Fiddle
41st Year No. 09 May 2018
£3.00
BOX& The magazine for Scottish music enthusiasts
C F A A N 8 1 0 2 l a v i t s e F BILL HENDRY IS GUEST OF HONOUR ABERDEEN TMSA STRETCH DAWSON IS CENTRE STAGE PLUS
NEWS, REVIEWS, CLUB & DANCE DIARIES AND MUCH MORE...
Welcome
B&F • EDITORIAL
3
...to the May issue of Box & Fiddle The magazine for Scottish music enthusiasts
Editor • Pia Walker 7 Tarvit Gardens Cupar, Fife, KY15 5BT Tel: 01334 657 850 Mob: 07715 115 489 editor@boxandfiddle.com Designer • Marie Martin mamidesigns@hotmail.com Section icons by: FlatIcon
Printer • Ivanhoe Caledonian Printing Company Ltd Eskmills, Musselburgh, EH21 7PE
NAAFC Chairman • Nicol McLaren The Shian, Woodlands Road Blairgowrie, PH10 6LD Tel: 01250 874 526 nicol@boxandfiddle.com Vice Chairman • Iain Cathcart Tel: 01555 661 017 iain@boxandfiddle.com Secretary • Lorna Mair 7 Lathro Lane, Kinross KY13 8RX lorna@boxandfiddle.com Treasurer • Willie Johnstone treasurer@boxandfiddle.com Executive Committee: David Cunningham Charlie Kirkpatrick Susan MacFadyen Tom Orr Richard Ross
May hails the end of season for many of the NAAFC clubs but for the executive committee and the magazine it is still business as usual, and even more so as we are preparing for the end of the financial year as well as for the AGM at the end of June. BAAFI entries have come in during April and we will bring you the nominees in the June issue. The winners will Pia Walker, Editor be revealed at the AGM and lunch. For clubs it is time to do some spring cleaning too in preparation for the new season. Please can all clubs bring payments up to date by the last week in May. Do remember to check what you write on the cheques, as we get charged when they are returned because of errors. Send me your new dates. Don’t wait until the new season – I need them now so that people can see when you are starting again. I also need your magazine order soon - please see if you can sell a few more than last year! Two clubs, Glasgow and Stonehouse, bit the dust recently. As someone said in one of the reports: “Use it or lose it”! I would love to hear your ideas on what constitutes a successful club – both from a music point of view and from a listener’s and attendee’s point of view. Denis, my fantastic proof reader, and I have discussed magazine style, and one of the things which we would like to see from reporters is the addition of surnames. I get reports where persons are only mentioned by their first names, so it can be a bit of a mystery who that person is. Of course, the correct spelling of names follows on from that! Please ensure that people’s names and names of tunes are correctly spelled. Finally, I have had one or two phone calls left on my answerphone asking me for information. I would love to help, but as the callers did not leave their name, or their number, I have a little problem responding. I look forward to seeing many of you at the AGM. Have a great summer and don’t forget your summer subscription.
Keep up with the latest news at
www.boxandfiddle.com Box & Fiddle (NAAFC)
Pia
The editorial team reserves the right to refuse or edit all copy. The views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the editor. Use of material and advertising from this publication is strictly prohibited without permission in writing from the editor. While every care has been taken in compiling Box & Fiddle to ensure that it is correct at the time of going to press, Box & Fiddle assume no responsibility for any effects from errors or omissions.
Contents
10 6 7 9 10 14
News Take the Floor Guest Artist Update Form Guest of Honour 2018 Bill Hendry
NAAFC Festival 2018 This year’s competition results
14 25
Club News
45
Club Diary
Aberdeen TMSA
20
Centre Stage
22
Annual Competitions Day
Stretch Dawson
BAFFIs Voting
Deadlines:
5
18
The latest news from our clubs
You are never too old to go clubbing!
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Dance Diary
51
Reviews
at Inchyra
18
B&F • CONTENTS
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Find the nearest dances and ceilidhs
Fiddlers of Sligo; The Poozies
The New Data Protection Regulations Find out how this affects you
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Sheet Music Edinburgh & District Shetland Association 90th Anniversary
All articles, adverts, club reports and text for the magazine must be e-mailed to the editor by the 5th of every month at the latest. Copy received after this date cannot be guaranteed to feature in the next issue.
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B&F • WWW.BOXANDFIDDLE.COM
NEWS
News
Send in your story. If you have a photo that tells a story, send it in with an explanation.
