Box & Fiddle June 2018

Fiddle d n a l Free our Barb

41st Year No. 10 June 2018

The magazine for Scottish music enthusiasts

IS GUEST OF HONOUR

THE FIDDLER OF STRATHSPEY FESTIVAL BAFI AWARDS NOMINEES 2018 Raymond Chuchuk is Centre Stage PLUS

NEWS, CLUB & DANCE DIARIES AND MUCH MORE...

£3.00

BOX&

Welcome

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 Front cover Junior Fiddlers by the Spey 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

B&F • EDITORIAL

3

...to the June issue of Box & Fiddle June and AGM time – it is amazing how time flies when you are having fun. I really enjoy being your editor - well most of the time! ☺ There’s so much I want to do and so little time to do it, but isn’t that always the case when you enjoy something?

In this issue we feature our final guest of honour. By now the executive are all working Pia Walker, Editor hard preparing for the AGM and Charlie Kirkpatrick is busy fitting everyone in for the luncheon, and once again we have a waiting list.

E-mails asking musicians to get them to sign up for the guest artist directory went out ca middle of May, and I will be working on that directory together with Marie. I hope that we will have something for you in the July magazine and soon thereafter online. I just hope more musicians and bands than last year will sign up. So musicians, act on the e-mail when you get it reading it would be of benefit to you (a musician thought that I should perhaps arrange text to be placed in between and on 5 lines, like dots – now there’s an idea!)

During the summer, I will be away for 8 days every month showing Danish tourists the delights of Scotland: “See that cloud there? Well that’s Ben Nevis!” So please could I ask everyone to write in as soon as possible rather than wait for the deadline, as I need to be ahead of myself in order for you to get your magazine at the beginning of the month. I had a good chuckle to myself on one of the last days of April, as someone e-mailed asking why they hadn’t received the May magazine. Changed times!

By now, I should have had your dates for the next season – but ehm – that’s not the case! Don’t wait until you have your guest artists signed up. Footfall is important, and if readers don’t see that you are open, how can they plan a visit to your club?

Please keep sending in - I need more ideas, more music, more news, more stories, more photos and more smiles.

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

6

News

8

Take the Floor

9

B&F • CONTENTS

5

10

James Coutts SDB

The Fiddler of Strathspey Festival

10

Guest of Honour 2018

14

Centre Stage

15

Club News

35

Club Diary

41

Dance Diary

44

Sheet Music

Freeland Barbour

Stretch Dawson

The latest news from our clubs

14

You are never too old to go clubbing!

8

Find the nearest dances and ceilidhs

Marie Fielding’s Compliments to Irene Jamieson Kip In Da Porch

Deadlines:

35

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.

6

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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.

Donal Ring

60 years in entertainment Ireland’s finest and most decorated accordion player celebrated by arranging a family concert/dance at the prestigious Vienna Woods Hotel in Cork.

The family had quietly asked musical and family friend Bruce Lindsay and a small contingent of Scottish friends to attend as surprise guests. We were privileged to be asked. His wife Bridie and daughter Frances greeted everyone at the door and Donal was thrilled to see his old friend. The family made the five of us very welcome as did many of the other 350 guests. The evening started with an introduction by the Mayor who confirmed another accolade upon Donal as Person of the Year for entertainment.

The music started and was led by Donal, son Donnie, Dermot, daughters Breda and Mary and current singer Con and the dance floor was packed all evening. Because so many of the family are entertainers, they split the family into separate bands. Donnie accompanied by the internationally renowned singer Terry MacArthur led one. Son Dermot was accompanied by his singing wife Irene in another. Aiden playing his Shand Morino represented the next generation. The night was magic, the entertainment brilliant and the presentation professional. Celebrations continued at smaller venues throughout the week.

On behalf of Bruce Lindsay and ourselves may I take this opportunity to thank the Ring family for their kind invitation, to offer congratulations to Donal and to extend our best wishes to his lovely wife Bridie.

TWAE

Fiddelium A Canadian group of talented young musicians ranging in ages from 14 to 19 and led by Trish and Geoff Horrocks are looking to come to Scotland or Ireland, ideally some time in July 2019. They are looking to collaborate with other bands of similar ages and ability, some performing, maybe a workshop. They are mostly fiddle players but other instruments too (mandolin, banjo, bass, etc.).

