Celtic Connections 2010

14 – 31 JANUARY 2010 WWW.CELTICCONNECTIONS.COM

SPONSORED BY

FUNDED BY

INTRODUCTION

Ceud mìle fàilte - a hundred thousand welcomes for what promises to be another fantastically eclectic, vibrant and life-affirming Celtic Connections festival!

In your hands you hold the details to every aspect of the 2010 festival – for 18 days and nights Glasgow will come to life and resonate with the inspiring music of over 1,500 artists from over 30 countries across the world brought together with the same desire – to perform and celebrate their musical connections in what has become renowned for being one of the best festival atmospheres in the world.

Witness the singing sensation Bobby McFerrin live up to his billing of ‘wonder of the world’ with his a capella show; be entranced by the melodious heart-stopping playing of The Chieftains; try and stop smiling to the infectious grooves and timeless voice of Africa’s Angélique Kidjo and swoon at the jaw-dropping rhythms of acclaimed Indian percussionist Trilok Gurtu as he joins hands with top Scots folk trio Lau and Norway’s serenely melodic saxophonist Jan Garbarek. Or maybe most of all, feel your heart rise in pride at the astonishing verve and power of Scotland’s precious traditional music that has pushed its way to the front of the world music scene and still forms the backbone of this programme - and join us for the biggest winter music festival anywhere!

Donald Shaw Artistic Director

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HOW TO BOOK… ONLINE www.celticconnections.com

Become a Celtic Friend and help the Celtic Connections Education Programme inspire the great folk musicians of tomorrow!

OPENING TIMES ONLINE 24 hours, 7 days a week PHONELINES Mon–Fri 9am–9pm Sat–Sun 10am–9pm

PHONE

0141 353 8000

For more information visit:

BOX OFFICE COUNTER Mon–Sun 10am–9pm

www.celticconnections.com/celticfriends

Some concerts are seated and some are standing, this will be indicated beside the price on the relevant page. Ask our box office team about the chance to buy Premium Seats for some concerts in the Main Auditorium.

DISCOUNT CARD

A transaction charge of £1 applies to all phone and online bookings.

IN PERSON

Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, 2 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, G2 3NY

Please note that all under 14s are to be accompanied by an adult in Glasgow’s Concert Halls. The O 2 ABC Glasgow, Classic Grand and Oran Mor are all over 14s only and under 16s should be accompanied by an adult.

Limited door sales at each venue on the night subject to availability.

Only want to search for your favourite artist? Fancy trying something new? Find out all the latest info on artists, concerts and special events at this year’s festival at:

www.celticconnections.com

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Save up to 15%* on tickets for all Celtic Connections events when you buy an exclusive Celtic Connections Discount Card. There are a strictly limited number of these exclusive Discount Cards available, so be sure to buy yours quickly before they’re gone!

For more information visit:

www.celticconnections.com/discountcard * = 15% discount on all purchases made until 27/12/09, 10% discount on all purchases made from 28/12/09 onwards.

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CONTENTS Introduction The Rough Guide to Celtic Connections 2010 Torchlight Parade 2010

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EVENTS GUIDE BY VENUE Concert Hall: Main Auditorium Old Fruitmarket Concert Hall: Strathclyde Suite City Halls City Halls: Recital Room O2 ABC Glasgow Classic Grand Òran Mòr The Pearce Institute St Andrew’s in the Square Pacific Quay Tron CCA Universal FESTIVAL DIARY Exhibitions Talks Festival Club/Late Night Sessions Workshops Open Stage/Showcase Scotland Quick Guide – A–Z Education Venue Map

9–17 18–25 26–33 34–37 38 39–43 44–46 48–51 51 52–54 55 56–58 59 60 8 PAGE PULL-OUT GUIDE 33 47 61 62–64 65 66–69 70 71

GUIDE… BROWSE events in each VENUE… in pages 8–60

CHECK what’s on in the EVENTS DIARY… 8 page pull-out guide

Search for your FAVOURITE ARTISTS… in the A–Z section pages 66 – 69

Want MORE?…

Exhibitions, Workshops, Broadcasts, Talks and more… pages 33, 47, 55, 62–64

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SPONSORS

Principal sponsor

FUNDERS

MEDIA PARTNERS

Celtic Connections’ diverse programming and valuable education work embodies ScottishPower’s firm commitment to making culture accessible for all, and we are proud to support Scotland’s premier roots music festival.

Celtic Connections would like to thank Glasgow City Council and all our other funders for their continued support in funding the festival.

Read the Evening Times for daily festival coverage, and enjoy artist features each week in the Sunday Herald. Listen to Celtic Connections CultureCasts at www.heraldscotland.com

sponsorS

Official transport provider

Partners and Supporters

ScotRail is operated by First.

sponsorS in kind

Education PARTNERS

Campaign design by: www.celticmusicradio.net 1530 AM

Celtic Connections TM is a registered trademark. Celtic Connections is promoted by Glasgow’s Concert Halls.

Glasgow’s Concert Halls is an operating name of Glasgow Cultural Enterprises Ltd which is a registered Scottish Charity No: SC002932

.co.uk

The Rough Guide to Celtic Connections 2010

Our tips to ensure that your festival goes with a bang!

This brochure is your passport to the festival, as we journey through cultures from around the world, exploring Celtic connections in countries from Norway to Brazil!

Browse through the venue pages, find your favourite artist in the A–Z on page 66, or just pick a day in the pull-out diary and see what takes your fancy.

Keep in touch

Transport yourself

Share in the music

It’s official

For a festival fix between concerts, tune in to Celtic Music Radio, broadcasting live from the festival each day on 1530AM and www.celticmusicradio.net

Making your journey to the festival couldn’t be easier with ScotRail, our official transport provider. ScotRail offers convenient, fast and frequent services to Glasgow from all over Scotland and a wide range of great value off-peak and group fares. ScotRail is operated by First.

Visit www.scotrail.co.uk or call 08457 484950 to find out more.

Our fantastic workshop programme lets you have a go at an instrument you’ve always wanted to try out, or can help you develop from an enthusiastic beginner to a seasoned pro. Turn to page 62 for the full workshops listings. Perfect for those ‘must try something different’ New Year’s resolutions!

We’re delighted that this year Celtic Connections won Best Cultural Event at the Scottish Event Awards. So raise a wee dram and be proud that you’re part of something amazing, we couldn’t do it without you!

Read the daily column in the Evening Times and be sure to pick up the Sunday Herald for your own free Celtic Connections wallplanner and cd, as well as artist interviews and concert previews.

Head online to www.heraldscotland.com to hear journalists and special guests discuss their festival highlights on the weekly CultureCasts.

Share your thoughts and concert suggestions with other fans of the festival, and get all the latest Celtic Connections news on our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/celticconnections

If you are making a night of it and want to eat out before or after a concert we have teamed up with the Glasgow Restaurateurs Association to offer special deals at a range of restaurants across the city during the festival. Visit www. graonline.co.uk to view restaurants and menus. At the Concert Hall you can dine in the stylish surroundings of the Green Room restaurant and sample our delicious Scottish menu inspired by the festival.

To enjoy the music of your favourite artists long after the concert has finished, visit the CODA Music stand located in the foyer of the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, and browse a wide selection of recordings by festival artists.

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TORCHLIGHT PARADE

Celtic Connections Torchlight Parade 2010

Thursday 14th January, 4.45pm George Square, Free Every year, Celtic Connections launches in spectacular style with a torchlight procession through Glasgow city centre.

The ScottishPower Pipe Band leads a mass of blazing torches from George Square to the Concert Hall steps, as Glasgow lights up for the first day of the festival.

Celebrations commence inside the Hall, as torch-bearers are invited to the Lord Provost’s Drinks Reception, and the festival is pronounced officially open!

Download your application form from www.celticconnections.com

WWW.CELTICCONNECTIONS.COM

CONCERT HALL:

Now launching as an ongoing project, the fifty strong line-up includes fiddlers Aidan O’Rourke, Chris Stout, Anna-Wendy Stevenson and Lauren MacColl; pipers Fraser Fifield, Ross Ainslie and Ali Hutton; harpist Catriona McKay, trumpeter Ryan Quigley and trombonist John Kenny. They’ll perform excerpts from Aisling’s Children alongside new pieces inspired by strathspey rhythms and Gaelic psalm singing, interspersed with short taster performances by artists appearing later in the festival, including Maura O’Connell, Kathleen MacInnes, Carlos Núñez, Lau and The National Youth Pipe Band of Scotland.

SPONSORED BY

CARLOS NÚÑEZ

Catriona McKay

JIM SUTHERLAND

Celtic Connections has long been a vital conduit for dialogue between Scotland’s folk and classical communities, so it’s only fitting that Jim Sutherland’s True North Orchestra should open the 2010 festival. A groundbreaking hand-picked ensemble comprising roughly 50:50 folk musicians au fait with classical disciplines, and orchestral players similarly versed in traditional music, it was originally created for the epic Homecoming 2009 pageant Aisling’s Children.

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Carlos Núñez and The Shee

Celtic Connections Opening Concert

Thursday 14th January, 7.30pm Glasgow Royal Concert Hall/Main Auditorium, £20/£18, seated sponsored by ScottishPower

MAIN AUDITORIUM

Friday 15th January, 7.30pm Glasgow Royal Concert Hall/Main Auditorium, £20/£18, seated Festival favourite Carlos Núñez returns to Celtic Connections with a stunning show based on his latest acclaimed album Alborada do Brasil, exploring the musical links between his native Galicia and Brazil. After previous collaborations with everyone from Alan Stivell to Jackson Browne, Ry Cooder to Monserrat Caballé, Núñez originally visited Brazil on the trail of his emigrant grandfather. With Galicia and Portugal having once formed a single medieval kingdom, he discovered that Iberian bagpipes like his own had preceded him there by some 500 years. Alongside Núñez’s regular band, tonight’s performance features Brazilian guests Fernanda Cabral (vocals) and Alan Souza (percussion), plus Scottish drumming troupe Rhythm Wave and The National Youth Pipe Band of Scotland.

Described by Sing Out! as “Newcastle’s answer to Cherish the Ladies”, all-female sextet The Shee have been turning heads across the UK folk scene with their graceful, vivacious vocal/instrumental mix of traditional, original, Gaelic, Scottish and bluegrass material.

TICKETS: 0141 353 8000

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CONCERT HALL:

MAIN AUDITORIUM

The Annual Piping Concert

Celtic Connections is once again proud to showcase some of the world’s elite piping talent, together with a rising new force on the pipe-band scene.

Founded in 1906, the Pitlochry-based Vale of Atholl Pipe Band command international renown not only as superb technical exponents but for expanding the contemporary piping repertoire. Now under Pipe Major Adrian Cramb, with Andy Renwick as Pipe Sergeant, they continue to forge ahead with both newly-written material and innovative arrangements of tunes from Scotland, Ireland and beyond.

After vaulting through the juvenile rankings since forming in 2005, the Inveraray and District Pipe Band’s debut adult season saw them sweeping the board of top Grade 2 titles, an extraordinary feat that saw both band and drum corps named RSPBA Champion of Champions 2009. The concert will also feature an array of hand-picked soloists and very special guests.

karine polwart

Inveraray and District pipe band

Vale of Atholl pipe band

Saturday 16th January, 12.30pm Glasgow Royal Concert Hall/Main Auditorium, £12.50, seated

WWW.CELTICCONNECTIONS.COM

A Scottish Songbook

Run in association with Piping Live!

Saturday 16th January, 7.30pm Glasgow Royal Concert Hall/Main Auditorium, £20/£16, Standing & seated sponsored by ScottishPower Revisiting well-kent favourites and neglected gems composed since 1910, this cross-genre celebration of Scottish song lines up an array of its finest contemporary exponents. With Session A9 as house band, musical directors Karine Polwart and Brian McAlpine have drawn up a set-list ranging from folk standards to pop classics, leftfield cult anthems to Gaelic ballads.

The numerous performers include McIntosh Ross (Lorraine McIntosh and Ricky Ross of Deacon Blue), B.A Robertson, Emma Pollock, King Creosote, Kris Drever, Andy M. Stewart, Phil Cunningham, Siobhan Miller, Inga Thompson, Mattie Foulds (drums), Kevin McGuire (bass) and Maeve Mackinnon, plus more special guests to be announced. Each number has been carefully matched with its performer/s, many of whom will thus be singing well outwith their customary comfort-zone, running the gamut from heart-wrenching to hilarious.

CONCERT HALL:

SPONSORED BY

CHERISH THE LADIES

FERGIE Macdonald

Phil cunningham

Back by popular demand after last year’s maiden outing, the Celtic Connections All-Star Ceilidh once again takes over the Concert Hall’s Main Auditorium, with the stalls seating stripped out for the ultimate Scottish Saturday night, and the craic spilling out well beyond the Hall itself. The same supergroup line-up, hand-picked from up and down the country, will be rolling up their sleeves to keep you dancing into the wee hours, fronted by an awesome face-off between accordionists Phil Cunningham, Donald Shaw (aka the Fabulous Borsini Brothers), Fergie MacDonald, Alasdair MacCuish and Gary Innes, and fiddlers Charlie McKerron, Ronan Martin, Eilidh Shaw and Archie McAllister. In the engine room will be the ultimate dance-band rhythm section, comprising pianist Tom Orr, bassist Alasdair MacLeod and drummer Fraser MacInnes, and there’ll likely be appearances from a special guest or two.

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Cherish the Ladies – An Irish Homecoming

Celtic Connections All-Star Ceilidh Band

Saturday 16th January, 10.45pm Glasgow Royal Concert Hall/Main Auditorium, £12 book early to be guaranteed dancing space

MAIN AUDITORIUM

Sunday 17th January, 7.30pm Glasgow Royal Concert Hall/Main Auditorium, £20/£18, seated Longtime Celtic Connections favourites Cherish the Ladies return to Glasgow once again with the UK premiere of An Irish Homecoming, a spectacular all-star gathering of musicians, singers and dancers that’s already won a host of plaudits across the US. Hailed by one critic there as “part bonfire, part pep rally and a major victory for performers and audience alike”, the show features Cherish the Ladies’ current six-piece line-up – Grammy-winning flautist and whistle player Joanie Madden, multiinstrumentalist Mary Coogan, fiddler Roisin Dillon, accordionist Mirella Murray, pianist Kathleen Boyle and singer Michelle Burke – alongside a glittering array of special guests. These include Grammy nominated Irish singer Maura O’Connell and IrishAmerican fiddle master Liz Carroll and Irish guitar powerhouse John Doyle.

TICKETS: 0141 353 8000

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CONCERT HALL:

MAIN AUDITORIUM

Rounder Records 40th featuring Blue Highway & Alecia Nugent & guests

Bobby McFerrin

ALECIA NUGENT

BLUE HIGHWAY

Bobby mcferrin

Monday 18th January, 8pm Glasgow Royal Concert Hall/Main Auditorium, £24/£22, seated

TUESDAY 19th JANUARY, 7.30pm Glasgow Royal Concert Hall/Main Auditorium, £16/£14, seated

Bobby McFerrin is one of the natural wonders of the music world. A ten-time Grammy Award winner, he is one of the world’s best-known vocal innovators and improvisers, a world-renowned classical conductor, the creator of Don’t Worry Be Happy, one of the most popular songs of the late 20th century, and a passionate spokesman for music education. With over 20 million album sales, he is quite possibly music’s last true Renaissance man, a vocal explorer who has combined jazz, folk and a multitude of world music influences – choral, a cappella, and classical music – with his own ingredients.

In true Celtic Connections style McFerrin will collaborate with guest singers for a unique event that promises to resonate with the unexpected.

Founded in 1970 by college friends Ken Irwin, Marian Leighton-Levy, and Bill Nowlin, who shared a love of rural US music and “no record industry experience whatsoever”, Rounder Records is now America’s premier independent label. Its current catalogue of over 3000 titles spans everything from priceless field recordings to the double platinumselling Alison Krauss – everything, that is, except for cynically manufactured “product”.

Tonight’s celebratory line-up richly exemplifies the top-drawer calibre, artistic commitment and exhilarating diversity of Rounder’s output, none more so than the multiaward-winning Blue Highway, one of today’s most vital, virtuosic, creative and influential bluegrass acts.

Raised on classic bluegrass and Southern gospel, Louisiana native Alecia Nugent is a stunning singer and increasingly accomplished songwriter, equally at home in honky-tonk stompers and heartrending ballads.

WWW.CELTICCONNECTIONS.COM

CONCERT HALL: Way to Blue – Songs of Nick Drake

MAIN AUDITORIUM

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The Legendary Gypsy Queens & Kings Aurelia Sandu

Nick drake

Wednesday 20th January, 7.30pm Glasgow Royal Concert Hall/Main Auditorium, £20/£18, seated

Thursday 21st January, 7.30pm Glasgow Royal Concert Hall/Main Auditorium, £20/£18, seated

It’s now a quarter-century since Nick Drake’s untimely death at 26, which sadly preceded his recognition as one of the 20th century’s most profoundly influential singer-songwriters. His fragile, acoustic, autumnal music is still cited as an inspiration today by the likes of Radiohead, Paul Weller and Coldplay, among countless others, and has touched the hearts of millions through Drake’s own three recordings. This very special tribute concert, curated and presented by his original producer Joe Boyd, features the late Robert Kirby’s orchestrations from those same LPs, which are also recalled by the presence of Drake’s chosen bassist, Danny Thompson, who’ll be anchoring the house band. Tonight’s other vocal guests include Vashti Bunyan, Green Gartside, Teddy Thompson, Lisa Hannigan, Stuart Murdoch, Robyn Hitchcock and Krystle Warren who will celebrate Drake’s enduring legacy via modern reinterpretations of his timeless songs.

The Roma peoples’ long shared experience of both suffering and defiant celebration underpins music of transcendent passion, virtuosity and soul, exemplified here by top performers from across the Balkans including the great Macedonian singer Esma Redžepova, and from the Mediterranean Gitano tradition. Building on the success of acts like Taraf de Haïdouks and Fanfare Ciocarlia, the hand-picked line-up also includes Romania’s sizzling brass-led firebrands Mahala Raï Banda and French rumba flamenco trio Kaloome, who jointly serve as house band throughout the programme, together with Romanian singer Florentina Sandu, Bulgaria’s Jony Iliev, and dancers Aurelia Sandu and Tantzica Ionita.

“…just one verse was enough to make this the concert of the year...the Gypsy Queens & Kings concerts create an extraordinary and unique experience of the soul of Gypsy music”. (The Independent)

Way to Blue was first commissioned by Birmingham Town Hall for the English Originals festival in May 2009.

SPONSORED BY

TICKETS: 0141 353 8000

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CONCERT HALL:

MAIN AUDITORIUM

Salsa Celtica 15th Anniversary and Mayra Andrade

Fiddle Summit Salsa Celtica

Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas

MIKE MARSHALL & DAROL ANGER

Friday 22nd January, 7.30pm Glasgow Royal Concert Hall/Main Auditorium, £20/£18, seated

Sunday 24th January, 7.30pm Glasgow Royal Concert Hall/Main Auditorium, £20/£16, Standing & seated

Despite their geographic and artistic diversity, the musicians featured in this awesome international gathering are united not only by its signature instrument, but their virtuosity in harnessing tradition with innovation. US star Darol Anger, appearing in his longtime duo with multi-instrumentalist Mike Marshall, has taken string-band music into frequently uncharted genre territory, forging new common ground with jazz, classical, avant-garde and world music. Both the proud past and dynamic present of Scottish fiddling are represented by the great Alasdair Fraser and Shetland’s Chris Stout, partnered respectively with cello prodigy Natalie Haas and groundbreaking harpist Catriona McKay, while Swedish trio Väsen revitalise their rich native traditions with an equal wealth of rhythmic and harmonic invention. The Irish fiddle’s pure-drop rural roots and contemporary evolution are equally at work in the sublime playing of Clare-born Martin Hayes, accompanied by guitarist Dennis Cahill, and Irish-American fiddle master Liz Carroll and Irish guitar powerhouse John Doyle.