MacMerry Club Celebrations
NEW DATES
Langholm change of dates
The committee have decided to run Langholm club on the last Sunday afternoon of the month from 1-5 pm in the Langholm Social Club The change of date comes into effect in September 2018. We hope it will be well supported in order to enable the club to continue. Thanks, Robin Waitt
A couple of months ago MacMerry member Jimmy Logan celebrated his 100th birthday! Here he is at the March meeting to see the Michael Philip Band. In April, for a lifetime contribution to Scottish dance band music, a great celebration saw Bobby Colgan presented with his award by Leonard Brown - and on his 81st birthday! A write-up of this day by Shona McMillan will appear in the July issue. Shona also sent in this photo of Jimmy Logan.
March 2018 and 40 years since the Dunblane Club was formed. Chairman Ian Hay is seen here cutting a cake made by club member May Hamilton.
The Annual
FC Golf Day NAA Dunblane New Golf Club
Perth Road, Dunblane FK15 0LJ Stableford competition for the Billy Thom Memorial Trophy. Bacon rolls at 12 noon with 1st tee time at 1pm. Followed by great music and camaraderie from 7pm. Contact: Nicol McLaren, nicol@boxandfiddle.com Charlie Kirkpatrick, cjkirkp@googlemail.com
ay M 13 18 20 th
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B&F • WWW.BOXANDFIDDLE.COM
2018 r u o on H f o t Gues
Bill 1957
Bill Hendry B
ill Hendry was born in Perth on 20th April 1931. He started playing the piano at age 11. In 1954, he joined the original Glendaruel Band, led by Tony Reid on accordion. He did his first BBC broadcast in 1955 from the Coldside studies in Dundee. In August that year, Bill emigrated to Melbourne, Australia. He played in trios (comprising saxophone, piano and drums) and occasionally in big bands but played little or no Scottish music. In 1956, Bill’s fiancee, Olive, joined him in Melbourne, where they were married. They stayed there until 1960 when they returned to Perth (Scotland, not Western Australia!) where they stayed until work took Bill and his family from Perth to Dundee in 1969. One of the main reasons for returning to Scotland was that Bill was missing Scottish dance music! He then joined Ian Arnott’s band and played with them until 1967. Olive and Bill’s children were born in Perth, Fiona in 1964 and Russell in 1966. When Ian Arnott emigrated to Australia in 1967, Bill joined Bobby Crowe’s band and played with him for the next 6 years or so. During this time, Bobby’s band was invited to play at Balmoral Castle for the Queen, Queen Mother and all the royal family. This
was one of the highlights of Bill’s musical career. In 1973, Bill formed his own 5-piece band playing for Scottish country dancing and were soon regulars on BBC Radio Scotland’s Scottish dance music programme. At that time, the band members were David Cunningham (senior) on accordion, Frank Robb on fiddle, Wiam Skinner on bass, Stan Peacock on drums and Bill himself on piano. The band made one commercial recording as a 5-piece band. In 1978, the band played at a ceilidh in Ninewells hospital, Dundee. A young medical student by the name of Sandy Nixon asked if the band would mind if he sat in and played 2nd box with them. The band boys agreed - somewhat reluctantly! Sandy must have done something right, as Bill then asked him to join the band as the regular 2nd box player. The 6-piece band continued until 1983, with George Boath replacing Stan Peacock on drums. ‘At Home with Bill Hendry’ was recorded in Wiam Skinner’s lounge in Dairsie in 1980 and was released as a cassette. The 6-piece band did their last BBC broadcast in October 1983. Sandy Nixon had formed his own band in the late 1970s and Bill was the regular pianist. After the Bill
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B&F • WWW.BOXANDFIDDLE.COM
Competitions NAAFC Festival 2018 By Richard Ross, Chairman, NAAFC Festival
W
ell, it’s hard to believe that that’s the NAAFC Festival (our 44th) over for another year. Everyone I spoke with as usual had a great time both musically and socially. It was great to see that the number of entries for competitions was up on last year. However, disappointingly, the number of enthusiasts attending this year was probably at the lowest that I can remember and that’s going back to the early 1980s when Norrie and Sheila Williams were at the helm. The change of date and the weather conditions, particularly in the borders, perhaps had a part to play in the reduced attendance figures and I am therefore very appreciative of those who travelled from far and wide to help to create our usual friendly festival atmosphere. Particular thanks go to our friends from the Shetlands, Isle of Lewis, the North East, West coast and the South/ Borders. Now back to the music and where do I start? Well, congratulations go to our youngest girl and boy competitors, both fiddle players: 9-year-old Grace Hannon and 8-year-old Graham Findlay. We hope to see them both coming back for many years to come. The BBC once again provided extensive support and coverage and were delighted with the quantity and quality of music sourced from the competitions and concert. These have been aired on Radio Scotland and hopefully most of the subscribers to the Box and Fiddle will have had a chance to listen in and hear for themselves how good the quality of music is at the Festival. I took a stint at stewarding the fiddle competitions and I have to say the music was of the highest quality in all sections. It was a very tough job for our adjudicators to come up with the placings. I also had a listen to some of the junior accordion