If you are interested in collaborating with this group in any way, contact them on: info@fiddelium.com you can see more on their website: http://fiddelium.com/wp/

OOPS!

An eagle-eyed reader informed me that the captions in May’s issue Down Memory Lane were the wrong way round. I could of course say that it was a test to see how many actually read more than just their own club’s news, but I won’t.

Another eagle-eyed reader pointing out that Denis Shepherd won the TMSA competition for song writing and not traditional singing as stated in the May magazine

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B&F • WWW.BOXANDFIDDLE.COM

Take The Floor

JAMES COUTTS SDB

A

s always, it was an honour and pleasure to accept the invitation to record another Take the Floor session recently.

24 years after our debut, the same two accordionists and three back-liners remain in place, namely James Coutts, Iain Cathcart, Graham Berry, Ian Adamson and Brian Cruickshank.

Although some have a bee in their bonnet about the same musicians playing in different bands, I believe that the experience we have all gained from playing elsewhere with so many other top musicians has enhanced the sound and prevented it from becoming stale and staid.

As usual, the session contains a mixture of set and couple dances with a variety of tunes mainly sourced from favourite bandleaders such as Bobby

Crowe, Iain MacPhail, Ron Kerr, Angus Cameron and Angus Fitchet, to name but a few.

There’s a big Dumfries connection with compositions of Max Houliston and the late Ian Holmes featuring prominently, as well as the band’s own tribute to John Caskie who, as we read in this publication recently, was awarded an MBE for services to the community in Dumfries and Galloway.

There’s also a wee sample track from the recently released Carlingwark Collection CD, which contains dances devised by Bill Little of Castle Douglas.

The two band leader’s choices take us away from Scotland to locations as far and wide as France, Argentina and Knotty Ash. We hope you enjoy listening to the session as much as we did recording it. l

02/06 – James Coutts and his Scottish Dance Band

Guests Libby and Eilidh Shaw

09/06 – Archive Session from John Renton and his Scottish Dance Band Guests – Members from the Belfast Branch of the RSCDS 16/06 – David Kennedy and his Scottish Dance Band Guest – New York Piper Keegan Sheehan 23/06 – Guest – Nicol McLaren with chat on the NAAFC 2018 Guests on Honour 30/06 – Guests – Members from Runrig ahead of their big concert in Stirling

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B&F • WWW.BOXANDFIDDLE.COM

2018 r u o on H f o t Gues

Freeland Barbour

By Charlie Kirkpatrick

T

he name Freeland Barbour is synonymous with the very best in Scottish dance music.

He is known mainly through being a member of the Wallochmor Ceilidh Band and The Occasionals and as a producer of Take the Floor. I caught up with him recently to find out that there is much more to this Perthshire lad o’ pairts.

For as long as he can remember, Freeland wanted to play the accordion though he has no idea why. He can remember badgering his mother to take him to the Jimmy Shand Show at Pitlochry Theatre in about 1960 and being a little disappointed that there was a lot of dancing and singing, but the accordion was somewhat in the background. Nor did he know that the instrument played so effortlessly by Mr Shand was in fact a good deal different from the first accordion that his parents later bought for him from Bill Wilkie in Perth - a Hohner Lucia 1V 96 bass piano box.

Freeland was brought up in the long-time family home in Glen Fincastle, north-west of Pitlochry.

He well remembers the old 78s of Shand, Bobby MacLeod and Jim Cameron being played in the

local hall for dances and the live music of Bert Cameron and his band. This clearly made a deep impression on him, but music making for Freeland also started to include song and folksong in particular. “I started piano lessons when I was about five,” says Freeland, “and having had a few box lessons from Margaret Cameron in Pitlochry I found the accordion began to go quite well in my teens. I also played guitar, banjo, whistle, autoharp, mandolin, bouzouki, synth, bodhran and pretty much anything I could get a hold of and make a noise with.”

University took Freeland down to East Anglia where he found himself playing mainly Irish music having discovered that it was a mighty good passport to a free pint and even the occasional fee!

