the 2008 Scots Trad Music Awards and best live act in 2009.
The band have a busy start to 2010 having been booked by Celtic Connections as the house band for the special concert 'A Scottish Song Book” which will feature some of Scotland’s finest singers. The Old Fruitmarket will also host a Session A9 concert along with ex Session A9 member Kris Drever before the band embark on a 2 week tour of Scotland and England in February.
In 2009, the formation of The New Rope String Band made their debut Shetland Folk Festival appearance and as with the Old Ropes, they were without doubt the biggest crowd pleaser of the weekend. With audience members bent double laughing during the hilarity and their outstanding musical performances, how could we resist inviting them back for our 30th Anniversary?
The New Rope String Band is made up of four talented musicians playing beautiful and invigorating acoustic music from various traditions around the world. Experienced old-hands Pete Challoner and Tim Dalling (from the Old Rope String Band) are joined by experienced old-time musicians Jock Tyldesley and Vera van Heeringen. Between them, they sing, dance and play their little hearts out on fiddles, guitar, piano accordion, mandolin and anything else that comes to hand.
The new show is essentially guided by the same eccentric dynamic as the Old Rope String Band, but the musical backdrop is stronger than ever. The joke of having an accordion in a string band still holds, but Jock and Vera tilt the balance of sound towards those authentic American traditions.
Audiences can expect exuberant theatrics, boundless energy and gorgeous music, all executed with kindness. What could possibly go wrong?
Winners of the prestigious Scottish Folk Band of the year award at the Scots Trad Music Awards in November 2009, Bodega are a blistering young band that are unquestionably musically mature beyond their years.
The band met and formed at the National Centre of Excellence in Traditional Music in Plockton in 2005 and, such was their immediate prowess that they triumphed at the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Awards within a year. This win immediately sprung them headlong into the major festival circuit with successful appearances at Cambridge, Celtic Connections and of course Shetland back in 2007. They are now already veterans of the international festival and concert circuit, especially in the UK, Italy and North America but their star is still very much on the rise.
With Shetland’s very own Ross Couper on fiddle, he is joined by prize winning vocalist Norrie McIver from Lewis (also guitar and accordion), multi-instrumentalist Tia Files on guitar, bass guitar and percussion, June Naylor on Clarsach and for their trip to Shetland, Lorne MacDougall, one of Scotland’s leading young pipers and a finalist in the 2010 BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the year.
A vibrant, diverse, committed and highly talented band of young people, Bodega take Scottish traditional music, give it a fiercely modern twist and are guaranteed to set the heather on fire!
From Slovenia, Eva Hren & Sladcore consists of four young musicians whose music represents a contemporary take on Slovenian folk heritage. They are difficult to “genre-fy” with influences of ethno-folk, pop, Jazz, Caribbean influences and even heavy rock.
Their debut album explains how they like to re-invent by tackling some “bits and pieces” of rich Slovenian folk music heritage. They explain how many of the tracks are arrangements of genuine folk tunes whereas others are original compositions that have become popular and widely known in Slovenia in more recent years.
On their debut UK performance (and indeed one of their first appearances outside of Slovenia), the band consists of Eva Hren on vocals and guitar, Marko Boh on Piano and Keyboards, Marko Gregoric on Double Bass and Blaz Grim on Drums.
In 2007, four young musicians came up with the idea of putting a band together called Mórga (Irish for majestic) inspired by the sound and sheer energy of the great traditional Irish bands of the seventies. The band is based around accordion, fiddle and banjo as melody instruments, with backing provided by the rarely heard Greek bouzouki, creating rich high-end harmonies, and driven by the bass beat of the bodhran. In doing so, this sizzling young band recreate a part of Ireland’s musical heritage, which they feel is too often lost in contemporary Irish music.
The band is comprised of Barry Brady on button accordion who has toured extensively throughout France, Austria, Holland, Germany, Spain, Switzerland and America. Jonas Fromseier, on Greek bouzouki and banjo is originally from Denmark and has visited the Shetland Folk Festival on several occasions. He moved to Galway in 2005 to pursue a musical career and has been playing professionally since. Danny Diamond is a young Dublin-based fiddler who has played at numerous folk/traditional Irish music festivals over the years. The fourth member is Dominic Keogh, a bodhran player from County Mayo but now based in Galway city where he is heavily involved in the music scene.