sections and again the standard of playing is very encouraging. We will be exploring how we can get an increase in the numbers of competitors in our traditional and classical accordion sections. The afternoon competitions always provide great joy in the ‘big hall.’ The arrangements and standard of music in the open fiddle groups, trios and bands were exceptional and well worth the admission fee alone. This year we introduced the Accordion & Fiddle Club representative competition to encourage players who attend their local accordion & fiddle club to share their talents at our annual Festival. It was great to see 3 entries for this competition with a great standard of music. I would like to see this competition grow and would invite as many of our clubs to consider entering this competition next year. I believe that this would help to boost our attendance figures and create an even better friendly atmosphere at our National Festival. The competition winners’ concert and the evening dance to the Neil MacEachern SDB was the icing on the cake and the musicianship at both was first class. Finally, I would like to express my sincere thanks to everyone who has supported this year’s Festival. There are too many to mention in this article and I will cover this at the AGM on 24th June, which is a date that we all look forward to. The committee took stock of feedback about our current venue and we considered a number of options, including returning to our ‘spiritual home’ in Musselburgh. Finances as ever play a part in these decisions and the committee and I look forward to seeing you all at next year’s festival in the Grangemouth Town Hall on 2nd March 2019. Look out for further details in our NAAFC Festival Facebook pages and later editions of the Box and Fiddle magazine. l
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Centre Stage
Stretch Dawson Also called Iain MacFadyen is a session musician based in Edinburgh. Often seen behind the drums playing with many of our ceilidh musicians, but plays other instruments and many different genres such as folk, blues, trad, jazz and western swing.
When was the first time you performed in public? Probably the Mull music festival at the age of 5. What do you appreciate most in life? My health and my wife. What is your most cherished childhood memory? Christmas 1980. Who is a big influence in your life and /or your music? My family. What was your first job? Self employed window cleaner and grass cutting when I was in school. What is your greatest indulgence? Movies What is your abiding musical memory? Touring America for the first time. What are your worst fears? Damaging my hands.
What are the best places in the world you have visited? Austin Texas, Austria, Egypt, San Francisco, Czechoslovakia and Ireland. What is your favourite musical venue? The Sage in Newcastle or the Continental club in Austin. How would you like to be remembered? I did it my way! What makes you angry, annoyed or short tempered? Rude people. What is your favourite location in Scotland? Aros Park, Tobermory. If you had to leave, what would you miss and what would you be glad to see the back of? My wife / English rule of Scotland. If your house was on fire what item would you save? My wallet.
Who are your heroes and why? Guitar: Billy Gibbons, ZZ Top. Drums: Jim Keltner. Both just have it going. The Scottish dance music scene - your thoughts and hopes? Seems to be in good hands these days. More people seem to be going out to dance and supporting the culture. What 5 people would you invite to your dream dinner party? My wife, Ry Cooder, Ken Bruce, Billy Gibbons and my mate Mark. Your 1,2,3 of favourite tunes/ songs? Hymn to Freedom (Oscar Peterson), Kashmir (Led Zeppelin) and Old Folks (Wes Montgomery) Today I will Eat: Ham and mushroom tagliatelle Drink: Red wine Read: At the Mountain of Madness by H.P Lovecraft Visit: The doctor Watch: Zatoichi Challenged (1967)
B&F • CLUB NEWS
Club News Just remember to seek permission to publish the photos and tell us the name of the photographers.
To ensure a more readable section, please only send in max 250-300 words. A photo tells a better story, so add one or two of those too. Why not of your audience? Information in Club News helps attract visitors to your club, so make sure your club sounds like the place we want to go to.