2010 marks 15 years since Salsa Celtica embarked on their great Scottish Latin adventure, a notable birthday celebrated tonight with an even bigger bang than the Scottish based big band customarily lay on. With the show also launching their first live album and DVD, and with a fifth studio release due later in the year, upwards of 20 musicians will form the “orquesta” with an international cast of world and Celtic music guest stars from Cuba, Colombia, Venezuela, Cape Verde, New York, Asturias, Ireland, England and Scotland, including Liam Ó Maonlaí (Hothouse Flowers).

WWW.CELTICCONNECTIONS.COM

Crowned as Best Newcomer at the 2008 Radio 3 World Music Awards, the young Cape Verdean singer Mayra Andrade consolidated her rising-star status with her second album, Stória, Stória…, the following year. Building on her native archipelago’s richly diverse traditions, as well as those of her Cuban birthplace, she describes her sound as “a musical crossroads” between African, Latin, jazz and pop influences.

CONCERT HALL: Beth Nielsen Chapman and Charlie Dore

MAIN AUDITORIUM

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The Chieftains with very special guest Ry Cooder and featuring Los Cenzontles Ry Cooder

The ChieftAIns

CHARLIE DORE

Beth Nielsen chapman

Monday 25th January, 7.30pm Glasgow Royal Concert Hall/Main Auditorium, £20/£18, seated

Tuesday 26th January, 7.30pm Glasgow Royal Concert Hall/Main Auditorium, £30/£28, seated

As a chronicler of both great sorrow and great joy, and of the journeys in between, Beth Nielsen Chapman has few equals in music. While she’s won huge renown as a hitmaker for other artists, including Emmylou Harris, Elton John, Bonnie Raitt and Willie Nelson, the profundity of her voice – “as graceful as handmade lace”, according to the New Yorker – and experience make Chapman her own most eloquent interpreter. After her landmark albums dealing with loss, illness and healing, and recent collections of spiritual music, her latest, due in early 2010, features all-new songs rooted in folk and Americana styles.

Irish legends, The Chieftains, have invited some very special friends to join them in a musical celebration that links the music of Ireland with Mexico and the southern United States. Appearing with the band will be revered US musician, producer and composer Ry Cooder and the Mexican five piece Los Cenzontles. In the hands of masters like these expect remarkable musicianship rooted in a vibrant tradition, spectacular dance and elegant song.

Likened by Uncut to “Albion’s lost McGarrigle sister”, singer-songwriter Charlie Dore duets with Chapman on her own latest album, 2009’s The Hula Valley Songbook, a winsome collection of pre-war US songs originally recorded by the likes of Jimmie Rodgers, Milton Brown and Al Bowlly.

SPONSORED BY

Ry Cooder first worked with The Chieftains on their Grammy award winning Santiago release in 1986 and band leader Paddy Moloney has maintained links ever since. Along with Ry Cooder and Los Cenzontles joining long time Chieftains band members Paddy Moloney, Matt Molloy, Sean Keane and Kevin Conneff, will be harper Triona Marshall, the dazzling fiddling and stepdance pairing of Canadians Jon and Nathan Pilatzke and world champion Irish dancer Cara Butler. This being a Chieftains show you can expect one or two other guests as well.

TICKETS: 0141 353 8000

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CONCERT HALL:

MAIN AUDITORIUM

Natalie Merchant and Lúnasa

Trilok Gurtu Band with special guests Jan Garbarek and Shankar Mahadevan

Lúnasa

Natalie Merchant

TRILOK GURTU

Wednesday 27th January, 7.30pm Glasgow Royal Concert Hall/Main Auditorium, £20/£18, seated

Thursday 28th January, 7.30pm Glasgow Royal Concert Hall/Main Auditorium, £20/£18, seated

Over the past 30-odd years, the visionary Indian percussionist and composer Trilok Gurtu has worked with a dizzying panoply of jazz, rock, classical and world music stars, a transcendence of boundaries embodied by his customised hybrid array of eastern and western percussion – which has been known literally to include a kitchen sink. “At the outset, you think everything is segmented into classical music, jazz and all those other genres,” he says. “But when you approach music in a more spiritual fashion, you notice that the spirit the music is built on is the same everywhere.” It’s in that very spirit that Gurtu is reunited tonight with two of his most distinguished collaborators, legendary Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek and the remarkable Indian singer Shankar Mahadevan. Adding a contemporary Celtic dimension to this unique international encounter will be renegade folk trio Lau.

One of today’s most potently articulate pop voices, Natalie Merchant’s original solo album Tigerlily sold over 5 million copies. The imminent release of her new studio album represents another creative peak in Merchant’s 28-year artistic journey, which began when she joined 10,000 Maniacs aged 17. Describing the new songs as “my opportunity to do some exploring”, she drew inspiration both from classic and contemporary poets, and from fresh stylistic experimentation, working with such diverse guests as Wynton Marsalis, The Fairfield Four and The Klezmatics.

In association with www.marysmeals.org

WWW.CELTICCONNECTIONS.COM

Also prominently featured on the album were Lúnasa, Ireland’s pre-eminent instrumental band, whose masterful groove-driven dynamism and dazzling ensemble interplay continue to carry all before them. With a new album currently in the pipeline following 2008’s 10th anniversary collection, they’ll perform their own set before sitting in with Merchant after the interval.

CONCERT HALL:

MAIN AUDITORIUM

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Transatlantic Sessions Bruce Molsky

Cara Dillon

Dan Tyminski

Sara Watkins

Friday 29th & Sunday 31st January, 7.30pm Glasgow Royal Concert Hall/Main Auditorium, £24/£22, seated Long established among the jewels in the crown of Celtic Connections’ final weekend, and the fastest annual sellouts – even extended over two nights – the Transatlantic Sessions continue to revisit shared roots and forge new common ground between today’s finest Celtic and Americana musicians. This year’s shows, once again featuring the same artists on both dates, keep a winning formula fresh with an adroit balance between old hands at the format – both on stage and in the ongoing BBC TV version (originated and produced by Pelicula Films) – and new faces.

In an array of at least eight outstanding singers, at least half will also be joining in on the tunes – Nickel Creek vocalist/fiddler Sara Watkins; O Brother Where Art Thou? soundtrack star Dan Tyminski (aka the voice of George Clooney); Darrell Scott; Bruce Molsky (fiddle) and festival favourite Tim O’Brien returns – this time with one of Americana’s greatest interpreters – his sister Mollie, for her debut Transatlantic appearance. Further gracing the song department will be three of the most sublime

SPONSORED BY

female voices, between them spanning a rich and varied spectrum of traditional and contemporary styles: Scotland’s Eddi Reader and Karen Matheson alongside Ireland’s Cara Dillon.

On the instrumental side, expect bravura solos, jaw–dropping ensemble medleys and gorgeous song accompaniment from a mouthwatering house–band line up including such familiar – and formidable – figures as Danny Thompson, John Doyle, Russ Barenberg, Phil Cunningham, Donald Shaw, Michael McGoldrick and James Mackintosh, all led by the inimitable musical direction of fiddle maestro Aly Bain and dobro king Jerry Douglas. Book your tickets now for the show that continues to affirm its founding reputation as “the ultimate back-porch session”

“If you had to choose only one show to see at the festival this would be it” ***** (The Herald)

TICKETS: 0141 353 8000

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OLD FRUITMARKET

The Imagined Village and Jackie Oates

Balkanarama Black Cat Balkan Band

the imagined village

Friday 15th January, 9.30pm Old Fruitmarket, £16, STANDING

Saturday 16th January, 9pm Old Fruitmarket, £14, Standing

Uniting English tradition with 21st century multiculturalism, The Imagined Village features a stellar, cross-genre cast of diverse musical talent, at once celebrating their shared heritage and pointing towards its future. The hugely acclaimed brainchild of Grammy-winning musician/producer Simon Emmerson, the project will launch its second album in January 2010, appearing here with the dream-team vocal frontline of Martin Carthy, Eliza Carthy and Chris Wood. The accompanying band includes dhol drummer Johnny Kalsi, sitar player Sheema Mukherjee and cellist Barney Morse Brown, along with members of live electronic outfit The Bays and acid-jazz trio Red Snapper.

Celtic Connections’ first fully-fledged club night (which of course features a strong live music element) takes over the festival’s funkiest dancehall as the celebrated Edinburgh gypsy carnival Balkanarama comes to town.

Support comes from the brilliant young singer and fiddler Jackie Oates, winner of two BBC Folk Awards in 2009 – even before the release of her rave-reviewed third album, Hyperboreans, in September. With her haunting voice and boldly eclectic repertoire, Oates has justly been hailed as a star in the making.

WWW.CELTICCONNECTIONS.COM

A multi-sensory feast of entertainment including films, graphic projections, belly-dancing, Balkan Beat DJs and home-made baklava, the night will be headlined by Hungary’s breathtaking Besh o droM. A contemporary urban wedding band, whose influences range across Romanian, Jewish, Afghan, Middle Eastern, rock and jazz music, their sound has been described by fRoots as “a splendid flight of wildness and joyous exuberance that rarely pauses for breath”. After the traditional opening jam-session, there will also be a set from Edinburgh’s own Black Cat Balkan Band, a dynamic 10-piece outfit fronted by Balkanarama founder Saska Haramina.

OLD FRUITMARKET The Jewels of the Ocean

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BBC Scotland TV Special from the Festival

Sunday 17th January, 8pm Old Fruitmarket, £16, Seated & Standing areas Exploring the art of Gaelic song in all its guises, this suitably glittering line-up of Scottish and Irish, solo and ensemble performers is headed by two uniquely influential outfits, the revived 1970s trio Na h-Oganaich and contemporary Celtic supergroup Capercaillie. The popular seven-piece Na Seòid (Calum Alex MacMillan, Gillebride MacMillan, Griogair Labhruidh, Angus MacPhail, James Graham, Norrie MacIver and Tormod MacArthur) showcase the best of today’s young male Gaelic talent, while featured individuals include Ishbel MacAskill, Anne Lorne Gillies, Arthur Cormack, Mary Ann Kennedy, Rona Lightfoot, Allan MacDonald and Kirsteen MacDonald, plus Ireland’s Mairéad Ní Mhaoinaigh (Altan) and Seamus Begley.

Tonight’s concert has been arranged in conjunction with the BBC and will be recorded for future transmission. As part of BBC Scotland’s year-long celebration of song, BBC Gàidhlig are embarking on a Year of Gaelic Song, to be featured across Radio nan Gaidheal and BBC ALBA, while also providing access to the BBC’s extensive archive of Gaelic song. For more information go to bbc.co.uk/alba.

Monday 18th January, 8pm Old Fruitmarket, FREE but ticketed, Standing

Join Mary Ann Kennedy and BBC Scotland for their highly successful annual event, featuring a diverse range of some of the best artists from this year’s festival.

A night of musical surprises which will be recorded and broadcast at a later date on BBC television.

TICKETS: 0141 353 8000

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OLD FRUITMARKET Pennoù Skoulm and Marful and King Chiaullee

Frankie Gavin & The New De Dannan and 2Duos Pennoù Skoulm

FRANKie Gavin & The new De Dannan

Tuesday 19th January, 8pm Old Fruitmarket, £16, Seated & Standing areas

Wednesday 20th January, 8pm Old Fruitmarket, £16, Seated & Standing areas

Formed from a Spiddal pub session in 1974, the original De Dannan swiftly became a major pioneering force in Irish music. In 2009, six years after that first incarnation finally disbanded, co-founder Frankie Gavin unveiled “a De Dannan for the 21st century”.

Together with Gavin’s legendary prowess on fiddle, it features four of Ireland’s top young folk talents – Damien Mullane (accordion), Eric Cunningham (percussion/flutes/whistles), Mike Galvin (bouzouki/guitar) and Michelle Lally (vocals) – who promise to deliver a similarly electrifying impact to their illustrious predecessors.

Tonight’s triple bill brings together both familiar and lesser-known traditions from Europe’s Celtic territories. Pennoù Skoulm, originally formed in 1982, collectively represent a veritable Who’s Who of contemporary Breton music, comprising fiddlers Jacky Molard and Christian LeMaitre, flautist Jean-Michel Veillon, uilleann piper Ronan Le Bars and guitarist Nicolas Quemener. Twenty years on from their sole cassette release, they reunited in 2009 to record its resplendent follow-up, Trinkañ.

A merger of established Scottish and German pairings, 2Duos won high praise in 2009 for their debut release, Until the Cows Come Home: “a great, great, great album” (Mike Harding). Aaron Jones, Claire Mann, Gudrun Walther and Jürgen Treys combine twin lead vocals with a broad instrumental palette, interweaving traditional and contemporary material from their respective home territories and beyond.

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With their colourfully instrumental-based sound, the young quintet King Chiaullee are successfully putting Manx music back on the Celtic map. They’re joined here by Manx Gaelic singer Greg Joughin, plus Scottish and Welsh guests Rachel Hair, Malcolm Stitt and Jamie Smith. Galician outfit Marful draw on café jazz and dance-hall music from the 1930s-50s as well as their native Celtic traditions, creating a vibrant Latin-tinged sound fronted by charismatic vocalist Ugia Pedreira.

OLD FRUITMARKET Justin Adams with Juldeh Camara and Speed Caravan

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Angélique Kidjo and Support Angélique Kidjo

JUSTIN ADAMS & JULDEH CAMARA

Thursday 21st January, 10pm Old Fruitmarket, £16, Standing

Friday 22nd January, 9pm Old Fruitmarket, £16, STANDING

Described by the Guardian as echoing “the raw exuberance of The Clash, the rolling blues of Muddy Waters and the delicacy and grandeur of ancient griot ballads”, maverick English guitarist Justin Adams and Gambian maestro Juldeh Camara create some of today’s most exciting world/fusion sounds. Adams has previously worked with Jah Wobble, Robert Plant, Sinead O’Connor, Natacha Atlas and Tinariwen, while Camara, a compelling singer and a virtuoso of the riti, a West African single-string fiddle, inherited the ancient bardic role of griot from his father. Following their award-winning 2007 debut, Soul Science, 2009’s Tell No Lies further highlighted their thrilling cross-cultural chemistry.

Two decades after Angélique Kidjo’s Parakou album announced the arrival of a new world music star, the Beninoise singer remains thrillingly at the top of her game.

Renowned from the outset as an electrifying live performer, she’s one of the few female African artists to have won a wide international audience, cross-pollinating her rich native traditions with a teeming, adventurous but always purposeful array of wider influences. Recent projects have included a trilogy of albums exploring Africa’s influence on US, Latin American and Caribbean music, followed by the stellar guest collaborations on 2007’s Djin Djin, with the likes of Alicia Keys, Peter Gabriel, Carlos Santana, Joss Stone and Branford Marsalis. Kidjo’s brand-new, acoustic-based release Oyo revisits the diverse musical styles that shaped her earliest musical development, from traditional lullabies and anti-apartheid anthems to Hendrix and James Brown.

Propelled by Mehdi Haddab’s pyrotechnic wizardry on the Arabic oud, Speed Caravan’s turbocharged collision of Middle Eastern, North African and Western rock styles has been hailed by Peter Gabriel as “one of the most exciting hybrids I’ve heard for a long while”.

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TICKETS: 0141 353 8000

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OLD FRUITMARKET Dervish 21st Birthday Celebration with special guests

The Treacherous Orchestra and Rupa & The April Fishes DERVISH

The Treacherous Orchestra

Saturday 23rd January, 9pm Old Fruitmarket, £16, Standing

Sunday 24th January, 8pm Old Fruitmarket, £16, Seated & Standing areas

After their triumphant main-stage debut at Celtic Connections 2009, and a string of incendiary summer performances from Belladrum to Cambridge, the mighty Treacherous Orchestra return to their Glasgow birthplace, where their 13-strong instrumental line-up emerged from the city’s vibrant session scene. Awesome musicianship and audaciously sophisticated arrangements combine with formidable force of numbers in a truly magnificent wall of sound, in what’s sure to be a party to remember.

All the way back in 1989, the embryonic Dervish – including current members Liam Kelly (flute/whistles), Shane Mitchell (accordion), Brian McDonagh (mandola) and Michael Holmes (bouzouki) – got together to record an album of local tunes called The Boys of Sligo. Naming the band to evoke the spirit of rapture attained through music, they soon added the exquisitely haunting vocals of Cathy Jordan (also on bodhrán/ bones), and embarked on a career that would see them enthralling audiences as far afield as China, the Middle East and Latin America, recruiting fiddler Tom Morrow en route and winning accolades galore as one of Ireland’s finest traditional acts. Joining them for a 21st birthday celebration to remember, tonight’s special guests include singers Kate Rusby and Moya Brennan (Clannad), Sligo fiddle legend Kevin Burke (Bothy Band/Patrick Street), Michael McGoldrick on flute, whistles and pipes, and the brilliant Swedish trio Väsen.

Born in California to Punjabi parents, raised partly in India and France, Rupa Marya brings a rare depth of human and cross-cultural insight to her multi-lingual songwriting.

With her band The April Fishes, she intertwines Latin and Americana strands with French chanson, gypsy jazz and Indian ragas: “musical globe-trotting conducted with sophisticated elegance and underpinned by a winning sense of joy” (BBC).

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OLD FRUITMARKET Penguin Café and Spiro

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Buffy Sainte-Marie and Sonos Buffy Sainte-Marie

Penguin cafe

Tuesday 26th January, 8pm Old Fruitmarket, £16, Seated & Standing areas

Wednesday 27th January, 8pm Old Fruitmarket, £16, Seated & Standing areas

The late composer and multi-instrumentalist Simon Jeffes, self-styled “proprietor” of the original Penguin Café Orchestra, once described its sound as being for “people capable of enjoying Wilson Pickett, Beethoven, the Rolling Stones, choral music from West Africa, Bach, Stravinsky, Irish bagpipe music and even Abba on the odd occasion.”

Penguin Café is a young nine-piece band formed by Jeffes’s son Arthur to build on the PCO’s singular and much-loved legacy, performing reworked material from their repertoire alongside new compositions, who proved a major hit around the UK festival circuit in 2009.

In a remarkable career dating back to the early 1960s, Buffy Sainte-Marie’s songs have been covered by Elvis, Donovan, Barbra Streisand, Janis Joplin, Cher, Joe Cocker, Courtney Love and the Charlatans. Alongside music, she was also a regular on Sesame Street for five years, an activist, an educator, a visual artist and a tireless champion of Native American rights. With the release of her 18th album, Running for the Drum – a “whiplash collection of many styles: pop, protest, country, rock, dance-remix, rockabilly and big love songs”, Buffy recently made a triumphant return to the live stage, including an electrifying set at the 2009 Cambridge Folk Festival.

Spiro are an acoustic quartet from Bristol, formerly known as The Famous Five, who combine folk instrumentation – fiddle, accordion, mandolin and guitar – with avantgarde, minimalist and dance music influences, creating an intricately woven, precisionhoned yet lush and potently emotive sound, as heard on their 2009 Real World debut Lightbox.

The magical music of LA sextet Sonos lifts a cappella singing into a new dimension.

Fleet Foxes, Radiohead, Björk and Rufus Wainwright all feature in their repertoire, vocally transfigured and subtly embellished with effects pedals, loops and beatboxing.

“Prepare to be stunned” (Guardian).