Mórga have already been compared to early De Danann with their eponymous debut album garnering rave reviews.
Fans of Gypsy Jazz are in for a treat with this special assembly of fantastic musicians from France and Ireland. Lead guitarist Youenn Derrien from Bretagne is joining forces with Irish guitarist Frank Kilkelly from Co Mayo, Dan Bodwell on Double Bass and Brendan Doyle on saxophone and clarinet.
Youenn Derrien, who has followed in the footsteps of his jazz musician father Michel Derrien, has recently released his debut album “Just Swing” with the Youenn Derrien Trio.
Frank Kilkelly, who played the 1993 and 2005 Shetland Folk Festivals, has toured extensively with a string of well-respected acoustic groups, ranging broadly in styles through folk and jazz. Since his return to Ireland in 1998, he has worked with the top names in the acoustic music world, including Sharon Shannon, Mairtin O'Connor, Alan Kelly, Finbar Furey & Cafe Orchestra.
Dan Bodwell is a much in demand double bass player who has played with a whole string of outfits including the Mary Coughlan Trio, David Lyttle and Francesco Turrisi.
The fourth member is Brendan Doyle, a dynamic and forceful saxophonist and one of the most important of a new generation of Irish jazz musicians. Having worked with all the leading Irish jazz artistes, he has also played with many prominent visitors including Kenny Wheeler, Hugh Fraser and John Taylor.
With Shetland Folk Festival audiences’ demand for musical versatility, this act will be a certain crowd pleaser.
Paddy Callaghan, one of the finalists in this year’s BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year Awards is traveling to Shetland with the band that won a Danny Kyle award at Celtic Connections in 2008.
Feolta is a 4 piece Scottish, English, Irish Band comprising of three Glaswegians with close connections to Donegal and one of the best exponents of the Bodhran, hailing from Cambridge. The band comprises of Julia Reid (Flute, Whistles, Bouzouki, Voice, Dance), Roisin Ann Hughes (Fiddle, Flute, Accordion, Mouth Organ), Paddy Callaghan (Accordion, Harp, Concertina) and Adam Brown on Bodhran.
All band members hold All Ireland titles in respective instruments and have several years experience performing individually and as band members at various festivals and other events throughout the U.K and Ireland.
All excellent traditional musicians and session animals, Scotland can be guaranteed of hearing a lot more from this band in the near future.
To help ensure that younger members of the Shetland community are entertained during the 30th Shetland Folk Festival, we are delighted to host a major UK Box office draw as part of our event – The Singing Kettle - for a one off concert on Thursday 29th April in the Clickimin. This concert has now SOLD OUT
The Singing Kettle have turned children’s theatre into an art form and their unique performances have become the benchmark for fellow professionals everywhere. Taking their name from their base in the village of Kingskettle, Fife, Scotland, they have entertained thousands of children and adults all over the world. They have performed their hugely successful live shows in hundreds of venues, from the Palladium in London to the Town Hall in Campbeltown, from the Palace Theatre in Kilmarnock to the Royal Palace in Jordan.
BAFTA award winning and decorated with MBE’s for services to children’s entertainment, The Singing Kettle have introduced live theatre for the first time to many thousands of families. Audiences worldwide are hooked on their madcap musical adventures flavoured with cheeky Scottish humour.
The concert style performance from Cilla, Artie, Gary and Kevin is guaranteed to have the whole family dancing, laughing and singing the songs together long after the performance is over. Bursting with superb singalong songs and loads of audience participation, it’s always a fun-filled, action packed show. A delight for kids of all ages, parents and grandparents alike, the laughter, singing and interaction is contagious!
Cilla Fisher and Artie Tresize were entertainers at the very first Festival in 1981 and so we are delighted they can be with us to kick off our 30th celebrations.