ABERDEEN Chairman Scott Gordon welcomed the large audience on a cold rainy evening. First on stage was Frank Burnett on accordion, followed by Ernest Mitchell on fiddle playing Mairi’s Wedding accompanied by Alison Pirie singing the new Doric version, which was very entertaining! Next local player was Keith Duncan, and then we had Sandy McAllan on button-box, who was followed by Denis Shepherd on mouthie. They were all supported by Stanley Flett on piano and Scott on drums. We heard a super selection of tunes before the guest spot. Claire Telford and Wayne Robertson were originally booked for March 2017, but as their wee boy Innes ended up in hospital they had to cancel; but they were certainly worth waiting for. We were treated to lots of different music. One of my favourites was their version of Scott Skinner’s Bonnie Lass of Bon Accord. They played for 40 minutes and we enjoyed every minute of it. Brian Stanger started the second half with a great set followed by Susan and Scott Gordon playing a fantastic slow air. Scott Nichol then joined
them and gave us a super set. It was then back to the guests and a lovely set of reels included John McNeil’s Reel, which was followed by the beautiful Skater’s Waltz. You could have heard a pin drop during John Denver’s Annie’s Song, after which we had a tempo change with Musette for a Magpie. Time was against us, but the audience didn’t want the evening to end and we had 3 encores of very popular reels and jigs to a hearty applause! It was great stuff from this couple from Perth. Thanks from Aberdeen. Sheila Bain ALNWICK A grand night of good company and music made our March meeting a great success. The local players on accordion were Sylvia Youngson, Tamsin Brown, Elizabeth Younger, Neil Riddell, Leonard Brown, Robin Cowens and myself. Ian Woods played fiddle and Jimmy Little mouth organ. Well done to all of them for their music and support. Our guest artists were The Gold Brothers Trio with Jim Gold on accordion, Tom Gold on fiddle and Ross Anderson playing drums. A well rehearsed and presented programme
of music with a good mix of traditional, modern and wellknown pieces was played with great confidence and a most enjoyable fiddle solo came from Tom also. It was great stuff. Many thanks to everyone: musicians, audience and of course the people who provide the refreshments for a most enjoyable night. Mungo Riddell ANNAN ST ANDREWS The March meeting took place in Newington Social Club on 18th March where a good turnout of members and friends were welcomed by compere Jack Murdoch who introduced the guest, Lindsay Weir. The very talented accordionist Lindsay was accompanied by her husband Colin Garvin on keyboard and Alan Irvine on drums. They soon had the dancers on the floor with a mixture of dances with wellknown tunes had everybody’s feet tapping. It was then the turn of the local players. Fifteen players, accompanied by Ian Wilson on keyboard and Bill Porter on drums, were keen to entertain. Amongst them were Jim Fraser with Robin Waitt on second box playing a Pride of Erin Waltz. Bill Mcminn on melodeon
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B&F • CLUB DIARY
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Club Diary May 2018 DATE
CLUB
GUEST ARTIST
VENUE
TIME
CONTACT
1
Campsie
The Steven Carcary Trio
Glazert Country House Hotel, Lennoxtown G66 7DJ
7.30 pm
Billy Hutton 07889 021 972
1
Fort William
Club Night (Visitors welcome)
Railway Club, Inverlochy, Fort William PH33 6LY
7.30 pm
Alisdair MacDonald 01397 701 505
1
North East
Robert Nairn
Royal British Legion, Keith AB55 5EN
7.30 pm
Rory Smith 07769 801 996
1
Seghill
Club Night (Visitors welcome)
Seghill Comrades Club, Cramlington NE23 7TQ
7.00 pm
James Youngson 01670 356 410
2
Dingwall
Jimmy Cassidy
National Hotel, Dingwall IV15 9HA
7.30 pm
Elspeth Weir 01349 877 675
2
Glenfarg
Seamus O’Sullivan Trio
Glenfarg Village Hall, Glenfarg PH2 9NU
7.30 pm
Stewart Smith 01577 830 296
2
Montrose
Janet Graham Band
Park Hotel, Montrose DD10 8RJ
7.30 pm
Ron Ramsay 01241 879 487
2
Orkney
Club Night (Visitors welcome)
The Reel, Kirkwall KW15 1KD
7.30 pm
Jim Marwick 01856 874 474
3
Button-Key (Windygates)
Gavin Piper
The Greig Institute, Windygates KY8 5DG
7.00 pm
Mary Cook 01592 713 687
3
Crieff
John Burns Trio