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TICKETS: 0141 353 8000

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OLD FRUITMARKET Session A9 with Kris Drever

The Low Anthem and Fraser Anderson Session A9

THE LOW ANTHEM

Thursday 28th January, 9pm Old Fruitmarket, £16, Standing

Friday 29th January, 9pm Old Fruitmarket, £16, SeatED & Standing areas

Since their third self-released album, 2008’s Oh My God, Charlie Darwin, was reissued by leading US indie label Nonesuch, Rhode Island trio The Low Anthem have won a slew of critical plaudits for their artfully literate blend of homespun Americana and raw minimalist rock. Playing nearly 30 instruments between them – including zither, pump organ, Tibetan singing bowl, trumpet, banjo and clarinet – they forge an intriguingly fresh yet timeless sound from such classic influences as Dylan, Neil Young and Tom Waits.

Although famed first and foremost as a fiddle band, the Scottish supergroup Session A9 are much more besides. Alongside their four-man frontline of Charlie McKerron, Adam Sutherland, Kevin Henderson and Gordon Gunn (drawn from such leading acts as Capercaillie, the Peatbog Faeries and Fiddlers’ Bid), their line-up also comprises piano, guitar, percussion and vocals, making music as exquisitely accomplished as it’s viscerally exciting.

Variously likened to Nick Drake, James Taylor and Bon Iver, Fraser Anderson’s bittersweet voice and subtly crafted, heart-tugging songs have been hailed as “truly beautiful” by Radio 2’s Bob Harris. Currently based in south-west France, the Edinburghborn singer-songwriter is due to release his third album, 151, in January 2010.

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Having added 2008’s Instrumentalist of the Year title at the Scots Trad Music Award to his collection of major accolades, the spellbinding singer, songwriter, guitarist and ex-Session A9 member Kris Drever tonight launches his hotly-anticipated second solo album, Mark the Hard Earth. As well as his own set, featuring sundry special guests on new original songs and freshly-worked material by Sandy Wright, Boo Hewerdine and Hamish Henderson, he’s sure to join his former bandmates for a number or two...

OLD FRUITMARKET Connected: Danny Thompson & Friends

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The Peatbog Faeries and Gjermund Larsen Trio The Peatbog Faeries

Danny Thompson

Saturday 30th January, 9pm Old Fruitmarket, £16, SeatED & Standing AREAS

Sunday 31st January, 8pm Old Fruitmarket, £16, standing

Legend Danny Thompson will preside over an evening of musical adventure featuring Darrell Scott, Luka Bloom, Eddi Reader, Martin Simpson and Tim O’Brien. With the musical participants pulling influences from four corners of the globe, this promises to be a veritable musical cornucopia. The show will also feature a special tribute to his long-time friend John Martyn who he toured and recorded with for over 20 years with John’s songs being interpreted by this formidable line up.

Having twice been voted Best Live Act at the Scots Trad Music Awards, in 2005 and 2008, mighty Skye-based outfit The Peatbog Faeries return to raise the Fruitmarket roof with their splendidly panoramic, thrillingly high-octane mix of Celtic, rock, jazz, funk, world, dance and big-band sounds. The classic Scottish flavours of bagpipes and fiddle vie with cutting-edge ambient and electronic layers; heavy dub bass and sun-splashed African guitar grooves with surges of vibrant brass, in some of the finest folk-fusion music you’ll hear anywhere.

Danny Thompson’s career has spanned 55 years and counting. He has played with virtually every major artist over the past five decades and features on over 1,000 albums and countless singles, soundtracks and sessions. Having started in the house band at Ronnie Scott’s at the tender age of 16, his musical journey has taken him from the seedy back streets of Soho to the rarified atmosphere of Carnegie Hall, as well as encompassing musical collaborations with prominent musicians from Africa, India, America and Europe.

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Fiddler and composer Gjermund Larsen’s gorgeously mellifluous blend of traditional, classical and contemporary influences has established him as one of Norway’s most gifted and original folk talents, accompanied here by regular sidemen Sondre Meisfjord (double bass) and Andreas Utnem (piano/harmonium).

TICKETS: 0141 353 8000

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CONCERT HALL:

STRATHCLYDE SUITE

Niall Vallely & Friends and Seamus Begley & Tim Edey

The Robert Tannahill Bicentenary Concert

IAIN MORRISON

Niall Vallely

robert Tannahill

Friday 15th January, 8pm Strathclyde Suite, £12.50, SEATED

Saturday 16th January, 8pm Strathclyde Suite, £12.50, SEATED

Back in 1874, the centenary edition of Robert Tannahill’s work was celebrated by crowds of 15,000 in his native Paisley, since when his exceptional compositions have been sadly neglected. With 2010 marking 200 years since Tannahill’s untimely death, Dr Fred Freeman, the driving force behind the Complete Songs of Robert Burns series, is currently embarked on a similar project to revive the weaver-poet’s rightful reputation. Tonight’s concert, launching the second of a projected five Tannahill albums, features more than a dozen of the performers from that project, including Emily Smith, Jim Malcolm, Brian Ó hEadhra, John Morran, Aaron Jones, Sandy Brechin and Marc Duff.

After electrifying audiences worldwide with his trio project Buille, concertina maestro Niall Vallely presents a new extended composition, The Red Tree, premiered at the 2009 Cork Folk Festival. Placing the concertina at the heart of a classical string ensemble, it interweaves elements of Irish, African and European traditional music.

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New Voices: Iain Morrison

Accordion player and singer Seamus Begley hails from the west Kerry Gaeltacht and plays music of his native place, imbuing the tunes with his own personality. Seamus is joined by the dynamic guitarist Tim Edey, whose understanding of music is informed by his own excellence as an accordion player.

Sunday 17th January, 1pm Strathclyde Suite, £10.50, SEATED sponsored by SUNDAY HERALD Known to pop fans as a member of Glasgow outfit Crash My Model Car, and to alt.folk devotees of his own Sleepy Café Band, Lewis-born singer, songwriter and guitarist Iain Morrison is also a gifted piper, schooled by his pipemajor father using the traditional vocal method of canntaireachd.

He now seeks to draw all these diverse musical strands together, in a new set of compositions formed from piobaireachd melodies. He’ll be performing with an ensemble featuring viola, cello, piano, whistle, bouzouki, bass and drums, plus Iain Morrison Snr and Uist icon Rona Lightfoot singing canntaireachd.

CONCERT HALL: Tunes for Gordon and Tyskie

Maura O’Connell with Karan Casey & John Doyle

STRATHCLYDE SUITE

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An Tobar Sessions with Colin MacIntyre, Dave Milligan Trio and Aidan O’Rourke Colin Macintyre

Maura O’Connell

Tunes for Gordon

Sunday 17th January, 7.30pm Strathclyde Suite, £12.50, SEATED

Monday 18th January, 8pm Strathclyde Suite, £12.50, SEATED

Tuesday 19th January, 8pm Strathclyde Suite, £12.50, SEATED

Since the death of groundbreaking piper Gordon Duncan in 2005, the annual National Treasure concerts in his memory, organised by the trust that bears his name, have premiered new compositions by some of the many younger musicians he inspired, under the banner of Tunes For Gordon. Eight of those pieces will be reprised tonight, showcasing the work of kindred adventurous spirits like fiddler Adam Sutherland, bassist Duncan Lyall, fiddler/ guitarist Innes Watson, flautist Kevin O’Neill, Mairearad Green and John Somerville on accordion and pipers Ross Ainslie and Jarlath Henderson.

From the parlour songs and light opera played at home during her childhood, through pure Irish trad with De Dannan, to the progressive Americana sounds she’s nowadays made her own, Maura O’Connell’s tastes and talents have always refused easy pigeonholing.

What matters is her own intense communion with a song, regardless of genre – as highlighted to spellbinding effect on her all-a-cappella 2009 album, Naked With Friends.

The tenth anniversary of An Tobar, Mull’s much-loved arts centre, in 2007, occasioned a good deal of celebratory music-making, including several newly commissioned works and the fifth album from island native Colin MacIntyre (Mull Historical Society). Tonight’s selected highlights include fiddler Aidan O’Rourke’s boldly experimental An Tobar suite, inspired by various natural and historic sites around Mull, and pianist Dave Milligan’s aptly vibrant, quirky tribute to Tobermory’s high street, Shops, along with a new joint composition. MacIntyre, who remembers An Tobar when it was a primary school, will contribute some of the delicately stripped-down, emotionally epic songs from his new release Islands, which he recorded in his former classroom.

Also stretching hands across the water is tonight’s reunion of two former Solas bandmates, pairing the With a line-up comprising harp, fiddle, bodhrán and vocals, exquisite voice and sublime interpretative gifts of Karan 2009 Danny Kyle Open Stage winners Tyskie offer a fresh, Casey, now living back in Ireland, with the brilliant experimental take on traditional and contemporary folk.

Chicago-based guitarist John Doyle.

Tunes for Gordon were originally funded by the Scottish Arts Council.

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TICKETS: 0141 353 8000

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CONCERT HALL:

STRATHCLYDE SUITE

Tommy Sands Trio and Heidi Talbot

The Shetland Bus and The Alan Kelly Quartet

Guidewires and Anarkali GUIDEWIRES

The Shetland bus

Tommy Sands Trio

Wednesday 20th January, 8pm Strathclyde Suite, £12.50, SEATED

Thursday 21st January, 8pm Strathclyde Suite, £12.50, SEATED

Friday 22nd January, 8pm Strathclyde Suite, £12.50, SEATED

In his twin roles as singer-songwriter and peace activist, Tommy Sands ranks among today’s most revered elder statesmen, both for such classic compositions as There Were Roses, and for bringing diehard opponents together during the Northern Irish peace process. He’s joined tonight by his daughter Moya and son Fionån, as on his latest album Let the Circle Be Wide.

The Shetland Bus was a secret World War II operation transporting resistance agents, armaments, equipment and refugees between Shetland and Nazi-occupied Norway. Inspired by the remarkable story of Jan Baalsrud, one of the campaign’s heroes, Shetland sisters Jenna and Bethany Reid (fiddles/piano) present a brand-new suite of original music commemorating these perilous missions, with a line-up also featuring pipes, flute, double bass and percussion.

A blissful marriage of youth and experience, Guidewires unites four Irish instrumentalists with one from Brittany, including top Clare fiddler Tóla Custy, concertina ace Pádraig Rynne and guitarist Paul McSherry alongside flute, low whistles and bouzouki. Combining pan-Celtic, Balkan and Middle Eastern influences, interwoven in traditional, contemporary and original tunes, their 2009 live album was hailed by the Irish Times as “a spectacular, multicoloured debut.”

Ireland’s Alan Kelly plays the piano accordion with exceptional fluency and finesse, as heard most recently on his 2009 album After the Morning. He’s accompanied here by the top-notch trio of ex-Lúnasa guitarist Donogh Hennessy, fiddler Tóla Custy and Steph Geremia on flute and whistles.

Opening the show are 2009 Danny winners Anarkali, who hail from Glasgow’s Irish diaspora and the rough and ready Scottish highlands. Steeped in these rich musical traditions with a traditional Indian name, the band certainly have a fresh eclectic sound.

Ex-Cherish the Ladies vocalist Heidi Talbot has won a string of glowing reviews for her second solo album, 2008’s In Love and Light, showcasing her ardently honeyed voice and sublime interpretative gifts in everything from traditional ballads to Tom Waits and Ink Spots covers.“Very highly recommended.” (Billboard)

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CONCERT HALL: The Future of Our Past Goes Large!

Mike Vass

Darol Anger

rsamd

Saturday 23rd January, 8pm Strathclyde Suite, £12.50, SEATED

After the runaway success of last year’s performance by the students of the RSAMD, they make a return visit to the Strathclyde Suite in the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. This year however they are delighted to welcome the Folk and Traditional music students from Newcastle University in the first of what we hope will be an annual collaboration with fellow institutions from around the world.

Described by its founder, genre-busting US fiddle maestro Darol Anger, as “like a superhero team where they all have complementary powers”, Republic of Strings partners Anger and veteran guitar ace Scott Nygaard with today’s most exciting young prodigies on fiddle, cello and double bass. Their visionary musical landscape encompasses folk, world, jazz and classical influences, along with groundbreaking original compositions. In their Celtic Connections debut, it would be wise to get your ticket before every musician in town does!

SPONSORED BY

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New Voices: Mike Vass

Republic of Strings and Anghjula Potentini

Saturday 23rd January, 1pm Strathclyde Suite, £10.50, SEATED

Under the guidance of Phil Cunningham and Catriona Macdonald, the students will come together in music and song to provide us with yet another exhilarating glimpse into “The Future of our Past”.

STRATHCLYDE SUITE

Drawing on her native island’s rich polyphonic traditions, the enthralling Corsican singer Anghjula Potentini brings them into the contemporary spotlight, framing her magnificent voice with sensitive instrumental arrangements.

Sunday 24th January, 1pm Strathclyde Suite, £10.50, SEATED sponsored by SUNDAY HERALD A current favourite among scientists in search of an all-encompassing hypothesis is super string theory, according to which elementary particles are likened to the notes sounded by a violin string under varying tension. Acclaimed young fiddler Mike Vass co-opts this concept with poetic licence for his New Voices premiere, which seeks to unite the disparate elements of his own creative universe in cahoots with some of his favourite musicians. Within a seven-piece line-up including his pianist sister Ali, piper Calum MacCrimmon and multiinstrumentalist Anna Massie – with everyone also enlisted on vocals – each individual’s response to Vass’s written parts will feed integrally into the performance.

TICKETS: 0141 353 8000

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CONCERT HALL:

STRATHCLYDE SUITE

The McCalmans and Lucy Pringle & Chris Wright

Nordic Tone

Carolina Chocolate Drops and Support Carolina chocolate drops

The Mccalmans

NORDIC TONE

Sunday 24th January, 8pm Strathclyde Suite, £12.50, SEATED

Monday 25th January, 8pm Strathclyde Suite, £12.50, SEATED

Tuesday 26th January, 8pm Strathclyde Suite, £12.50, SEATED

Originally staged by the 2009 Shetland Folk Festival, Nordic Tone unites 25 young musicians from Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Shetland, under the tutelage of leading professionals from each territory – Kevin Henderson (fiddle), Henrik Jansberg (fiddle), Jonas Simonson (flute), Ånon Egeland (fiddle) and Ilona Korhonen (vocals).

Beloved by their army of fans worldwide as “the masters of the good night out” (Scotland on Sunday), The McCalmans embark on their 45th and final year of touring, with their last original member Ian McCalman having announced that he’ll retire at the end of 2010.

Their timeless brand of vibrant harmony vocals, bighearted songwriting, irreverent humour and all-round entertainment value will be long remembered and sorely missed – so catch them while you can.

Specialising in the richly distinctive traditions of Carolina’s Piedmont region, the Carolina Chocolate Drops breathe joyful new life into the African-American lineage of US string-band music. Their sound centres on the antebellum combination of banjo as lead instrument with fiddle accompaniment, rounded out by guitar and percussion, with tonight’s show marking the release of their new album, Genuine Negro Jig.

Their dynamic exchange of kindred traditions and contemporary influences creates a “lush, sophisticated, densely layered ensemble sound, imbued with a polish and finesse that plenty of established bands would struggle to emulate.” (HI-Arts Journal)

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Danny Kyle Open Stage winners Lucy Pringle and Chris Wright breathe alluring new life into traditional and contemporary Scottish songs, with gracefully entwined vocals and sparse, expressive arrangements.

“Carolina Chocolate Drops are three young black musicians revisiting, with a joyful vengeance, black string-band and jug-band music of the Twenties and Thirties – the dirt-floor-dance electricity of the Mississippi Sheiks and Cannon’s Jug Stompers.”

(Rolling Stone)

CONCERT HALL: The Wiyos with Pokey LaFarge & the South City Three

Le Vent du Nord with Breabach

STRATHCLYDE SUITE

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Finlay MacDonald & Friends and the Mhairi Hall Trio Finlay Macdonald

breabach

Le Vent du Nord

pokey lafarge & the south city three

The Wiyos

Wednesday 27th January, 8pm Strathclyde Suite, £12.50, SEATED

Thursday 28th January, 8pm Strathclyde Suite, £12.50, SEATED

Friday 29th January, 8pm Strathclyde Suite, £12.50, SEATED

A double bill of old-time music made brand-new, featuring two of the most hotly-tipped acts on today’s US roots scene in association with Brookfield Knights. Brooklynbased quartet The Wiyos – named for a 19th century street gang – stir together blues, swing, barbershop, vaudeville, country and ragtime flavours, a lip-smacking mix that saw them supporting Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp on their 2009 summer tour.

Always a Celtic Connections favourite, Québécois quartet Le Vent du Nord recently released their fifth studio album La Part du Feu. Centred on the traditional sounds of fiddle, accordion, hurdy-gurdy, guitar and fourpart vocals, the new songs and tunes redouble the band’s trademark joie de vivre with seasoned maturity and cohesion.

Casting his musical net even wider than usual, the thrilling Scottish piper Finlay MacDonald sets out to celebrate the diverse creative camaraderie he’s relished throughout his career, both with individual musicians and other countries’ traditions. An international array of fellow musicians from Brittany including Jacky and Patrick Molard and guest singers join members of his own powerhouse folk-fusion outfit, for a richly varied programme of reworked favourites and new material.

Pokey LaFarge is a kindred hybrid of vintage throwback and 21st century troubadour, whose voice has variously been likened to Loudon Wainwright, Michael Hurley and Justin Townes Earle, and who sums up his own musical melting-pot as “riverboat soul”. He is joined for this concert by the South City Three.

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Breabach, here previewing material from their imminent second album, The Desperate Battle of the Birds are one of Scotland’s top young traditional acts, with a line-up of twin bagpipes, fiddle, flute, whistles, guitar and vocals.

Tonight’s show launches the two bands’ joint Tune Up tour, and will feature specially devised collaborations as well as individual sets.

Inspired by the beauties of her native Strathspey region, pianist Mhairi Hall’s debut album Cairngorm – launched in 2009 on that mountain’s summit – showcased her sensitive reinterpretation of Scottish tradition alongside arresting original tunes, in company with guitarist Mike Bryan and percussionist Fraser Stone.

TICKETS: 0141 353 8000

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CONCERT HALL:

STRATHCLYDE SUITE

Nuala Kennedy and Majorstuen

TMSA Young Trad Tour and special guests from Plockton High School

Lori Watson

Nuala Kennedy

TMSA YOUNG TRAD TOUR

Saturday 30th January, 1pm Strathclyde Suite, £10.50, SEATED

Saturday 30th January, 8pm Strathclyde Suite, £12.50, SEATED

The TMSA Young Trad Tour 2009 is a showcase for the cream of the new generation of Scottish musicians.

There’s a real powerhouse of Scottish fiddling in this band led by the winner of the 2009 BBC Young Traditional Musician of the Year. From the gentle slow airs of the Gaelic Highlands to the storming jigs and reels and the quintessentially Scottish Strathspeys – these young musicians are truly exceptional! Ruairidh MacMillan (fiddle) and 2009 winner, Daniel Thorpe (fiddle), Lorne MacDougall (pipes and whistles), Adam Holmes (guitar and song), Jack Smedley (fiddle), Catriona Watt (Gaelic song and 2007 winner) and Ewan Robertson (guitar, song and 2008 winner).

The magically mercurial Irish flautist and singer Nuala Kennedy, who’s worked with such diverse kindred spirits as Will Oldham, Norman Blake, Euros Childs and the late lamented Oliver Schroer, launches her second solo album Tune In, inspired by an old wireless radio dial.