Coming back north to Aberdeen as a postgraduate, he fell in with an up and coming folk group named Silly Wizard and ended up joining them full time in the summer of 1975. Their instrumentals had an Irish flavour and were led by whizz-kid fiddler Johnny Cunningham and Freeland spent a fair amount of time introducing a more Scottish slant to

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Centre Stage

Raymond Chuchuk Well-known as a talented and versatile entertainer, Raymond has played internationally for many years. He is born in Wallyford, but the family name hails from the Ukraine.

When was the first time you performed in public?

1971, The Fa’side Inn, Wallyford, East Lothian, aged 11.

What do you appreciate most in life?

Being healthy.

What is your most cherished childhood memory?

My first day at Whitecraig Primary School.

Who is a big influence in your life and /or your music?

Jim Johnstone, Iain MacPhail, Bobby MacLeod and my tutor Owen Murray.

What was your first job?

Sales assistant at Stirling’s Stevens and Shields Edinburgh Gents tailoring dept.

What is your greatest indulgence?

Eating too many steak pies.

What is your abiding musical memory?

Playing with Bobby MacLeod in the Mishnish Hotel, Mull in the late 70s.

What are your worst fears?

Flying. Going to the dentist.

What are the best places in the world you have visited?

Japan, Bangladesh and Barbados.

What is your favourite musical venue?

The Leprechaun Irish Bar, Santa Pola, Spain.

How would you like to be remembered?

As someone who was a versatile musician, entertainer and vocalist.

What makes you angry, annoyed or short tempered?

Grumpy checkout assistants in supermarkets.

If your house was on fire what item would you save?

Myself and my accordion!

Who are your heroes and why?

It has got to be my dad Walter and Jim Johnstone. Without them, I’d never have become what I am today.

The Scottish dance music scene - your thoughts and hopes?

It is so full of fabulous young players nowadays and great up-and-coming bands. I hope all the clubs keep getting as much support as humanly possible.

What 5 people would you invite to your dream dinner party?

Jon Culshaw, Rory Bremner, Paul o’Grady, Chris Tarrant and Bill Roache!

What is your favourite location in Scotland?

Edinburgh.

Your 1,2,3 of favourite tunes/ songs?

The New Town of Edinburgh (Reel), Sweet Caroline, Amarillo

If you had to leave, what would you miss and what would you be glad to see the back of?

I already live in Spain. I sure miss the weather (NOT!) and gritters on the roads in winter!

Today I will Eat: Breakfast Drink: Water Read: My e-mails Visit: Torrevieja Watch: Corrie

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.

Gordon Shand with the super six, Aberdeen

ABERDEEN Chairman Scott Gordon welcomed a larger audience than normal to the second last night of the season, and the first half started with local musicians Frank Burnett, Keith Duncan, Ernest Mitchell, Alison Pirie, Denis Shepherd and David Webster, a welcome new-comer. Stanley Flett and Scott Gordon accompanied them all.

The guests really treated us to a fantastic evening of music.

Gordon Shand was supported

by Scott Gordon, Graham Berry and Gordon Smith, and what a sound they produced.

We had marches, reels, jigs, waltzes and strathspeys, and many were Gordon’s own compositions, including tunes like Cameron’s Rugby Tackle,

Bobby MacLeod’s Box, and the lovely Waterfall Waltz. Gordon told us lots of stories of how his tunes came about and the audience loved it!

After a very short break we had an abundance of local players to get on stage.

Florence and Charlie Lawie were followed by Neil Dawson and Scott Nichol accompanied

by Scott Gordon and Graham Berry. Charlie Abel followed and our last local player was Sandy McAllan on his 3-row button-box.

The guests returned and started with Kicking Country, written for Gordon’s beautiful wife Ailsa, and Don’t Answer Back written for his three very talented children. The highlight for us though was when Gordon announced that Susan Gordon was to accompany the band

to play a special waltz written for ‘The Super Six’ - Peggy and Les McIntosh, Isobel and John Michie and Billy Stewart and Sheila Bain - which can be found in his new book of tunes.

The band finished off with an encore of The Tillicoultry Express, Smithy’s Black Beauty and In the Nick of Time to more applause!

ANNAN (ST ANDREWS) The April meeting started with Jack Murdoch welcoming a good audience and introducing the Frank Morrison Band who were guests. The band was made up of Frank on accordion, Alex Graham on second box, Ian Wilson on keyboard and Billy Goodfellow on drums.