The British Legion, Crieff PH7 3EB
7.30 pm
Irene Anderson 01764 654 298
3
Galashiels
Club Night (Visitors welcome)
Gala YM RFC, 4 Roxburgh Street, Galashiels, TD1 1PF
7.30 pm
Robert Cleland 01896 754 463
3
Isle of Skye
Steven Carcary Duo
The Royal Hotel, Portree IV51 9BU
7.30 pm
Linda Shaw 01478 611 122
3
Lewis and Harris
Scott Band Trio
Caladh Inn, Stornoway HS1 2QN
8.00 pm
Janette MacIver 01851 704 870
3
Rothbury
Ewan Galloway Trio
Queens Head Hotel, Rothbury NE65 7SR
7.30 pm
Mary Davidson 01668 281 307
3
Turriff
Jennifer Forrest SDB
Commercial Hotel, Cuminestown AB53 5WJ
7.30 pm
Pat Steele 01888 562 486
4
Castle Douglas
Willie Duff Trio (Annual Dance)
Crossmichael Hall, Castle Douglas DG7 3JG
8:00 PM
Ian Riddet 01387 255 919
6
Clydesdale
Gordon Pattullo & Malcolm Ross
St Mary’s Club Rooms, Lanark ML11 7JS
2.00 pm
Shirley Cathcart 01555 661 017
7
Thurso
Jocky Campbell
Pentland Hotel, Thurso KW14 7AA
7.30 pm
Ian Wright 01847 892 050
8
Blairgowrie
Gordon Pattullo & Friends
Red House Hotel, Coupar Angus PH13 9AL
7.45 pm
Helen Aitchison 01821 670 302
8
Dunfermline
AGM
Sportsman Bar, Rosyth KY11 2NX
7.30 pm
Bob Adam 01383 306 142
8
Seghill
Club Night (Visitors welcome)
Seghill Comrades Club, Cramlington NE23 7TQ
7.00 pm
James Youngson 01670 356 410
9
Alnwick
Freeland Barbour & The Occasionals (AGM)
The Northumberland Hall, Alnwick NE66 1TN
7.30 pm
Leonard Brown 07758 723 355
9
Forres
Garioch Blend
Victoria Hotel, Tytler Street, Forres IV36 1EL
7.30 pm
Ann Sharp 01309 672 672
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B&F • FEBRUARY 2018
Reviews
51
If you wish your CDs, DVDs or books to be reviewed, please send them to: Bill Brown, 3 Galahad Close, Cippenham, Slough, SL1 9DT
Scotland’s Voices Greentrax CDTRAX400
In August 2017 the painting, Scotland’s Voices by the artist Alexander Moffat, was unveiled in the Saltire Society rooms in Edinburgh. The painting imagines some of the influential singers, players and tradition bearers of the Scottish folk revival, assembled round the poet, folk song collector and pivotal figure of that revival, Hamish Henderson, deploying his trusty tape recorder. The image is set in the 1950s when Henderson and other collectors were making their first, revelatory forays into the song rich territories of the traveller encampments, bothies, Hebridean crofts and many other situations where traditional songs, story and music, despite being presumed to be extinct, were in fact found to be alive and kicking. This landmark compilation album from Greentrax Recordings includes tracks by the monumental Jeannie Robertson MBE (MacCrimmon’s Lament and The Battle of Harlaw), Belle Stewart MBE (The Berryfields of Blair and The Queen Among the Heather), Dolina MacLennan (Tha Mi Duillich), Willie Scott (Jamie Telfer of The Fair Dodheid and The Kielder Hunt) Jimmy MacBeath (Come All Ye Tramps and Hawkers and Drumdelgie), internationally renowned revivalist Jean Redpath MBE (Auld Lang Syne), Shetland’s ambassador for the fiddle, Aly Bain MBE (Hector The Hero) and one of the three piping MacDonald brothers of Glenuig, Allan MacDonald (Thogail nam Bó). Greentrax also thought it appropriate to include a self-penned track by Hamish Henderson (The Freedom Come All Ye) which closes this fine compilation, and a short poem from a key figure in the painting, Hugh MacDiarmid (The Watergaw). The producers have also included tracks by two
”
This album is a must for all those who love bothy ballads and Scotland’s traditional songs
”
singers who are not in the painting but who were appropriate contemporaries of those portrayed, the internationally renowned exponent of Gaelic song, Flora MacNeil (A Mhic Iain Ic Sheumais) and the irrepressible Davie Stewart (McGinty’s Meal and Ale). As always with Greentrax recordings the product is extremely well presented. The CD sleeve note is written by freelance writer Jim Gilchrist who was the initial inspiration behind the compilation and who made a significant contribution to the research and preparation of the album. One gets the sense that if it wasn’t for Jim the project would never have got off the ground. This album is a must for all those who love bothy ballads and Scotland’s traditional songs as they were meant to be sung.
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