As well as her own four-piece band, she’ll be joined by special guests including ex-Shooglenifty mandolinist Iain MacLeod, New York fiddler Dana Lyn and top jazz pianist Brian Kellock. “Exceptional” **** (The Irish Times)

Joining this stellar line-up will be an ensemble comprising pupils from The National Centre of Excellence in Traditional Music, Plockton High School.

WWW.CELTICCONNECTIONS.COM

New Voices: Lori Watson

Young Norwegian outfit Majorstuen cunningly interweave regional styles from throughout their homeland, with a groove-driven mix of rock, pop and classical influences for a diverse sound.

Sunday 31st January, 1pm Strathclyde Suite, £10.50, SEATED sponsored by SUNDAY HERALD Fiddler and singer Lori Watson is a key figure in the ongoing revival of her native Borders traditions, a process she seeks to extend yet further in her New Voices composition, Sanctuary. Initially inspired by places of actual or fabled refuge – be it for runaway lovers, stolen cattle or world-weary spirits – dotted around the region, the music’s themes draw on the local folklore, real-life history and personal associations attached to these places. Watson leads an ensemble centred on four fiddles, with accompaniment including cello and accordion, in a piece that also incorporates alternative tunings, graphic scoring and a strong improvisational element.

CONCERT HALL: Finale Showcasing Danny Kyle Open Stage Winners 2010

STRATHCLYDE SUITE

BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician 10th Birthday Bash

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Art Exhibition

Anna Massie

Sunday 31st January, 9pm Strathclyde Suite, £12.50, SEATED …

Sunday 31st January, 5pm Strathclyde Suite, FREE, SEATED In partnership with the Evening Times Established in memory of the late lamented Danny Kyle, an indefatigable champion of new musical talent, the Danny Kyle Open Stage Award at Celtic Connections has been an invaluable career launch-pad for a host of emerging acts over the years, heralding the future successes of Malinky, GiveWay, Phamie Gow, the Lori Watson 3, La Sonera Calaveras, Breabach and The Chair, among many others.

With around 80 acts selected to perform during the festival, out of the 200-300 hopefuls who apply from far and wide each year, the competition nowadays is fierce, guaranteeing that tonight’s six winners will be worthy ones indeed.

SPONSORED BY

Sunday 31st January, 9pm Strathclyde Suite, £10, SEATED

?DAY 00th Island Bar,JANUARY, Glasgow ?pm Royal Concert Hall Free VENUE, £price

With the 10th BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year competition only just concluding as this concert begins, the line-up of previous winners and runners-up assembled here underlines the awards’ success in launching fresh talent onto the professional career-path. Performers include the inaugural title-holder from 2001, fiddler and singer Gillian Frame, along with Anna Massie, James Graham, Stuart Cassells, Catriona Watt, Ewan Robertson, Ruairidh MacMillan and Jenna Reid, before tonight’s victor is whisked along from the City Halls to round off the night.

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TICKETS: 0141 353 8000

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CITY HALLS Chris Stout’s Brazilian Theory and Helene Blum & Harald Haugaard

The Swell Season and The Lost Brothers

Helene Blum & Harald Haugaard

Chris Stout

The Swell Season

Saturday 16th January, 7.30pm City Halls, £18, Seated

Sunday 17th January, 7.30pm City Halls, £16, Seated

After rising to prominence in the 2007 film Once, Glen Hansard (The Frames) and Marketa Irglova (classically trained Czech pianist and vocalist) adopted the name of their album The Swell Season as the title of their collaboration. Hansard’s songs are always dramatic, beautiful and evocative and the melodies sweep you away.

Shetland fiddler Chris Stout’s latest collaborative adventure partners regular cohorts Catriona McKay (harp), Ian Stephenson (guitar), Neil Harland (double bass) and Martin O’Neill (bodhran) with three special guests from Brazil: Thomas Rohrer on rabeca (a rustic Brazilian fiddle), multi-instrumentalist Carlinhos Antunes and bassist Rui Barossi. Expect a dynamic synthesis of sounds and styles bridging Shetland, Scotland and São Paulo.

Since the release of the film the pair has toured extensively and in February 2008 they took the Academy Award in the Best Original Song category for Falling Slowly. A follow up album, Strict Joy, is due for imminent release.

Opening the evening, The Lost Brothers are Irish non-siblings Mark McCausland and Oisin Leech (ex-The Basement/747s), singing Everlys-eque harmonies over twin acoustic guitars.

WWW.CELTICCONNECTIONS.COM

The dazzling Danish fiddler Harald Haugaard, already a Celtic Connections favourite in his duo with guitarist Morten Alfred Høirup, returns with a new quintet featuring the exquisite vocals of Helene Blum – performing both traditional ballads and arresting original songs – plus three more top Danish instrumentalists on guitar, mandolin, cello and percussion.

CITY HALLS Aly Bain and Karen Matheson with The Scottish Ensemble

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Horse and Adriana Spina Horse Mcdonald

Karen Matheson

Saturday 23rd January, 7.30pm City Halls, £16, Seated

Sunday 24th January, 7.30pm City Halls, £16, Seated

A highly-attuned band of twelve exceptional string players from around Europe, The Scottish Ensemble have won international acclaim for their boldly distinctive programming, which draws widely from across the last three centuries while frequently commissioning new works and collaborating with non-classical musicians. Capercaillie lead singer Karen Matheson has performed live with the Ensemble on several occasions, also featuring them on her solo recordings, as did Shetland fiddle legend Aly Bain on his 1995 Follow the Moonstone suite. This comprised traditional tunes arranged by the leading Norwegian composer Henning Sommero, who has written a new piece of music for Bain to premiere tonight.

Sharing her birthday with music’s patron St Cecilia, Horse McDonald has been a mercurial but always memorable presence in Scottish music since the early 1990s, framing her magnificently sensuous voice amidst everything from slick power-pop to live orchestral accompaniment. Performing old favourites alongside material from her bittersweet new album Coming Up For Air, Horse will also be joined by Glasgow’s acclaimed Gospel Truth Choir.

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Italian-Scots singer-songwriter Adriana Spina saw years of independent graft pay off in 2008 when she wowed a sellout Glasgow Academy crowd as support to Sheryl Crow.

Spina’s imminent debut release Coming Home showcases a stunning vocal range and dynamic stylistic mix of country, folk and rock.

TICKETS: 0141 353 8000

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CITY HALLS

Tom Paxton and Michelle Burke

Deolinda and Support

Jan Garbarek DEOLINDA

Jan Garbarek

Tom Paxton

Wednesday 27th January, 8pm City Halls, £16, Seated

Thursday 28th January, 9pm City Halls, £16, Seated

FRIDAY 29th January, 7.30pm City Halls, £16, Seated

Tom Paxton declared himself “gobsmacked” at receiving a Lifetime Achievement Grammy in 2009, but to the myriad fans he’s won with songs like Ramblin’ Boy, Last Thing On My Mind and Can’t Help But Wonder Where I’m Bound, the tribute was if anything overdue.

At 72, Paxton’s still going strong, with his latest album, Comedians and Angels, hailed as “a masterwork of unassuming poetry, touching the heart ever deeper with repeated listening”. (All Music Guide).

“Stillness is the most fertile soil for a musician” says Jan Garbarek, a defining voice in European jazz since the late 1960s. “Something has to come out of stillness. For me, it’s the breath of music.” For the revered Norwegian saxophonist’s legions of fans, this statement will instantly resonate with the intensely atmospheric spaces his playing creates and explores, inspired by his homeland’s landscapes and folk melodies along with the bordercrossing vocabulary of jazz, world and classical music.

Current lead vocalist with Cherish the Ladies, Irish singer Michelle Burke has also emerged as a gifted solo interpreter, of both big traditional ballads and contemporary covers, with her 2009 debut release Pulling Threads.

His band tonight includes Rainer Brüninghaus (keyboards) and Yuri Daniel (bass) both of whom featured on his first ever live album, 2009’s Dresden.

Having achieved platinum sales in their native Portugal, The Deolinda Project’s intriguing and beguiling debut album Canção ao Lado (The Song Next Door) was released internationally in 2009. Its 14 original songs are all narrated by the imaginary Deolinda, a young Lisbon woman who observes the city’s lively street-life through her window, listening to her late grandmother’s record collection, in between romantic adventures. Fast winning fame for their wildly flamboyant, often comical live performances, the quartet draw on styles including fado, traditional folk, Brazilian and Cape Verdean music, subtly enhanced by pop, jazz and even indie-rock touches.

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CITY HALLS Grace, Hewat & Polwart and Diana Jones and Rachel Harrington

BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year Final 2010 Mairi Chaimbeul

lorne macdougall

Hannah Phillips

Featuring three of the most distinctive female voices on the contemporary Scottish folk-roots scene, Annie Grace, Corrina Hewat and Karine Polwart join together to unite in an array of bewitching harmony. With new material, the girls bring pipes, harp, shruti box and guitar to a very special evening of song.

For every previous BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year winner – Anna Massie, James Graham, Stuart Cassells, Shona Mooney, Catriona Watt, Ewan Robertson, Ruairidh Macmillan, Gillian Frame and Emily Smith – winning the competition has been a major springboard to a professional career in music. Tonight’s six talented finalists are:

Daniel Thorpe

Kyle warren

Patrick Callaghan

Sunday 31st January, 5pm City Halls, £12.50, Seated

Diana Jones

Grace, Hewat & Polwart

SATURDAY 30th January, 7.30pm City Halls, £16, Seated

After being adopted as a baby, Diana Jones discovered her musical heartland when she traced her birth family to Tennessee. Her grandfather, who’d once played with Chet Atkins, proved a particular influence, bringing alive the old mountain songs she found on an Alan Lomax collection.

It was the album Jones dedicated to him following his death which became her breakthrough recording, swiftly propelling her to Americana stardom.

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Patrick Callaghan (accordion, harp) Mairi Chaimbeul (harp) Lorne MacDougall (pipes) Hannah Phillips (harp) Daniel Thorpe (fiddle)

Completing the triple bill this evening will be Oregon Kyle Warren (pipes) singer-songwriter Rachel Harrington, whose rootsy, richly literate balladry draws on influences from gospel to Motown.

TICKETS: 0141 353 8000

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CITY HALLS:

RECITAL ROOM All concerts are seated, start at 8pm and cost £10

RODDY HART

PUR

SARAH-JANE SUMMERS

MACKINNON MACPHERSON MACCOLL

Bodega SATURDAY 16th January Young vocal/instrumental quintet Bodega met whilst studying at the National Centre of Excellence in Plockton, and have gone on to make a name for themselves with their dynamic mix of traditional, contemporary and original material.

WWW.CELTICCONNECTIONS.COM

Words & Music: Hugh Lupton & Chris Wood Sunday 17th January Jointly created by acclaimed singer/fiddler Chris Wood and poet/storyteller Hugh Lupton, with the English Acoustic Collective’s John Dipper and Robert Harbron, The Homing Stone tells of Swallows and Amazons author Arthur Ransome’s turbulent travels in revolutionary Russia.

Roddy Hart Friday 22nd January Mentored early in his career by no less a fan than Kris Kristofferson, Glasgow’s Roddy Hart is a superb singer-songwriter in the classic mould, finally shaking off the “best kept secret” tag with his second album, 2009’s Sign Language.

Catriona McKay and Olov Johansson Saturday 23rd January Catriona McKay and Olov Johansson and have teamed up to create big, bold, amazing sound. Johansson’s nyckelharpa and McKay’s Scottish harp complement each other perfectly on fresh, inventive arrangements which give both artists the opportunity to show the full character of their instruments.

Maeve Gilchrist with Aidan O’Donnell Sunday 24th January With her distinctive chromatic approach and jazz/folk sound, harpist and singer Maeve Gilchrist has been hailed as a highly innovative talent. She’ll be previewing material from her forthcoming new album, accompanied by bassist Aidan O’Donnell.

Pur – The Lassies’ Reply Monday 25th January Especially for Burns Night, two rising stars of traditional song – Shona Donaldson and Katie Mackenzie, jointly known as Pur – showcase material from their debut album The Lassies’ Reply, comprising classic Burns songs performed in Scots and Gaelic.

Tam Lin Tuesday 26th January An exciting collaboration between three questing musicians – John Kenny, Dick Lee and James Ross – based on the story of Tam Lin. Sarah-Jane Summers Trio Wednesday 27th January Originally taught by the late great Highland fiddler Donald Riddell, Sarah-Jane Summers also plays the Norwegian Hardanger fiddle, creating a unique Scottish/Nordic sound accompanied here by guitarist Ewan MacPherson and bassist Duncan Lyall.

Pokey LaFarge and the South City Three Thursday 28th January Pokey LaFarge is a treasure – a gutsy troubadour whose songs, with their earthy plunk and thunk guitar accompaniments – recall the 1920s/30s blues and ragtime masters, yet speak directly to today’s audiences in a bruised, used and abused voice.

Koshka Friday 29th January Oleg Pomonarev, Lev Atlas and Nigel Clark have developed an enthralling sound, where

conservatoire rigour meets sheer gypsy flair.

Koshka now stand at the cutting edge of gypsy string music, taking it to increasing heights of invention and creativity.

Fribo and Griogair Labhraidh & Doimnic Mac Giolla Bhríde SATURDAY 30th January Fribo is a unique combination of musicians from Norway, Scotland and England, who have rapidly gained acclaim for blending their native musical styles together with sensitivity and an exuberant feel for contemporary sounds and rhythms.

Also on the bill are Griogair Labhraidh and Doimnic Mac Giolla Bhríde with tracks from their long awaited collaborative album, which features Gaelic song drawn from both of their respective Donegal and Argyllshire traditions.

They will be accompanied on fiddle by Aidan O’ Donnell (Fidil) and Síle Denvir (Líadan).

Madison Violet and Mackinnon MacPherson MacColl Sunday 31st January Variously dubbed “urban folk” and “tumbleweed pop”, Canadian duo Madison Violet’s latest album No Fool For Trying is a “sonically perfect collection of songs”, attaining “a level of musicality rarely found in country music”. (No Depression) Following their joint Classic Album concert at Celtic Connections 2008, singer Maeve Mackinnon and fiddler Lauren MacColl team up with multi-instrumentalist Ewan MacPherson, creating a close-knit trio sound that marries deep traditional roots with new compositions.

O2 ABC Glasgow The Michael McGoldrick Band and Declan O’Rourke

Del Castillo and Moishe’s Bagel

Hot Club of Cowtown and Red Stick Ramblers Del Castillo

Hot club of cowtown

Michael McGoldrick

Friday 15th January, 7.30pm O 2 ABC Glasgow, £15, Standing

Saturday 16th January, 7.30pm O 2 ABC Glasgow, £15, Standing

Sunday 17th January, 7.30pm O 2 ABC Glasgow, £15, Standing

Six years in the making, Aurora, the feverishly-awaited third solo album from Mancunian flute/whistle genius Michael McGoldrick, is finally unveiled tonight. Most of his allconquering big band line-up will be mustering once again, including fiddler Desi Donnelly, Donald Shaw on keyboards, trumpeter Neil Yates, bassist Ewen Vernal and the fearsome percussive triumvirate of John Joe Kelly, Parvinder Bharat and James Mackintosh, along with Karan Casey and other guest musicians.

Formed in New York over a decade ago, the Hot Club of Cowtown recently returned with their most intoxicating album yet, Wishful Thinking. From a deceptively simple recipe – fiddle, guitar, bass and three voices – they concoct a deliciously sophisticated sound, stirring up gypsy-jazz, bluegrass and Western swing. The band opened for Bob Dylan in 2004, leading to Elana James (fiddle/vocals) being the selected as the first female to be included in Dylan’s touring band in over 30 years.

Graced with a voice that ranges from burnished baritone to fervent falsetto, and a singular knack for simple yet eloquent songcraft, Irish singer-songwriter Declan O’Rourke’s two hit albums, Since Kyabram and Big Bad Beautiful World, have left his undiscovered-secret days far behind. In Q Magazine, Paul Weller was asked what song in the last 20 years did he wish he’d written and he chose O’Rourke’s Galileo.

Dynamically rooted in their native Louisiana culture, the Red Stick Ramblers showcase their lip-smacking gumbo of Cajun, country, stringband and swing flavours, “shot through with an energy that’s thoroughly modern, even as it remains deeply rooted in history”. (Country Weekly)

The Austin-based sextet Del Castillo have been credited with nothing less than creating a new musical genre, “Nuevo Americano”, a sizzling blend of rock, blues, flamenco, Latin and world music styles. Powered by the twin Spanish guitars of brothers Mark and Rick Del Castillo, and fronted by the charismatic vocal showmanship of Alex Ruiz, they’ve toured with the likes of Los Lobos, Willie Nelson and Don Henley, while building a fiercely loyal fan-base aged from 18 to 70. Always happiest performing live, they bring their incendiary cross-cultural medicine show to Scotland for the first time.

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Opening the evening are festival favourites Moishe’s Bagel, combining klezmer, folk dance, jazz, and more for a spectacular high-energy performance.

TICKETS: 0141 353 8000

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O2 ABC Glasgow

Scott Matthews and Foy Vance

Fyfe Dangerfield and Stornoway

Born in Co. Down but mostly raised Stateside, Foy Vance is, literally, the son of a preacher man, who imbues his blend of soul, blues and jazz with both gospel fervour and the outlook for which he named his first album, 2007’s Hope. With his soaring, Van Morrison-esque voice, often accompanied by layers of live-looped guitar, Vance is a mesmerising live performer.

WWW.CELTICCONNECTIONS.COM

Wednesday 20th January, 7.30pm O 2 ABC Glasgow, £13, STANDING Frontman of the Mercury-nominated, Brit Award-winning avant-pop outfit Guillemots – and occasional classical composer – Fyfe Dangerfield recalls the core recording of his debut solo release, Fly Yellow Moon, as “five of the happiest days I’ve ever spent in studioland”. With the album due in January 2010, tonight’s show focuses on this new collection of songs, which cover “all walks of noise from the whisperer to the inebriated screamer”.

Named for the Western Isles capital but actually from Oxford, the idiosyncratic six-piece Stornoway have been generating a major media buzz with their first two singles, Zorbing and Unfaithful. Meandering winsomely and wistfully between folk, rock and pastoral acoustic pop, they’ve variously been likened to Noah & the Whale and early James.

Kimmie Rhodes

After winning comparisons to Nick Drake, Jeff Buckley and John Martyn with his 2006 debut Passing Stranger, Novello Award-winner Scott Matthews cites the likes of Bowie and Nick Cave as influences on its successor, 2009’s aptly-titled Elsewhere. Featuring a guest appearance from ex-Led Zep legend Robert Plant, it was hailed as “without doubt one of the best albums of the year” (Sunday Mercury).

Featuring Tom Russell, Sam Baker, Slaid Cleaves and Kimmie Rhodes

Sam Baker

FYFE DANGERFIELD

Scott Matthews

Tuesday 19th January, 7.30pm O 2 ABC Glasgow, £15, Seated (unreserved) & standing

Texas Songwriters in The Round

Thursday 21st January, 7.30pm O 2 ABC Glasgow, £15, Seated (unreserved) & standing The Lone Star State has a long history of producing excellent songwriters, and tonight’s stage is shared by four of today’s very best (brought to you tonight in association with the Fallen Angels Club). Tom Russell has been writing and recording since the early 1970s, recently scaling new creative heights with his searingly eloquent 2009 release, Blood and Candle Smoke; Kimmie Rhodes’s beautifully crafted songs have achieved multiplatinum sales via other artists as well as featuring on her own twelve albums, mixing country, folk and rock with sharply memorable lyrics. Sam Baker’s remarkable trilogy of recordings since 2004 chronicles his struggle to transcend the scars from a near-fatal bomb blast, while Slaid Cleaves’ latest, 2009’s Everything You Love Will Be Taken Away, reaffirms his status as “one of the country’s most compelling roots artists” (Chicago Reader).