They started playing for The Lilac Waltz, Flirtation Two-Step,

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☛

B&F • CLUB DIARY

35

Club Diary June 2018 DATE

CLUB

GUEST ARTIST

VENUE

TIME

CONTACT

5

Seghill

Club Night (Visitors welcome)

Seghill Comrades Club, Cramlington NE23 7TQ

7.00 pm

James Youngson 01670 356 410

6

Dingwall

Inver-Ross Group and Tarradale Fiddlers

National Hotel, Dingwall IV15 9HA

7.30 pm

Elspeth Weir 01349 877 675

6

Glenfarg

Gordon Patullo Duo

Glenfarg Village Hall, Glenfarg PH2 9NU

7.30 pm

Stewart Smith 01577 830 296

6

Montrose

Billy Anderson Band

Park Hotel, Montrose DD10 8RJ

7.30 pm

Ron Ramsay 01241 879 487

6

Orkney

Club Night (Visitors welcome)

The Reel, Kirkwall KW15 1KD

7.30 pm

Jim Marwick 01856 874 474

7

Crieff

Buttons and Bows

The British Legion, Crieff PH7 3EB

7.30 pm

Irene Anderson 01764 654 298

7

Lewis and Harris

Club Night (Visitors welcome)

Caladh Inn, Stornoway HS1 2QN

8.00 pm

Janette MacIver 01851 704 870

7

Rothbury

Juneilian (Neil Macmillan Trio)

Queens Head Hotel, Rothbury NE65 7SR

7.30 pm

Mary Davidson 01668 281 307

7

Turriff

Dave Husband Sound

Commercial Hotel, Cuminestown AB53 5WJ

7.30 pm

Pat Steele 01888 562 486

10

Arbroath

Seamus O’Sullivan

Arbroath Artisan Golf Club, Elliot,

By Arbroath DD11 2PE

7.30pm

Tony Simpson 01241 875 326

12

Blairgowrie

Iain Cathcart SDB

Red House Hotel, Coupar Angus PH13 9AL

7.45 pm

Helen Aitchison 01821 670 302

12

Seghill

Club Night (Visitors welcome)

Seghill Comrades Club, Cramlington NE23 7TQ

7.00 pm

James Youngson 01670 356 410

13

Forres

Graeme McKay

Victoria Hotel, Tytler Street, Forres IV36 1EL

7.30 pm

Mrs Ann Sharp 01309 672 672

13

Kelso

AGM

Kelso Rugby Club, Kelso TD5 7EH

7.00 pm

Kevin Sterrick 07920 520 475

13

Orkney

Club Night (Visitors welcome)

The Reel, Kirkwall KW15 1KD

7.30 pm

Jim Marwick 01856 874 474

14

Button-Key (Windygates)

Raith Probus Band

The Greig Institute, Windygates KY8 5DG

7.00 pm

Mary Cook 01592 713 687

14

Carlisle

Janet Graham

St Margaret Mary’s Social Club, Carlisle CA2 4JX

7.30 pm

Alison Davies 01228 675 505

16

Seghill

Sounds Instrumental (pooled supper)

Seghill Comrades Club, Cramlington NE23 7TQ

7.00 pm

James Youngson 01670 356 410

17

Annan St Andrew

Sandy Nixon

St Andrew Social Club, Annan DG12 5JW

7.30 pm

Mrs N Taylor 01461 204 604

17

Langholm

Open Day

Langholm Social Club, Langholm DG13 0DN

1.00 pm

Adam Grant 01387 371 423/ 01387 381 305

18

Highland

Nicola Morrison (AGM)

The Waterside Hotel, Inverness IV2 4SF

7.30 pm

Jacqui MacDonald 01463 231 929

19

Ellon

Steven Carcary Duo

Station Hotel, Ellon AB41 9BD

7.30 pm

Tom Jamieson 07864 824583

20

Orkney

Club Night (Visitors welcome)

The Reel, Kirkwall KW15 1KD

7.30 pm

Jim Marwick 01856 874 474

☛

Sheet Music Marie Fielding’s Compliments to Irene Jamieson © Marie Fielding

Marie Fielding's Compliments To Irene Jamieson

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