O2 ABC Glasgow Wolfstone 21st Anniversary and Felpeyu

Skipinnish 10th Anniversary

Dick Gaughan & Jason Wilson & Dave Swarbrick and The Magic Lantern Show Skipinnish

Dick Gaughan

Wolfstone

Friday 22nd January, 7.30pm O 2 ABC Glasgow, £15, Standing

Saturday 23rd January, 7.30pm O 2 ABC Glasgow, £15, standing

They’ve travelled far and wide since their debut gig in Dingwall, and in 2010 Wolfstone officially come of age as one of the world’s premier Celtic rock acts. Original members Duncan Chisholm (fiddle) and Stuart Eaglesham (vocals/guitar), plus longtime piper Stevie Saint, now feature alongside electric guitarist Davie Dunsmuir, bassist Colin Cunningham and drummer Alyn Cosker, still brewing up their heady signature blend of turbocharged instrumentals and stirring self-penned songs. Tonight’s special guest line-up launches a year of celebratory shows, with a set ranging from their earliest days to the present.

They might seem unlikely bedfellows, but the guest appearance of legendary English fiddler Dave Swarbrick on Canadian reggae star Jason Wilson’s last album, The Peacemaker’s Chauffeur, and their forthcoming duo release The Lion Rampant, bridge surprisingly few degrees of separation. Wilson’s cousin was in UB40 with Ali and Robin Campbell, sons of the seminal folk balladeer Ian Campbell, whose band Swarbrick joined in his pre-Fairport days. Tonight’s show, which evolved from an impromptu joint performance with Dick Gaughan at the 2009 Edmonton Folk Festival, features all three artists backed by Wilson’s six-piece band.

Bringing a dash of fiesta to the ceilidh, Asturian sevenpiece Felpeyu combine bagpipes, fiddle, accordion, bouzouki, guitar, bass, bodhran and vocals, in a dynamic, colourful mix of traditional and contemporary material.

With their debut album due out in early 2010, Danny Kyle Open Stage winners The Magic Lantern Show splice folk, funk, pop and rock strands with dual male/female vocals and strongly melodic songwriting.

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Sunday 24th January, 7.30pm O 2 ABC Glasgow, £15, Seated (unreserved) & standing Named for accordionist Angus MacPhail’s home district on the island of Tiree, Skipinnish began life a decade ago as a traditional Highland dance band – jointly helmed

by Andrew Stevenson on bagpipes and flute – and has since swelled into a veritable cottage empire, including a successful record company and the Skipinnish Ceilidh House venue in Oban. Voted Dance Band of the Year at the 2008 Scots Trad Music Awards, MacPhail and Stevenson are your hosts with the most as their birthday party continues, featuring most of the acts who’ve recorded on the Skipinnish label along with other special guests, including Skerryvore, James Graham, Rachel Walker, Gary Innes and Archie McAllister.

TICKETS: 0141 353 8000

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O2 ABC Glasgow

Naturally 7 and Support

Gandalf Murphy & The Slambovian Circus of Dreams and Support

featuring Fred Morrison,

Old Blind Dogs, Alyth & The Shee The Shee

Gandalf Murphy

naturally 7

Tuesday 26th January, 7.30pm O 2 ABC Glasgow, £15, standing

Wednesday 27th January, 7.30pm O 2 ABC Glasgow, £15, Standing

Besides their glorious vocal harmonies, Naturally 7’s stunning arrangements of gospel, soul, jazz and pop material also incorporate trumpet, harmonica, percussion, electric guitar, clarinet, saxophone and flute. None of the instruments, however, are real: every last sound is produced by the septet’s voices, a unique ensemble technique they’ve christened ‘Vocal Play’. In their own words, “A cappella is defined as singing without instruments. Vocal Play is singing as instruments, and becoming an instrument with the voice.” Formed in New York in 1999, they first shot to fame a few years back, when their rendition of Phil Collins’s In the Air Tonight on the Paris Metro scored over 3 million hits on YouTube, and have gone on to captivate live audiences worldwide.

Roll up, roll up, for New York State’s finest “punkclassical-hillbilly-Floyd” combo. With a moniker deliberately devised to deter major-label attention, Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams have nonetheless won a large and devoted following, including such discerning fans as Neil Young and Dar Williams, not least for their uniquely carnivalesque live performances.

WWW.CELTICCONNECTIONS.COM

Showcase Scotland

Showcasing their whimsically unpredictable mash-up of folk, rock, hillbilly and pop, 2004’s breakthrough release Flapjacks from the Sky was widely hailed as a modern masterpiece, followed in 2008 by The Great Unravel.

“Simply one of the finest American bands out there.”

(All Music Guide)

Thursday 28th January, 7.30pm O 2 ABC Glasgow, £15, SEATED (UNRESERVED) & Standing As Showcase Scotland 2010 gets under way, tonight’s four-act bill is headlined by the thrilling Scottish piper Fred Morrison, whose new solo album Outlands forges new common ground between Scottish, Irish and bluegrass music. Veteran vocal/instrumental globetrotters Old Blind Dogs will appear in a specially extended line-up, while all-female sextet The Shee, also blending tunes and songs, put a fresh and funky twist on Celtic and Appalachian material. Acclaimed singer Alyth McCormack, a regular touring guest with The Chieftains, will showcase traditional and contemporary material from her alluring second album People Like Me.

O2 ABC Glasgow Imelda May and The Deadly Gentlemen

The Chair and Valkyrien Allstars

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Chemikal Underground The Phantom band

the chair

Imelda may

Friday 29th January, 7.30pm O 2 ABC Glasgow, £15, Standing

Saturday 30th January, 7.30pm O 2 ABC Glasgow, £15, Standing

Sunday 31st January, 7.30pm O 2 ABC Glasgow, £15, Standing

Following her breakthrough 2008 appearance on Later With Jools Holland, Irish singer Imelda May has shot through the rankings to become one of today’s hottest musical properties. As with the vintage rockabilly and jazz influences that underpin her songs, she’s paid her dues the old-fashioned way having started out in Dublin clubs. A superbly compelling performer armed with a big, sultry, bluesy voice, she marries the classic and the contemporary in unforgettable style.

Three years on from winning a Danny Kyle Open Stage Award, and having been voted Folk Band of the Year at the 2008 Scots Trad Music Awards, Orkney eight-piece The Chair remain true to their founding intention of “making music for people to jump around to”. Their unique musical recipe – described as “sheer joy” by Radio 2’s Mike Harding – stirs together Orcadian, Celtic, east European, reggae, rock and blues flavours, matching powerhouse energy with richly patterned arrangements and top-notch musicianship.

Since launching in 1995, Glasgow’s Chemikal Underground Records have – according to their website – “gone out of our way to be as nice as possible”, meanwhile emerging as one of the UK’s top indie labels, home to the likes of Mogwai, Bis, Arab Strap, De Rosa and The Delgados.

You have to love a band that calls its debut album The Bastard Masterpiece – The Deadly Gentlemen features four of contemporary Americana’s boldest young brainiacs – Greg Liszt (Bruce Springsteen, Crooked Still) on banjo and vocals, Josh Pinkham on mandolin, Michael Barnett on fiddle and Sam Grisman (David Grisman Bluegrass Experience) on double bass.

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One of Norway’s most popular festival acts, The Valkyrien Allstars are also in the business of revamping their native traditions, splicing fiery fiddle-led instrumentals with powerful rock-oriented songs. This is certainly another band that must be experienced live.

Tonight’s 15th birthday bash features the cream of their current crop, headlined by self-styled “proto-robofolk sextet” The Phantom Band, universally tipped for greatness during 2009. Also on the bill are new attraction The Unwinding Hours, born from the ashes of Aerogramme; label founder Alun Woodward, in his current, wickedly quirky guise of Lord Cut Glass; fellow ex-Delgado Emma Pollock, Arab Strap’s Aidan Moffat, genre-crossing composer and performer Bill Wells, Irish lo-fi troubadour Adrian Crowley and winsome folk-popsters Zoey Van Goey, plus other surprise guests.

TICKETS: 0141 353 8000

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CLASSIC GRAND

Nell Bryden and Support

Johnny Dickinson and Malcolm Holcombe

The New Folk Tradition with the Hobopop Collective, Ruth Notman & John Smith Johnny Dickinson

HOBOPOP COLLECTIVE

Nell Bryden

Friday 15th January, 7.30pm CLASSIC GRAND, £12.50, Standing

Saturday 16th January, 7.30pm CLASSIC GRAND, £12.50, Standing

Friday 22nd January, 7.30pm CLASSIC GRAND, £12.50, Standing

With a sound that ranges vibrantly across country, blues, jazz and soul, native New Yorker and hotly-tipped singersongwriter Nell Bryden spent seven weeks on Radio 2’s A-playlist in autumn 2009, with her debut UK single (and current album title track), What Does It Take?. Bryden’s powerful, gritty voice and strongly crafted songs are backed by classy instrumental work on electric, acoustic and 12-string guitars, dobro and cello.

Despite her tender years, rising English star Ruth Notman has released three highly praised albums, having begun performing live aged just 13. Besides her arrestingly individual voice, she plays piano, guitar, harp and melodeon, citing influences that range from John Renbourn to Marilyn Manson.

A former member of Paul Lamb and the Kingsnakes and The Hillbillies From Outer Space, Northumbrian guitarist and singer Johnny Dickinson has spanned the genres from Western Swing to heavy metal. Working solo since 2001, he now lends his exceptional picking and slide skills, aligned with seasoned, understated vocals, to a hybrid folk/blues sound that echoes the likes of Martin Simpson and Kelly Joe Phelps.

“In her circa 50s cocktail frock and killer heels Nell takes bluegrass, jazz and country mashes it up and belts it out. She can play, has a voice to die for, writes great songs and I am starting to think I hate her. Too much talent should not be allowed.” (Janice Long, BBC Radio 2)

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Only a little older, but likewise displaying a prodigious musical maturity, Devon singer-songwriter John Smith matches dazzlingly accomplished guitar work with resonant, gravelly singing and eloquently evocative lyrics.

Relative veterans Kirsty McGee & the Hobopop Collective are one of the UK’s best-loved roots acts, framing McGee’s superb folk-noir songcraft with an edgy mix of Americana, jazz and rockabilly styles.

Appalachian native Malcolm Holcombe brings a wealth of hardscrabble experience to his rustic, rugged folk/blues sound, tempered by grittily soulful lyricism. “Malcolm Holcombe’s music is essential and timeless and it makes the world a better place.” (Tim O’Brien)

classic grand Nikaido Kazumi and Shugo Tokumaru with The National Jazz Trio of Scotland

Raul Malo and Support

Brian Finnegan Quartet and John Mulhearn

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shugo tokumaru

Nikaido Kazumi

RAUL MALO

JOHN MULHEARN

Brian Finnegan

SATURDAY 23RD JANUARY, 7.30pm CLASSIC GRAND, £12.50, STANDING

Sunday 24th January, 7.30pm CLASSIC GRAND, £12.50, Standing

Thursday 28th January, 7.30pm CLASSIC GRAND, £12.50, Standing

Irish flute/whistle genius and former Flook mainstay Brian Finnegan unveils material from his forthcoming solo album, in a formidable frontline partnership with the superb Scottish fiddler Aidan O’Rourke, of Blazin’ Fiddles and Lau fame. This thrilling new line-up is completed by the dynamic rhythm team of guitarist Ian Stephenson and drummer Jim Goodwin.

After his Grammy-winning, platinum-selling success as frontman of The Mavericks (currently on an extended hiatus), Raul Malo has emerged as a hugely compelling solo artist, not only for his gloriously operatic, Orbisonesque voice, but increasingly as a gifted and genredefying songwriter. His 2009 album Lucky One comprises all-original material, recalling such diverse musical heroes as Elvis, Sinatra, Merle Haggard and Buck Owens, while drawing dynamically on Malo’s love of rock, pop, jazz and Latin sounds: “like taking a field trip through the history of American music with an excellent and knowledgeable tour guide” (PopMatters).

Masterminded by maverick Scottish guitarist and composer Bill Wells, this intriguing East/West encounter highlights his ongoing interest in contemporary Japanese music, and marks the first Celtic Connections appearance by Japanese artists. A noted jazz musician, Wells has also long been active on the Glasgow indie scene, via outfits including The Pastels, Arab Strap and The Gentle Waves.

Masterminded by piper/producer John Mulhearn, the Big Music Society is a new experimental collective creating dramatic reinterpretations of classical piobaireachd, or Ceol Mor. Combining pipes, electronics, vocals, cello, French horn, whistles, flutes, fiddle, guitars and drums, they’re joined tonight by Roddy MacLeod MBE and members of the Spirit of Scotland Pipe Band.

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Accompanied by the exciting trio line-up of Aby Vulliamy (vocals/viola), Lorna Gilfedder and Kate Sugden (both vocals/percussion), he collaborates here with Nikaido Kazumi, whose off-kilter folk and mercurial voice have variously been likened to Björk and Joanna Newsom, and the quirky indie-pop singer-songwriter Shugo Tokumaru.

TICKETS: 0141 353 8000

46

CLASSIC GRAND The Deadly Gentlemen and The Bevvy Sisters

Jill Jackson and The Bittersweets The Deadly Gentlemen

Jill Jackson

Friday 29th January, 7.30pm CLASSIC GRAND, £12.50, Standing

Saturday 30th January, 7.30pm CLASSIC GRAND, £12.50, Standing

Former frontwoman with Scottish rock four-piece Speedway, Jill Jackson turned solo in 2005, returning to her early love of country and folk sounds. Citing such musical role-models as Emmylou Harris, Shelby Lynne and Patty Griffin, she recorded her second album in Nashville during 2009, highlighting her stirringly melodic songcraft and vivid lyrics amidst rootsy band arrangements.

Audaciously forging the missing links between talking blues and rap, bluegrass and hip-hop, The Deadly Gentlemen are led on vocals and banjo by Crooked Still’s Greg Liszt. Completing the line-up are Josh Pinkham (mandolin), Michael Barnett (fiddle) and Sam Grisman (double bass), creating a bare-knuckle, groove-based sound showcased on their fetchingly-named first LP, The Bastard Masterpiece.

The Bittersweets live up to their name fusing yellows and blues, sunniness and melancholy, with evocative lyrics and lush arrangements, transcendent melodies and Hannah Prater’s alluring voice. On every track of their new album, Goodnight, San Francisco and their 2006 full-length debut, The Life You Always Wanted, the band weave a captivating tension between hope and poignancy that rings true.

Edinburgh vocal powerhouse The Bevvy Sisters, featuring the magical harmonies of Heather Macleod, Lindsey Black and Kaela Rowan, perform a sumptuous mix of Americana classics, vintage rarities and powerful original material. Backed by David Donnelly (guitar) and James Mackintosh (percussion), tonight sees them launching their hotly-anticipated debut album.

WWW.CELTICCONNECTIONS.COM

TALKS

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IAIN ANDERSON IN CONVERSATION IaIn Anderson

BBC Radio Scotland’s Iain Anderson hosts an eclectic mix of local figures for a lunchtime blether, weekdays in the Exhibition Hall.

Can’t make it along to one of the talks? Listen in live on Celtic Music Radio on 1530AM or online at: www.celticmusicradio.net Tickets £3.50

Friday 15th January, 12.30pm

Thursday 21st January, 12.30pm

Wednesday 27th January, 12.30pm

A panel of experts including Dr Jim Swire discuss the issues and outcomes following the release of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi from prison in 2009.

Event Promoters Neil Butler and Pete Irvine look at the legacy for festivals following the Year of Homecoming.

Monday 18th January, 12.30pm

The Gaelic Bard, Norman MacLean discusses his autobiography The Leper’s Bell with Mairi MacInnes.

Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow, Jack McConnell and Duncan Bannatyne discuss the work of the Mary’s Meals movement which sets up school feeding projects in communities where poverty and hunger prevent children from gaining an education.

Professor Grant Jarvie and Gary Innes discuss sport, health and the Nation.

Friday 22nd January, 12.30pm

Monday 25th January, 12.30pm

Michael Russell MSP, Henry McLeish and Ruth Wishart on how culture impacts on the political landscape.

Folk music has long been used as a tool for political comment, Kit Bailey discusses the Folk Against Fascism movement with Brian Taylor.

Wednesday 20th January, 12.30pm

Tuesday 26th January, 12.30pm

Tuesday 19th January, 12.30PM

Songs and Songwriting. Musicians Pat Kane and Ricky Ross discuss the current state of the Scottish music scene.

Head of the Scottish Literature Department at the University of Glasgow, Professor Alan Riach in conversation about Scottish Writing.

Thursday 28th January, 12.30pm Barbara Dickson has been captivating fans for the best part of sixty years. She joins us to talk about her autobiography A Shirt Box Full of Songs.

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ÒRAN MÓR

Blair Douglas and The Outside Track

John McSherry Quartet with Niamh Ni Charra

Laura Veirs & the Hall of Flames and Cataldo and The Old Believers Laura Veirs

John Mcsherry Quartet

Blair douglas

Friday 15th January, 7.30pm ÒRAN MÓR, £12.50, standing

Saturday 16th January, 7.30pm ÒRAN MÓR, £12.50, SEATED

Sunday 17th January, 7.30pm ÒRAN MÓR, £12.50, STANDING

Performing tonight with his own band – a highlight of the 2009 Hebridean Celtic Festival – Skye musician and composer Blair Douglas is slowly shedding his reputation as Gaelic music’s best kept secret. After he was voted Composer of the Year at the 2008 Scots Trad Music Awards, the following year also saw the premiere of his groundbreaking Gaelic mass, An Aifreann Ghàidhlig.

With his formidable technique and superb improvisational flair, uilleann piper and whistle player John McSherry has been hailed as “a true master” by Irish Music Magazine.

His multi-talented quartet is completed by the brilliant fiddler/pianist Dónal O’Connor (son of Gerry O’Connor and Eithne Ni Uallachain), Francis McIlduff (bodhran, uilleann pipes and low whistles) and Michael McCague on guitar and bouzouki.

Founder of a feminist punk combo while at college, before graduating in geology and Mandarin, Colorado native Laura Veirs has since established herself as “one of indie pop’s most literate and adventurous songwriters” (California Chronicle). Framing her vivid lyrical gifts and starkly incisive voice with unexpected melodies and rhythmic twists, she releases her hotly-anticipated seventh album, July Flame, in January 2010.

Killarney-born fiddler and concertina player Niamh Ni Charra – currently a member of Carlos Núñez’s band – was a Riverdance soloist for eight years before releasing her debut album On Da Thaobh/From Both Sides to ecstatic reviews in 2007. “A musician at home with music of any hue.” (Irish Times)

Currently making waves on the US indie-folk scene, young Alaskan-born duo The Old Believers locate their sound somewhere between Belle & Sebastian and Patsy Cline, while Cataldo’s prime mover Eric Anderson belies his likewise tender years with music steeped in old-world craftsmanship.

Comprising five rising stars from Scotland, Ireland, Cape Breton and Vancouver, on fiddle, flute, vocals, harp, accordion and guitar, The Outside Track – who launch their second album tonight – create “modern acoustic folk music of the very highest quality” (Maverick).

WWW.CELTICCONNECTIONS.COM

ÒRAN MÓR Sandi Thom and Alex Cornish

Holly Williams and Blueflint

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Cork Singers Night with Mick Flannery and John Spillane Mick Flannery

HOLLY WILLIAMS

SANDI THOM

Thursday 21st January, 7.30pm ÒRAN MÓR, £12.50, STANDING

Friday 22nd January, 7.30pm ÒRAN MÓR, £12.50, SEATED

Saturday 23rd January, 7.30pm ÒRAN MÓR, £12.50, SEATED

Having topped the charts in seven countries with her first single, the infamous internet hit I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker, and shifted a million copies of the ensuing LP, Macduff-born Sandi Thom is officially the 47th biggest selling female of the 21st century. Late in 2009, Sandi was invited to tour the UK and Europe by new blues powerhouse Joe Bonamassa and the result is Merchants And Thieves, a new album set for release in Spring 2010, that highlights Sandi’s ability to diversify and explore deeper and more organic musical roots.

“When it’s in the blood, you can’t help it,” says singersongwriter Holly Williams –and as the granddaughter of country godhead Hank Williams, daughter to his alsocelebrated offspring Hank Jr, she should know. Having paid her dues with five years of independent touring before signing her first record deal, and citing influences from Dolly Parton to Radiohead, she eloquently embraced her country heritage on 2009’s widely-acclaimed sophomore release, Here With Me.

While sharing their native county, Cork singer-songwriters John Spillane and Mick Flannery each draw on its rich ballad heritage in highly individual style. Spillane, says eminent US music critic Earle Hitchner, has authored “some of the most skilfully crafted, vividly realized songs anyone has written in Ireland over the past dozen years”. His playful, poetic lyrics and sean nós-accented voice combine onstage with singularly exhilarating showmanship.

Blueflint’s duelling banjos and exquisitely paired voices earned them a place in Scotland on Sunday’s 2008 Top Ten acts to watch, a prediction sparklingly vindicated by their recent debut album High Bright Morning.

Still only in his mid 20s, ex-stonemason Mick Flannery has already been compared to such veteran bards as Tom Waits and Bruce Springsteen, tempering hard-bitten grit with delicate lyricism. “A singing and songwriting force to be reckoned with.” (Irish Times)

Edinburgh singer-songwriter Alex Cornish’s DIY debut, When the Traffic Stops, gained widespread airplay and glowing reviews for his dark-hued, hauntingly melodic pop, summed up by veteran balladeer Tom Robinson as “absolute quality”.

SPONSORED BY

TICKETS: 0141 353 8000

50

ÒRAN MÓR

Bearfoot and Damien O’Kane

Joe Pernice and Support

Martin Simpson and Sam Carter and Mairi Campbell MArtin Simpson

Joe Pernice

Bearfoot

Sunday 24th January, 7.30pm ÒRAN MÓR, £12.50, STANDING

Wednesday 27th January, 7.30pm ÒRAN MÓR, £12.50, SEAted

FRIDAY 29th January, 7.30pm ÒRAN MÓR, £12.50, SEAted

Their Alaskan home may lie far from the bluegrass heartlands, but having won the illustrious Telluride Festival band contest after just two years together, Anchorage-based five-piece Bearfoot certainly cover the distance. “Old time, roots, Americana, folk, bluegrass – whatever... it’s just plain old pleasure.” (Boston Globe)

Best known for his string of excellent albums with sibling Bob as The Pernice Brothers, Joe Pernice is “a master of smart, beautifully crafted pop songs with intelligent, introspective lyrics and a darkly witty undertow” (All Music Guide). Following 2009’s covers-based “soundtrack” album, released to accompany his widelypraised debut novel It Feels So Good When I Stop, a new collection of Pernice originals is planned for early 2010.

The magical intensity, economy, intelligence and fluency of Martin Simpson’s music – as a guitarist, singer and composer – distils a panoply of UK and US influences from his 35-year career. A frequent winner at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, he’s accompanied here by accordionist Andy Cutting and bassist Andy Seward.

Already widely known through his sparkling duo with accordionist Shona Kipling, and as a latter-day member of Flook, Irish banjo player and singer Damien O’Kane now leads his own trio line-up. “Exceptional articulation and musicality... fast and fluid playing with tremendous assurance. The banjo jokes end here.” (Chris Newman)

WWW.CELTICCONNECTIONS.COM

“Pernice, of course, is best known for the gorgeous alt-country and pop he’s recorded with the Scud Mountain Boys, Chappaquiddick Skyline, Big Tobacco, and the Pernice Brothers – swooningly melodic and melancholic, wrapped in crystalline guitar hooks and sung in Pernice’s inimitable, pellucid voice.” (Boston Phoenix)

Guitar prodigy Sam Carter, a former student of Simpson’s, is also a gifted singer-songwriter, whose 2009 debut album Keepsakes saw him widely tipped for future stardom. Edinburgh singer and fiddler Mairi Campbell, whose version of Auld Lang Syne was heard by millions via the Sex and the City movie, will preview tracks from her forthcoming solo release.

ÒRAN MÓR

PEARCE INSTITUTE

Saltfishforty and One Fine Day

The Wallochmore Ceilidh Band

Saturday 30th January, 7.30pm ÒRAN MÓR, £12.50, SEATED

Sunday 31st January, 7.30pm ÒRAN MÓR, £12.50, STANDING

Saturday 23rd January, 8pm The MacLeod Hall, The Pearce Institute, £8

The brainchild of ex-Shooglenifty bassist Conrad Ivitsky, Stringjammer’s exuberant mesh of funky folk tunes and original songs – “the place where beats and bleeps meet with scraping bows and bashed-up guitars,” according to its creator – also features singer/guitarist Diana de Cabarrus, fiddler Jenny Gardner, percussionist Mike Molleson and accordionist Pete Garnett.

Comprising a quarter of Orkney supergroup The Chair, the awesomely dynamic duo of Douglas Montgomery (fiddle/viola) and Brian Cromarty (guitar/mandola/vocals) perform material from their forthcoming third album.

Firm festival favourites across Scotland and beyond, they frequently sound like twice their number, mixing homegrown tunes with rootsy original songs, rich melodic colour with rock’n’roll attack.

Get your dancing shoes on!

Stringjammer and Jeana Leslie & Siobhan Miller

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SALTFISHFORTY

STRUNGJAMMER

The Scottish vocal/fiddle duo of Jeana Leslie & Siobhan Miller display an uncanny and exquisite musical chemistry, in spine-tingling arrangements of traditional and contemporary material. Their 2008 debut album In A Bleeze received glowing reviews and widespread airplay, cementing their reputation as one of the UK’s brightest young folk acts.

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One Fine Day is a new international project that teams young Morayshire flautist Calum Stewart with musicians from Denmark, Sweden and Brittany. Artfully blending these native traditions with diverse instrumentation and contemporary influences, they’ve already won praise for their “wealth of imaginative ideas and fine musicianship” (HI-Arts Journal).

Limber up for the all new Celtic Connections ceilidhs in ‘the place’ to hold a dance in the Southside - the PI. The Wallochmore Ceilidh Band bring the tunes (and call the dances), all you need to bring is bags of enthusiasm and willingness to join in.

TICKETS: 0141 353 8000

52

ST ANDREW’S IN THE SQUARE

Bel Canto and Skalder

Skye Night with Arthur Cormack and Friends

The Poozies and Jim Malcolm

Maggie MacInnes and James Graham Trio maggie macinnes

the poozies

blair douglas

eilidh mackenzie

Friday 15th January, 7.30pm ST ANDREWS IN THe SQUARE, £12.50 SEATED

Saturday 16th January, 7.30pm ST ANDREWS IN THe SQUARE, £12.50 SEATED

Sunday 17th January, 8pm ST ANDREWS IN THe SQUARE, £12.50 SEATED

Thursday 21st January, 7.30pm ST ANDREWS IN THe SQUARE, £12.50 SEATED

Inspired by US author Ann Patchett’s eponymous novel, Gaelic singer Eilidh Mackenzie’s song cycle Bel Canto explores themes of love, music, identity and communication, with a nine-piece ensemble including Michael Marra, James Graham, Brian McAlpine and Gordon Gunn.

A traditional Gaelic ceilidh featuring songs and tunes from Eilean a’ Cheò, representing several generations of the island’s musical talent. Alongside three Mòd Gold Medallists from the past five decades – Kenna Campbell, Arthur Cormack and Darren MacLean – the line-up includes Skye musical icon Blair Douglas, Composer of the Year at the 2008 Scots Trad Music Awards.

Following their terrific new album Yellow Like Sunshine, the ever-popular Poozies launch their 20th anniversary year with arguably their strongest line-up yet: cofounders Patsy Seddon, Mary Macmaster and Sally Barker, plus Eilidh Shaw and Mairearad Green.

A double bill of acclaimed Gaelic singers, with Maggie MacInnes also playing clarsach including material from her fifth solo album A Fagail Mhiughalaigh (Leaving Mingulay) joined by Brian McAlpine (keyboards/accordion) and Anna Massie (guitar). Former Young Traditional Musician of the Year James Graham’s hauntingly soulful singing is accompanied by pianist James Ross and cellist Neil Johnstone.

Originally from Orkney, the lively young instrumental quartet Skalder won a Danny Kyle Open Stage Award in 2009.

WWW.CELTICCONNECTIONS.COM

Perthshire’s Jim Malcolm is a captivating singer and songwriter, imbuing his wealth of traditional craft with subtle jazz and Americana touches.

ST ANDREW’S IN THE SQUARE St Kilda Tapes and Alasdair Roberts

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Martin Hayes & Dennis Cahill with Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas

The Family Connection: The Campbells and The Byrnes MARTIN HAYES & DENNIS CAHILL

the byrne family

St kilda

Friday 22nd January, 7.30pm ST ANDREWS IN THe SQUARE, £12.50 SEATED

Saturday 23rd January, 7.30pm ST ANDREWS IN THe SQUARE, £12.50 SEATED

Monday 25th January, 7.30pm ST ANDREWS IN THe SQUARE, £12.50 SEATED

Combining archive film, newly created video and live music performed on guitar, zither, ukulele and sampler, David Allison’s The St Kilda Tapes is a moving multimedia meditation on themes of home, displacement, travel and belonging.

A double family reunion featuring a rare joint appearance

by Na Caimbeulaich, the celebrated Campbells of Greepe, on Skye, with revered Gaelic singer Kenna Campbell, her daughters Mary and Wilma Kennedy, brother Seumas and niece Maggie MacDonald.

Sometimes likened to a Scottish Will Oldham, Alasdair Roberts forges his own distinctive alloy of ancient and modern balladry, alternately brooding and tender, mythic and deeply personal.

The repertoire of six-piece family band The Byrnes includes Scottish, French and Gaelic songs, with vibrant instrumental accompaniment.

A rare chance to experience these two world-class duos in an intimately small-scale setting, with Irish fiddler Martin Hayes and Chicago guitarist Dennis Cahill displaying their extraordinary depth of musicianship and mutual attunement, while Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas triumphantly reinvent the traditional Scottish partnership between fiddle and cello.

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TICKETS: 0141 353 8000

54

ST ANDREW’S IN THE SQUARE

Tim & Mollie O’Brien

Catriona Macdonald Quartet and Bellevue Rendezvous

with

Mairead Ní Mhaonaigh & Manus Lunny

Benbecula Night and Synnøve S. Bjørset

Duncan Chisholm and Skáidi duncan chisHolm

uist

CATRIONA MACDONALD

Tim O’Brien

Wednesday 27th January, 7.30pm ST ANDREWS IN THe SQUARE, £12.50 SEATED

Thursday 28th January, 7.30pm ST ANDREWS IN THe SQUARE, £12.50 SEATED

Friday 29th January, 7.30pm ST ANDREWS IN THe SQUARE, £12.50 SEATED

Saturday 30th January, 7.30pm ST ANDREWS IN THe SQUARE, £12.50 SEATED

Brother and sister Tim and Mollie O’Brien have won widespread acclaim as a vocal/ instrumental duo, in addition to their many other projects, drawing widely from their combined Americana and Celtic heritage.

Shetlander Catriona Macdonald’s hectic schedule with Blazin’ Fiddles meant a long wait for the follow-up to her superb solo debut Bold, but fans’ patience was abundantly repaid by 2008’s Over the Moon, another radiantly accomplished collection of tunes old and new, featuring regular sidemen David Milligan (piano), Conrad Ivitsky (bass) and James Mackintosh (percussion).

Lews Castle College celebrates its 10th anniversary with a stellar line-up of current and former staff and students, including Iain MacDonald, Anna Wendy Stevenson, Kathleen MacInnes and Mhairi Hall.

Celebrated Highland fiddler Duncan Chisholm revisits material from his three superb solo albums, while also previewing tracks from his forthcoming release Canaich, accompanied by Phil Cunningham, Allan Henderson and Tony Byrne.

Opening the evening are Altan’s Mairead Ní Mhaonaigh and Capercaillie’s Manus Lunny, who have joined forces on forthcoming release Imeall.

Playing material from the length and breadth of Europe, on fiddle, nyckelharpa and bouzouki, Edinburgh trio Bellevue Rendezvous launch their second album Salamander.

WWW.CELTICCONNECTIONS.COM

Synnøve S. Bjørset is a leading young exponent of Norway’s national instrument, the Hardanger fiddle, combining a deep traditional grounding with a highly individual style.

Norwegian duo Skáidi combine Sámi yoik singing – one of Europe’s oldest musical traditions – with jazzy double bass in stunningly atmospheric new soundscapes.

PACIFIC QUAY

BBC Scotland at the festival BBC Radio Scotland 92-95FM & 810MW Live Radio Broadcasts

Take the Floor Saturday 30th January, 7pm Pearce Institute, The MacLeod Hall, Free but ticketed

55

The festival is pleased to collaborate once again with BBC radio, with five live shows coming from BBC Scotland’s headquarters at Pacific Quay.

The longest running radio show in Scotland visits the festival once again with presenter Robbie Shepherd. Playing for the dancing will be Tom Orr and his Scottish Dance Band. This programme will be broadcast live on BBC Radio Scotland.

BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year Sunday 31st January, 5pm, City Halls, £12.50

Live coverage of the competition featuring six talented finalists, see page 37.

BBC Scotland TV BBC Scotland will visit the Old Fruitmarket on Monday 18th January to record a special showcase programme featuring festival highlights for transmission on BBC Two Scotland, see page 19.

BBC Radio Scotland 92-95FM & 810MW Live Radio Broadcasts

BBC Radio Scotland 92-95FM & 810MW Live Radio Broadcasts

BBC Radio 2 88-91FM Live Radio Broadcast

Mary Ann Kennedy’s Global Gathering Tuesday 19th and Tuesday 26th January, 8pm BBC Scotland, Pacific Quay, Free but ticketed

Archie Fisher’s Travelling Folk Thursday 21st and Thursday 28th January, 8pm BBC Scotland, Pacific Quay, Free but ticketed

Claudia Winkleman Friday 22nd January, 10pm BBC Scotland, Pacific Quay, Free but ticketed

A handpicked selection of festival artists - from both home and abroad - play live in BBC Scotland’s headquarters on the Clyde.

Live on BBC Radio Scotland.

Archie Fisher presents a special live show featuring some of the best music from this year’s festival. Colum Sands will take the reins the following week and both programmes go out live on BBC Radio Scotland.

Year of Song We are a nation which loves to sing and 2010 is BBC Scotland’s Year of Song. From Gaelic to Scots, traditional to contemporary, jazz to rock, opera to pop, song will be a theme throughout the year and BBC Scotland will promote and feature songs and songwriters, wherever possible, across Radio Scotland, Radio Nan Gaidheal, television and online.

Year of Song visits Celtic Connections for the Scots Songbook concert in the Main Auditorium on page 10 and Jewels of the Ocean at the Old Fruitmarket on page 19. Both of these events will be recorded by BBC Scotland for future transmission.

Look out for Year of Song events, programmes and concerts running throughout 2010. You can hear all of the above and more from the festival by logging on to BBC Scotland’s music site bbc.co.uk/scotlandsmusic

Claudia Winkleman visits the festival for a live show featuring special guests and performance.

BBC Radio 2 will also broadcast the highlights of this year’s festival in an hour long special presented by Ricky Ross on Saturday 30th January at 10pm.

TICKETS: 0141 353 8000

56

THE TRON THEATRE

Allan Taylor and Rab Noakes

Eric Andersen and Craig Jeffrey

West Highland Safari

Tom Russell and Malcolm Holcombe Tom Russell

Eric Andersen

Tony Cox

Allan Taylor

Friday 15th January, 8pm THE Tron theatre, £12.50, SEATED

Saturday 16th January, 8pm THE Tron theatre, £12.50, SEATED

Sunday 17th January, 8pm THE Tron theatre, £12.50, SEATED

Wednesday 20th January, 8pm THE Tron theatre, £12.50, SEATED

An Anglo/Scottish double bill of veteran singer-songwriters, whose combined careers total more than the average lifetime. Having released his 20th album, Leaving at Dawn, in 2009, Allan Taylor enters his 65th year secure in his standing as one of the UK folk scene’s most popular performers.

An intriguing new collaboration between the legendary Lochaber fiddler Aonghas Grant and award-winning South African guitarist Tony Cox, this words-and-music show takes you on a musical journey through both musicians’ home cultures and landscapes. Drawing material from Grant’s 2007 album The Hills of Glengarry and Cox’s latest release Audient, the session-style performance also features cellist Christine Hanson, Ewen Henderson on fiddle, pipes and whistle, accordionist Paul Connelly and two of Grant’s current or former pupils, Euan Wilkie and Elaine Reid.

Introduced to Greenwich Village by Tom Paxton, singer-songwriter Eric Andersen met the Beat poets, appeared in a Warhol movie, joined Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue and crossed Canada on the Festival Express. His 25 albums to date have won continued acclaim for their “singular mix of irony and high romanticism”, delivered by “the most elegant of singers”. (Rolling Stone)

After more than four decades of determinedly ploughing his own musical furrow, Tom Russell ranks among America’s most potent, distinctive and least predictable singer-songwriters.

On his 2009 release Blood and Candle Smoke, “the enigmatic Russell raises his songwriting to new and different heights of greatness... Very possibly Album of the Decade!” (Maverick).

Describing his sound as “laid back acoustic folk’n’soul”, the gifted young Borders singer-songwriter Craig Jeffrey won a Danny Kyle Open Stage award in 2009.

Appalachian native Malcolm Holcombe brings a wealth of hardscrabble experience to his rustic, rugged folk/blues sound, tempered by grittily soulful lyricism.

Rab Noakes has also carved out his own contemporary troubadour niche, combining original material, Americana borrowings and pop rarities with a performance style likened by The Herald to “a roots festival in itself”.

WWW.CELTICCONNECTIONS.COM

THE TRON THEATRE Boo Hewerdine and Kim Richey

Long Gone Lonesome

In association with the National Theatre of Scotland Written by Duncan McLean Directed by Vicky Featherstone

57

Seudan and Liam O’Connor & Seán McKeon Seudan

Boo Hewerdine

Long Gone Lonesome

Thursday 21st & Friday 22nd January, 8pm THE Tron theatre, £12.50, SEATED

Saturday 23rd January, 8pm THE Tron theatre, £12.50, SEATED

Sunday 24th January, 8pm THE Tron theatre, £12.50, SEATED

An evening of song and story-telling in the hands of Orcadian western swingers The Lone Star Swing Band to set your toes tapping, your heart racing and your emotions running high. Thomas Fraser (1927–1978) was a fisherman and crofter from the remote island of Burra, Shetland – and one of Scotland’s least known but most fascinating musical heroes. Obsessed with country and the blues, Thomas mastered the styles of his idols – Jimmie Rodgers, Hank Williams and Big Bill Broonzy – and made their songs his own.

Novelist Nick Hornby has said of Boo Hewerdine’s songs, “If I could write books that sounded like this, I’d be... maybe not happy, but very, very fulfilled”. The uniquely versatile Hewerdine has written for everyone from Eddi Reader to Natalie Imbruglia, meanwhile winning an extensive fan-base performing his own material.

Featuring pipers Allan MacDonald, Angus MacKenzie, Fin Moore, Calum MacCrimmon and Angus Nicolson, Seudan play five duplicate bagpipes modelled on a set from 1785.

Accompanied by Will Lamb on bouzouki, they vibrantly recapture pre-military piping’s dynamic links with dance and Gaelic song.

Country/folk singer-songwriter Kim Richey is also a successful hitmaker, notably for Trisha Yearwood and Radney Foster, but her latest album Chinese Boxes brought fresh acclaim for her alluring alto voice and soul-searching lyrics.

Born into two of Dublin’s best-known musical families, fiddler Liam O’Connor and uilleann piper Seán McKeon steeped themselves in the music of older Irish masters before releasing their dazzling debut album, Dublin Made Me, in 2009.

A shy, retiring man, he avoided public performance and laughed at the idea that the wider world might appreciate his talent. But thirty years after his untimely death, those precious, fragile tapes have been reissued on several CDs, and his fame has spread to Nashville.

SPONSORED BY

TICKETS: 0141 353 8000

58

THE TRON THEATRE

The Frost is All Over and Fidil

Andy M. Stewart and Shona Donaldson

MacGregor, Brechin & Ó hEadhra and Unni Boksasp Ensemble Andy M. Stewart

MacGregor, Brechin & Ó hEadhra

The Frost is all over

Thursday 28th January, 8pm THE Tron theatre, £12.50, SEATED

Friday 29th January, 8pm THE Tron theatre, £12.50, SEATED

Saturday 30th January, 8pm THE Tron theatre, £12.50, SEATED

Centred on solo performances by two of Ireland’s finest traditional musicians, accordionist Tony McMahon and uilleann piper David Power, teamed with actor Eamonn Hunt, The Frost Is All Over features specially commissioned poetry from acclaimed author Dermot Bolger, complemented by still and moving archive imagery, vividly evoking the history and culture from which the music emerged.

A newish partnership between three seasoned Scottish and Irish musicians, fiddler Bruce MacGregor, accordionist Sandy Brechin and singer-songwriter/ guitarist Brian Ó hEadhra combine scintillating instrumentals and soulful ballads in a sound even bigger than the sum of its parts.

With his resonant, richly textured voice, skilfully self-accompanied on guitar and banjo, ex-Silly Wizard vocalist Andy M. Stewart is renowned as an outstanding interpreter of traditional Scottish and Irish material, a superbly gifted songwriter in the Celtic ballad idiom, and one of the folk scene’s finest all-round entertainers.

Norwegian singer Unni Boksasp’s broad musical horizons span both the northern and southern traditions of her homeland, reflected in her artfully fresh arrangements of folk songs alongside original compositions, performed with her four-piece band.

Huntly-born singer and fiddler Shona Donaldson is one of Scotland’s foremost young traditional talents, originally inspired by greats like Jock Duncan and Geordie Murison.

She’s accompanied here by Borders guitar ace Innes Watson.

The all-fiddle Donegal trio Fidil – Ciarán Ó Maonaigh, Aidan O’Donnell and Damien McGeehan – have been hailed as an exhilarating new force on the Irish folk scene.

WWW.CELTICCONNECTIONS.COM

CCA Ceol’s Craic with Grinn and Norrie MacIver

GRIOGAIR LABHRUIDH

THURSDAY 21ST JANUARY, 8.30pm CCA, £12.50, SEATED

FRIDAY 22ND JANUARY, 8.30pm CCA, £12.50, SEATED

SATURDAY 23RD JANUARY, 8.30pm CCA, £12.50, SEATED

Tonight’s opening line-up includes mother and daughter duo Grinn, comprising Fiona J. Mackenzie and Katie Mackenzie, with pianist Kennedy Aitchison, performing songs from their respective recent album projects A Good Suit of Clothes and The Lassies’ Reply.

Singer and harpist Rachel Walker was among the inaugural graduates from the RSAMD’s Scottish Music degree, after studying with the revered Kenna Campbell.

A co-founder of Dochas, she is currently at work on her third solo album.

With a particular interest in preserving Gaelic’s older, more localised vernacular traditions, the singer-songwriter and piper Griogair Labhruidh is one of the tradition’s most dynamic young exponents.

Young Lewis singer Norrie MacIver, best known for his work with Bodega and Na Seoid, is accompanied here by Megan Henderson (fiddle) and James Mackenzie (bagpipes/flute).

SPONSORED BY

Ceol’s Craic with Rachel Walker & Ceol’s Craic with Griogair Labhruidh Friends, Fiona Dunn & Hamish Napier and the Catriona Watt Band and Nuala Kennedy RACHEL WALKER

Fiona J. Mackenzie

Now in its seventh year, and running monthly throughout the calendar, Ceol’s Craic is a popular live-based club night promoting Gaelic arts and culture, which welcomes speakers, learners and non-speakers of the language alike. Voted Club of the Year at the 2007 Scots Trad Music Awards, it’s once again teamed up with Celtic Connections to present an exciting three-night programme of established and emerging artists from the Gaelic scene and beyond.

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As well as being a noted Gaelic singer, Fiona Dunn is also familiar from the preschool TV series Fiona is na Fuinn, and now works as Glasgow University’s first Gaelic Language Officer. Nuala Kennedy also joins the bill with her band.

Led by 2007’s Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year, the Catriona Watt Band features her acclaimed Gaelic singing accompanied by Fiona MacAskill (fiddle), Gillian Chalmers (whistle/pipes) and Lauren Tait (piano).

TICKETS: 0141 353 8000

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THE UNIVERSAL

The Songs of Scotland at the Universal Folk Club The Songs of Scotland series has become an important part of the Celtic Connections programme, helping to maintain the festival’s link with Scotland’s love of song and is enjoyed equally by its audience and performers.

We will feature ten themes, which provide a common thread throughout each night. Songs from the Gaelic and Scots traditions, as well as more contemporary songs which have entered into the tradition over recent years, will take audiences on an entertaining journey into Scotland’s song tradition.

The Universal Folk Club, Sauchiehall Lane, £10, Seated

Scots Abroad

Songs of Courtship and Jilted Lovers

Hosted by Doris Rougvie Featuring: David Ferrard, Kirsteen MacDonald and Stephen Quigg

Hosted by Doris Rougvie Featuring: Elspeth Cowie, Norman Stewart and Darren MacLean

Songs of Food and Drink

Sunday 17th January, 8pm

Songs of Seafaring and Fishing

Monday 18th January, 8pm Hosted by Doris Rougvie Featuring: Irene Watt, Calum Alex MacMillan and Norrie MacIver

WWW.CELTICCONNECTIONS.COM

Tuesday 19th January, 8pm

Wednesday 20th January, 8pm Hosted by Doris Rougvie Featuring: Geordie Murison and Nancy Nicolson

Songs of Birth, Marriage and Death Thursday 21st January, 8pm

Hosted by Doris Rougvie Featuring: Kathy Hobkirk, Barbara Dymock and Naomi Harvey

Songs of Travel and Journeying

Sunday 24th January, 8pm Hosted by Ishbel MacAskill Featuring: Sheila Stewart MBE, Mairi MacInnes, Brian McNeill and Wilma Kennedy

Eskimos and Peace Songs Monday 25th January, 8pm

Hosted by Ishbel MacAskill Featuring: Alistair Hulett, Ewan McVicar, Gordeanna McCulloch and Ian Davison

Humorous Songs

Tuesday 26th January, 8pm Hosted by Ishbel MacAskill Featuring: Joe Aitken, Duncan McNab and Sineag MacIntyre

Bothy and Border Songs Wednesday 27th January, 8pm

Hosted by Ishbel MacAskill Featuring: Jock Duncan and Henry Douglas

Is That Traditional?

Thursday 28th January, 8pm Hosted by Ishbel MacAskill Featuring: John Watt, Lionel McClelland and Eilidh Mackenzie

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Gordon Duncan Memorial Solo Piping Competition run in association with Piping Live!

GORDON DUNCAN

Sunday 17th January, 1pm The National Piping Centre, £8, Seated (unreserved) Perthshire piper Gordon Duncan was widely regarded as one of the most skilled and innovative traditional music performers and composers of modern times. While steeped in the art of traditional Highland piping, his approach to his music was always imaginative, fresh and at times radical, to the extent that his influence can be heard in an entire generation of younger musicians across Scotland and well beyond. Gordon died in December 2005, aged 41. This competition, set up in his honour, features piping talent from the Scottish, Irish and Breton traditions.

Representing Scotland are pipers Willie McCallum, Stuart Liddell and Glenn Brown with judges Ian Duncan and Ronnie McShannon.

The Breton contingent comprises pipers Sylvain Hamon, Xavier Boderiou and Alexis Meunier and judges Herve Le Floch and Erwan Ropars.

Irish pipers include Alen Tully, Jonathan Greenlees and Andrew Carlisle with judges Lenny Browne and David Caldwell.

MC for the afternoon is John Wilson and the prizes will be presented

by Jock Duncan, Gordon’s father.

The Gordon Duncan Trophy has been donated by McCallum Bagpipes, Kilmarnock.

THE FESTIVAL CLUB

Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays throughout the festival, 10.30pm – late The Art School, £8 Our late night club ensures that there is even more music to enjoy after all the gigs are over. With inspired line-ups that are never divulged before the night – the Festival Club draws musicians and fans alike for a late-night jam session to end all jam sessions.

Sparkling host Kevin Macleod will guide you through proceedings – and you never know who you’ll bump into as you join the throngs in the bar.

LATE NIGHT SESSIONS

Every night during the festival, 10pm – late Exhibition Hall, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall Free – £5 For a more intimate evening during the festival, enjoy our Late Night Sessions taking place in the Exhibition Hall at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. Featuring just as many great musicians as the main Festival Club, the bar will be open late and you can be assured of many a memorable moment.

On 22nd and 29th January two special editions of BBC Radio 3’s World on 3 will come live from the Late Night Sessions presented by Mary Ann Kennedy and will feature special live performances from top artists appearing at Celtic Connections 2010. Listen live on BBC Radio 3 and for up to seven days after broadcast at bbc.co.uk/radio3

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WORKSHOPS Our workshop programme is designed to inspire people of all ability levels to get involved in traditional music and song. Please book early to avoid disappointment as numbers are limited!

The rough guide to ability levels:

come&try If you have always wanted to have a go but have never had the opportunity! Instruments are provided.

Beginners Those who have just started learning an instrument.

SATURDAY 16th JANUARY Kids’ Percussion Workshop for Wee Ones

Big Groove will lead a percussion workshop for children aged 4-6 years: a groovy introduction for wee ones to explore and enjoy their natural sense of rhythm. Children must be accompanied by an adult.

11-11.45am / £4 / Exhibition Hall

Kids’ Percussion Workshop

Specially designed for children aged 7-10 years, Big Groove will guide children through simple and fun rhythms with samba instruments. Children must be accompanied by an adult and numbers are strictly limited.

12.00-12.45pm / £4 / Exhibition Hall

Percussion Workshop

Big Groove will continue their day of percussion with a workshop aimed at adults and older children to explore the fascinating rhythms of samba. Have you got your own inner drummer? Let it loose in this fun packed workshop!

1.30-3pm / £7 / Exhibition Hall

Open Your Voice One

Come and join Harriet Buchan in this stimulating workshop to discover the voice within you. Explore your range and qualities of your own voice through relaxation techniques. No singing training required - you will find your voice and more! 11am-12.30pm / £7 / Buchanan Suite

Open Your Voice Two

Do one or both sessions with Harriet Buchan –there are so many ways to release the joy of your own frequencies, your natural harmonics. Enhance the experience using quartz crystal and Tibetan singing bowls, Ojibwe and Navaho drums, rattles, rainmakers and more. Find your voice and your song and sing it!

1.30-3pm / £7 / Buchanan Suite

come&try Ukulele Improvers If you have been playing your instrument for about a year and are ready for the next level.

The ukulele is Hawaiian for Jumping Flea and if you were lucky enough to get one in your Christmas stocking and you have no idea what to do with it, this is the workshop for you! Even if you don’t have your own, come and try this marvellous and versatile little instrument. Lots of ukes will be provided and Finlay Allison will lead you through some basic chords and rhythms.

11am-12.30pm / £7 / Clyde Foyer

come&try Gaelic Song

2009 Mod Gold medal winner and Young Trad Tour finalist Darren Maclean is a naturally gifted young singer from Skye. He will share his songs and enthusiasm for Gaelic singing with students in this come&try session.

Absolutely no knowledge of Gaelic is necessary.

1.30-3pm / £7 / Clyde Foyer

come&try Bodhran

If you have always wanted to play this iconic instrument, Andy May will show you how. He is a well known performer and tutor of the bodhran and he will teach participants how to achieve some really good basic rhythms so that you will always be welcome at a session. Drums and beaters are provided so all you need is a sense of rhythm. 11am-12.30pm / £7 / Lomond Foyer

Beginner Bodhran

So you’ve made the decision that the bodhran is for you, this workshop will teach you more about the subtleties of this great accompanying instrument.

Andy May will help students to build confidence and reach a higher level of skill and repertoire.

1.30-3pm / £7 / Lomond Foyer

SUNDAY 17th JANUARY Kids’ Percussion Workshop for Wee Ones

Another chance for wee ones to take central stage in this workshop led by the ever popular Big Groove. This workshop, for children aged 4-6 years, is a marvellous introduction to explore and enjoy their natural sense of rhythm.

All children must be accompanied by an adult and all drums are provided.

11-11.45am / £4 / Exhibition Hall

Kids’ Percussion Workshop

This workshop is specially for children aged 7-10 years. Big Groove will guide them through simple and fun rhythms with samba instruments. Children must be accompanied by an adult and numbers are strictly limited.

12.00-12.45pm / £4 / Exhibition Hall

Women’s Samba Workshop

Perfect for a Sunday afternoon! Get ready for the week ahead with a wonderful, tension releasing, therapeutic class of samba drumming. Big Groove designed this workshop specifically for women to liberate their inner percussionist. Samba rhythms are energising, invigorating and empowering. Lots of fun guaranteed!

1.30-3pm / £7 / Exhibition Hall

come&try Whistle

Lorne MacDougall is a fine piper and whistle player from Carradale and one of the finalists in the 2009 BBC Young Traditional Musician of the Year competition. He will demonstrate and teach easy whistle tunes for absolute beginners in this fun workshop. Whistles in the key of D provided.

11am-12.30pm / £7 / Buchanan Suite

Beginner Whistle

The whistle is definitely the most portable of all the traditional instruments and Lorne MacDougall will take his students through the basic fundamentals of the instrument concentrating on simple melodic Scottish tunes to develop skills to the next level of playing. 1.30-3pm / £7 / Buchanan Suite

WORKSHOPS

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Learn the Small Pipes in a Day

This workshop covers use of bellows, blowing and fingering techniques and tuning of drones. Dave Shaw will teach you a relatively simple tune over the course of the day, generally a jig or Northumbrian reel. Numbers are strictly limited and pipes are provided. Over 14 years and complete beginners only please. 11-4pm / £35 / Lomond Foyer

come&try Fiddle

come&try Djembe

Beginner Fiddle

come&try Traditional Scots Song

Come and try the fiddle! It’s not as hard as you may think! Tutors from Glasgow Fiddle Workshop will take you through the basics of this fine instrument and you may surprise yourself and manage a wee tune by the time you’ve finished. Fiddles are supplied.

11am-12.30pm / £7 / Clyde Foyer If you have just started learning the fiddle and you want to try and extend your skills on the instrument, Glasgow Fiddle Workshop tutors will give you that extra help you’ve been looking for. Build your confidence and learn some more tunes and change your life!

1.30-3pm / £7 / Clyde Foyer

come&try Mandolin

The Lanarkshire Guitar and Mandolin Association makes a welcome return with an invitation to come and try this versatile instrument. Tutors have loads of instruments and boundless energy and enthusiasm – it’s absolutely infectious! Come and have a go!

11am-12.30pm / £7 / Lomond Foyer

Beginner Mandolin

Tutors from the Lanarkshire Guitar and Mandolin Association will introduce basic techniques of the mandolin, including playing melodies and chords.

The general introduction to music includes looking at a variety of styles, the basics of reading music and music theory. This is a good introduction to the mandolin for players of other fretted instruments.

1.30-3pm / £7 / Lomond Foyer

SATURDAY 23RD JANUARY come&try Bodhran & Spoons

Ready Eddie Scott and Stormin’ Norman Chalmers make a welcome return to Celtic Connections with their distinctively clattering cacophony of a workshop.

Some spoons will be provided but if you have a favourite set, bring them along. Raid the cutlery drawer because silver ones make the best noise!

Glasgow Fiddle Workshop will provide the tunes.

11am-12.30pm / £7 / Exhibition Hall

In this workshop you will get the chance to learn something about this increasingly popular percussion instrument originally from West Africa. Allan Hughes will show you how to get the most out of your drum, learning specific rhythms and developing hand co-ordination. Some drums are provided.

1.30-3pm / £7 / Exhibition Hall Here’s a workshop for people who want to sing but lack the confidence. Come and learn some great songs with Maureen Jelks. Originally from Dundee, Maureen is one of Scotland’s foremost singers in the tradition. This is a great workshop for those who love to sing but have little or no technical training. Develop the confidence to sing with your own voice and there will be no stopping you. 11am-12.30pm / £7 / Buchanan Suite

Singin’ on yer Mammy’s Knee

This workshop is for adults caring for young children, ie: parents, childminders, play-leaders and grannies too! Lots of dandling songs, action songs and singing games for under 5s. Grown ups must attend and be prepared for lots of bouncing children on their knees. Chrissie StewartSkinner will teach lots of old favourites and new songs too. I’m afraid we cannot provide children for bouncing – you must bring your own!

1.30-3pm / £7 / Buchanan Suite

Beginner Accordion

If you have your own accordion and have recently started to learn the instrument, why not develop your techniques and skills in this workshop led

by John Carmichael. You can’t beat the accordion for getting toes tapping so come and learn some new tunes! 11am-12.30pm / £7 / Clyde Foyer

Mandolin for Improvers

This workshop with the Lanarkshire Guitar and Mandolin Association will extend your skills on the mandolin. Further plectrum techniques are introduced and the possibilities of musical interpretation are explored. Pieces are taken from a wide variety of styles including folk, classical and popular music. 1.30-3pm / £7 / Clyde Foyer

SUNDAY 24th JANUARY come&try Burns Songs

Join Ali Burns on an excursion back to 18th Century Scotland for a sing through some of Robert Burns’ well loved songs arranged in easy harmony.

The workshop will be interspersed with background stories and historic narrative. Songs will be taught by ear but music will also be available.

11am-12.30pm / £7 / Exhibition Hall

Harmony Burns

Robert Burns left us a huge legacy of songs and in this workshop Ali Burns will be teaching some of her inspiring harmony arrangements of his songs.

Alison, who leads the acclaimed Feral Choir in Dumfries and Galloway is a writer and arranger for choirs and is known throughout Britain for her transcendent harmonies and easy teaching style.

1.30-3pm / £7 / Exhibition Hall

Learn the Irish Pipes in a Day

This instrument has a reputation for being difficult to learn but in the skilled hands of Dave Shaw, piper and pipe-maker from North Durham, you will find that you can learn this sweet instrument in just one day. Honestly! You will astonish yourself with your playing at the end of the day. Over 14s and complete beginners please. 11-4pm / £35 / Buchanan Suite

Play Songs for Bigger Bairns

Fun and games for 5-8 year olds, picking up traditional Scottish children's songs along the way. Chrissie Stewart-Skinner will teach traditional children's songs by ear and by playing games - there will be a warm-up and then singing games and action songs and games associated with the songs.

Children must be accompanied by an adult. 11am-12.30pm / £4 / Clyde Foyer

Bodhran for Improvers

Mark Dunlop will show you how to expand your repertoire of rhythms and individualise your style of playing. This workshop is for players who have already grasped the basics of the drum and who want to develop light and shade, pace and style in their playing. Please bring your own bodhran.

1.30-3pm / £7 / Clyde Foyer

In partnership with:

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WORKSHOPS

Clarsach Workshop for Beginners

come&try ukulele

Clarsach Workshop for Improvers

SUNDAY 31ST JANUARY come&try Gospel

Heather Downie graduated from the RSAMD with a first class honours degree and went on to study a postgraduate diploma in Performance Studies. She regularly performs and teaches across Scotland and further afield. This workshop is aimed at students of the harp with very little experience.

11am-12.30pm / £7 / Lomond Foyer Here’s your chance to develop your skills on the clarsach. Heather Downie is a talented and accomplished player and tutor of this beautiful instrument and is known for her enthusiastic and fun-loving approach to teaching. This workshop is for those people who already have some experience of the harp and want to extend their repertoire. 1.30-3pm / £7 / Lomond Foyer

SATURDAY 30th JANUARY Harmony Singing for Beginners

This workshop with Corrina Hewat will start with some simple warm-ups for the voice, concentrating on the simpler, shorter and quicker to learn songs that bring instant rewards and maximum fun. This workshop in previous years has proved to be popular with new and experienced singers alike. Here’s an opportunity to sing your socks off and have a great time! "Always good fun and energising!" 11am-12.30pm / £7 / Exhibition Hall

Already Harmony

This workshop will consist of some good-time warm-ups, some fun, simple songs that are instantly harmonious and also more complex pieces in several parts that offer the opportunity for a good sing. No need to read music, just bring a voice and a smile and Corrina Hewat will send you singing and probably laughing your way home. "I left feeling so buzzed-up; back in touch with my voice, myself and life!" 1.30-3pm / £7 / Exhibition Hall

Session Fiddle

Glasgow Fiddle Workshop will lead off this slow session which is suitable for all instruments. If you have always wanted to join a session but lack the confidence, why not come along and learn some good old session favourites.

You’ll be surprised how much confidence will be gained by playing familiar and not so familiar tunes with other people. 11am-12.30pm / £7 / Clyde Foyer

come&try Norwegian Fiddle Style

If you can already play the fiddle and are fascinated by the Norwegian style of playing, this is the workshop for you. Britt Pernille Frøholm will demonstrate and teach Hardanger Fiddle from Hornindal and the Sogn og Fjordane region of Norway. This will be a fascinating workshop for fiddle devotees!

1.30-3pm / £7 / Clyde Foyer

Here’s another opportunity to come and try your hand at this increasingly popular session instrument. Finlay Allison is one of Glasgow Fiddle Workshop’s regular tutors and delights in teaching his students tunes and melodies on this beautiful wee instrument.

11am-12.30pm / £7 / Lomond Foyer

A splendid exhilarating activity for a Sunday morning! Feel the freedom and experience the excitement of gospel style singing in this session led by Eddie Binnie. Eddie’s enthusiasm for encouraging his students is absolutely boundless and this fun packed workshop will include warm ups, harmony and the possibility (only if you want to) of solo voice improvisation. Complete beginners are very welcome as well as those with more singing experience.

11am-12.30pm / £7 / Exhibition Hall

Join a band for a Day! Percussion Workshop

Join Glasgow samba band Barulho Beat for the afternoon. Learn a funky samba piece and then perform with the band on the steps of the stunning Glasgow Royal Concert Hall (weather permitting!). Please wear bright, one coloured top and dark trousers/skirts - every band needs stage gear! Age from 13-adult. Fantastic fun! 1.30-3pm / £7 / Exhibition Hall

Trad Strings Weekend Masterclass For players of fiddle, viola, cello, string bass With Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas Fraser and Haas will hold a special two day masterclass for intermediate to advanced string players based on the fiddle music of Scotland and beyond.

You can explore playing traditional music in a group, with emphasis on arrangement ideas and the techniques that give traditional music its particular flavour. They’ll look at the elements of language and dance, and how to put fiddle tunes together to form a medley or a larger piece of music.

Saturday 23rd & Sunday 24th January, 10.15am – 5pm Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, £55 Please note that spaces are limited and advance booking is essential For more information contact: caroline.hewat@virgin.net 01349 877434

come&try moothie

In this workshop, the poet Gerry Cambridge will take his students on a voyage of discovery on the 10 hole diatonic harmonica, ideal for playing the blues (please note - no other type of harmonica will be suitable). If you have your own instrument in the key of C, you will learn the basics of note bending and other moothie enchantments and delights but if you don’t have your own instrument, we will have some moothies available for sale.

11am-12.30pm / £7 / Clyde Foyer

Whistle for Improvers

Hamish Napier is one of the best whistle players in Scotland as well as being an inspiring tutor. In this workshop, he will focus on developing technique and ornamentation relating to the Scottish repertoire. Low whistle players are also welcome to this workshop. 1.30-3pm / £7 / Clyde Foyer

Beginner Ukulele

So now you’re hooked and you want to know more. This is the workshop for you. Expand your knowledge of the instrument, learn more chords and try out lots of new styles and chord changes on this charming instrument. The equally charming Finlay Allison will take you to the next stage in playing the ukulele. You’ll be invited to every dinner party in your street after this workshop. 11am-12.30pm / £7 / Lomond Foyer

Whisky Workshops Fancy trying something different?

Join experts from Black Bottle to discover the secrets behind this unique blended Scotch whisky, and have a go at making it yourself! Whether you want to learn more about the blending process, or the creation of one of the whiskies that make up this special dram, there’s a workshop for you at Celtic Connections.

Visit www.celticconnections.com for more info.

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SPOT tomorrow’s talent today!

Danny Kyle’s Open Stage old blind dogs

valkyrien allstars

fraser anderson

Starts 15th January 5-7pm Glasgow Royal Concert Hall In partnership with the and broadcast live on Celtic Music Radio 1530AM Danny Kyle was a passionate supporter of traditional music and a constant campaigner for its revival in Scotland. Each night on the Open Stage, new musical talent is given the chance to shine under the Celtic Connections spotlight and the six best acts go through to the final night showcase concert, which this year will take place in the Strathclyde Suite. With a support slot at next year’s festival up for grabs, it’s a hard fought competition. Compered by Danny’s close friend Liz Clark, it has been the launch pad for many now familiar names such as Adam Sutherland, Karine Polwart and The Chair.

And did we mention – it’s absolutely FREE

Sample Showcase Scotland While the delegates generally spend their time scurrying frantically between different venues, our Showcase Scotland show on 28th January in the O 2 ABC Glasgow (page 42) offers you the chance to sample a wide range of Showcase acts in a rather more relaxed style.

“Showcase Scotland provides a unique opportunity to see the best established and up and coming Scottish folk artists and also to meet and discuss ideas with the leading promoters of celtic music from around the world.”

Eddie Barcan, Cambridge Folk Festival Approaching its 11th year, Showcase Scotland has become the nation’s largest international gathering of the music industry, this year with a spotlight on Norway.

Taking place at Celtic Connections over the final weekend it features an extensive range of home-grown acts, and is attended by over 200 international musicindustry delegates, representing over 20 countries.

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ARTIST A – Z

2Duos

20

A Adams, Justin Ainslie, Ross Aitken, Joe Alan Kelly Quartet, The Allison, David Allison, Finlay Anarkali Andersen, Eric Anderson, Fraser Anderson, Iain Andrade, Mayra Anger, Darol Antunes, Carlinhos

21 9, 27 60 28 53 62, 64 28 56 24 10, 17, 47 14 14, 29 34

B Bailey, Kit Bain, Aly Baker, Sam Bannatyne, Duncan Barenberg, Russ Barossi, Rui Barulho Beat Bays, The Bearfoot Begley, Seamus Bellevue Rendezvous Besh o droM Bevvy Sisters, The Bharat, Parvinder Big Groove Binnie, Eddie Bittersweets, The Bjørset, Synnøve S. Black Cat Balkan Band Bloom, Luka

WWW.CELTICCONNECTIONS.COM

47 17, 35 40 47 17 34 64 18 50 19, 26 54 18 46 39 62 64 46 54 18 25

Blue Highway Blueflint Blum, Helene Boyd, Joe Boyle, Kathleen Breabach Brechin, Sandy Brennan, Moya Brian Finnegan Quartet Brüninghaus, Rainer Bryden, Nell Buchan, Harriet Bunyan, Vashti Burke, Kevin Burke, Michelle Burns, Alison Butler, Neil Byrne, Tony Byrnes, The

12 49 34 13 11 31 26, 58 22 45 36 44 62 13 22 11, 36 63 47 54 53

C Cabral, Fernanda Cahill, Dennis Callaghan, Patrick Camara, Juldeh Cambridge, Gerry Campbell, Kenna Campbell, Mairi Capercaillie Carmichael, John Carolina Chocolate Drops Carroll, Liz Carter, Sam Carthy, Eliza Carthy, Martin Casey, Karan Cataldo Catriona Watt Band

14,

52,

11,

27,

9 53 37 21 64 53 50 19 63 30 14 50 18 18 39 48 59

Chaimbeul, Mairi Chair, The Chalmers, Norman Cherish the Ladies Chieftains, The Chisholm, Duncan Clark, Liz Cleaves, Slaid Connelly, Paul Cooder, Ry Coogan, Mary Cormack, Arthur Cornish, Alex Cosker, Alyn Cowie, Elspeth Cox, Tony Cramb, Pipe Major Adrian Crowley, Adrian Cunningham, Colin Cunningham, Phil Custy, Tola

41, 47,

19,

10, 11, 17,

37 43 63 11 15 54 61 40 56 15 11 52 49 41 60 56 10 43 41 54 28

D Dangerfield, Fyfe Daniel, Yuri Dave Milligan Trio Davison, Ian De Dannan Deadly Gentlemen, The Del Castillo Deolinda Dervish Dickinson, Johnny Dickson, Barbara Dillon, Cara Dillon, Roisin Donaldson, Shona Donnelly, Desi

40 36 27 60 20 43, 46 39 36 22 44 47 17 11 38, 58 39

Dore, Charlie Douglas, Blair Douglas, Henry Douglas, Jerry Downie, Heather Doyle, John Drever, Kris Duff, Marc Duncan, Jock Dunlop, Mark Dunn, Fiona Dunsmuir, Davie Dymock, Barbara

15 48, 52 60 17 63 11, 14, 17, 27 10, 24 26 60 63 59 41 60

E Eaglesham, Stuart Edey, Tim Egeland, Ånon

41 26 30

F Fabulous Borsini Brothers Felpeyu Ferrard, David Fidil Fifield, Fraser Fisher, Archie Flannery, Mick Foulds, Mattie Frankie Gavin and The New De Dannan Fraser, Alasdair Freeman, Dr Fred Fribo

11 41 60 58 9 55 49 10 20 14, 53, 64 26 38

G Gandalf Murphy & The Slambovian Circus of Dreams Garbarek, Jan Gartside, Green

42 16, 36 13

ARTIST A – Z Gaughan, Dick Gavin, Frankie Geremia, Steph Gilchrist, Maeve Gjermund Larsen Trio Glasgow Fiddle Workshop Gospel Truth Choir Grace, Annie Graham, James Grant, Aonghas Green, Mairearad Grinn Guidewires Gunn, Gordon Gurtu, Trilok

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41,

24, 16,

41 20 28 38 25 64 35 37 52 56 27 59 28 52 36

H Haas, Natalie Hall, Mhairi Hannigan, Lisa Hansard, Glen Hanson, Christine Haramina, Saska Harland, Neil Hart, Roddy Harvey, Naomi Haugaard, Harald Hayes, Martin Henderson, Allan Henderson, Ewen Henderson, Jarlath Henderson, Kevin Hennessy, Donogh Hewat, Corrina Hewerdine, Boo Hitchcock, Robyn Hobopop Collective, The Holcombe, Malcolm

SPONSORED BY

14, 53, 64 31, 54 13 34 56 18 34 38 60 34 14, 53 54 56 27 24, 30 28 37, 64 57 13 44 44, 56

Holmes, Adam Holmes, Michael Hobkirk, Kathy Horse Hot Club of Cowtown Hughes, Allan Hulett, Alistair Hunt, Eamonn Hutton, Ali

32 22 60 35 39 63 60 58 9

I Iliev, Jony Imagined Village, The Innes, Gary Inveraray and District Pipe Band Ionita, Tantzica Irglova, Marketa Ivitsky, Conrad Irvine, Pete

13 18 11, 41, 47 10 13 34 51 47

J Jackson, Jill James Graham Trio James, Elana Jansberg, Henrik Jarvie, Professor Grant Jeffrey, Craig Jelks, Maureen Johannsen, Olov John McSherry Quartet Jones, Aaron Jones, Diana Jordan, Cathy

46 52 39 30 47 56 63 38 48 26 37 22

K Kaloome Kalsi, Johnny Kane, Pat

13 18 38

Kazumi, Nikaido Kellock, Brian Kelly, Alan Kelly, John Joe Kelly, Liam Kennedy, Mary Kennedy, Mary Ann Kennedy, Nuala Kennedy, Seumas Kennedy, Wilma Kenny, John Kidjo, Angélique King Chiaullee Korhonen, Ilona Koshka

45 32 28 39 11 53 19, 55, 61 32 53 53, 60 9, 38 21 20 30 38

L Labhruidh, Griogair Lanarkshire Guitar & Mandolin Association Larsen, Gjermund Lau Le Vent du Nord Lee, Dick Leech, Oisin Legendary Gypsy Queens and Kings, The Leslie, Jeana Lightfoot, Rona Lone Star Swing Band, The Lord Cut Glass Los Cenzontles Lost Brothers, The Low Anthem, The Lúnasa Lunny, Manus Lupton, Hugh Lyall, Duncan Lyn, Dana

19, 38, 59 63 25 9, 16 31 38 34 13 51 19, 26 57 43 15 34 24 16 54 38 27 32

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M MacAskill, Ishbel MacColl, Lauren MacCuish, Alasdair MacCrimmon, Calum Macdonald, Catriona MacDonald, Fergie MacDonald, Finlay MacDonald, Iain MacDonald, Kirsteen MacDonald, Maggie MacDougall, Lorne MacFarlane-Barrow, Magnus Mac Giolla Bhríde, Doimnic MacGregor, Bruce MacInnes, Fraser MacInnes, Kathleen MacInnes, Maggie MacInnes, Mairi MacIntyre, Colin MacIntyre, Sineag MacIver, Norrie Mackenzie, Eilidh Mackenzie, Katie Mackinnon, Maeve Mackintosh, James MacLean, Darren MacLeod, Alasdair MacLean, Norman MacLeod, Iain Macleod, Kevin MacMillan, Calum Alex MacMillan, Ruairidh MacPherson, Ewan Madden, Joanie Madison Violet Magic Lantern Show, The

19, 60 9, 38 11 29 54 11 31 54 19, 60 53 32, 37, 62 47 38 58 11 9, 54 52 47, 60 27 60 47, 60 52, 60 38 10, 38 17, 26, 39, 54 52, 60, 62 11 47 32 61 60 32 38 11 38 41

TICKETS: 0141 353 8000

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ARTIST A – Z

Mahadevan, Shankar Mahala Raї Banda Majorstuen Malcolm, Jim Malo, Raul Marful Marra, Michael Marshall, Mike Martin, Ronan Massie, Anna Matheson, Karen Matthews, Scott May, Andy May, Imelda McAllister, Archie McAlpine, Brian McCalman, Ian McCalmans, The McCausland, Mark McClelland, Lionel McConnell, Jack McCormack, Alyth McCulloch, Gordeanna McDonagh, Brian McFerrin, Bobby McGeehan, Damien McGoldrick, Michael McIntosh, Lorraine McIntosh Ross McKay, Catriona McKeon, Seán McKerron, Charlie McLeish, Henry McMahon, Tony McNab, Duncan McNeill, Brian McSherry, Paul McVicar, Ewan

26,

17,

11, 10,

17, 22,

9, 14, 34,

WWW.CELTICCONNECTIONS.COM

11,

16 13 32 52 45 20 52 14 11 29 35 40 62 43 41 52 30 30 34 60 47 42 60 22 12 58 39 10 10 38 57 24 47 58 60 60 28 60

Merchant, Natalie Mhairi Hall Trio Michael McGoldrick Band Miller, Siobhan Milligan, David Mitchell, Shane Moffat, Aidan Moishe’s Bagel Molard, Jacky Molard, Patrick Molsky, Bruce Morran, John Morrison, Fred Morrison Snr, Iain Morrison, Iain Morrow, Tom Morse Brown, Barney Mukherjee, Sheema Mulhearn, John Murdoch, Stuart Murison, Geordie Murray, Mirella

16 31 39 10, 51 27, 54 22 43 39 20, 31 31 17 26 42 26 26 22 18 18 45 13 60 11

N Na h-Oganaich Na Seòid Napier, Hamish National Jazz Trio of Scotland, The National Youth Pipe Band of Scotland Naturally 7 Ni Charra, Niamh Ní Mhaoinaigh, Mairéad Nicolson, Nancy Nielsen Chapman, Beth Noakes, Rab Notman, Ruth Nugent, Alecia Núñez, Carlos

Nygaard, Scott

29

O Ó Maonaigh, Ciarán Ó Maonlai, Liam Oates, Jackie O'Brien, Mollie O'Brien, Tim O'Connell, Maura O’Connor, Liam O'Donnell, Aidan O'hEadhra, Brian O'Kane, Damien Old Believers, The Old Blind Dogs One Fine Day O'Neill, Kevin O’Neill, Martin O'Rourke, Aidan O'Rourke, Declan Orr, Tom Outside Track, The

17, 17, 9, 11, 38, 26, 58,

9,

58 14 18 54 54 27 57 58 59 50 48 42 51 27 34 27 39 11 48

P 19 19 59, 64 45 9 42 48 19, 54 60 15 56 44 12 9

Paxton, Tom Peatbog Faeries Penguin Café Pennoù Skoulm Pernice, Joe Pernille Frøholm, Britt Phantom Band, The Phillips, Hannah Pokey LaFarge & The South City Three Pollock, Emma Polwart, Karine Poozies, The Potentini, Anghjula Power, David

36 25 23 20 50 64 43 37 31, 38 43 10, 37 52 29 58

Pringle, Lucy Pur

30 38

q Quigg, Stephen Quigley, Ryan

60 9

r Reader, Eddi Red Snapper Red Stick Ramblers Redzepova, Esma Reid, Bethany Reid, Elaine Reid, Jenna Renwick, Andy Rhodes, Kimmie Rhythm Wave Riach, Professor Alan Richey, Kim Roberts, Alasdair Robertson, B.A. Robertson, Ewan Rohrer, Thomas Ross, James Ross, Ricky Rougvie, Doris Rupa and the April Fishes Rusby, Kate Russell MSP, Michael Russell, Tom Rynne, Pádraig

17, 25 18 39 13 28 56 28 10 40 9 47 57 53 10 32 34 38 10, 47, 55 60 22 22 47 40, 56 28

s Saint, Stevie Sainte-Marie, Buffy Salsa Celtica Saltfishforty

41 23 14 51

ARTIST A – Z Sands, Colum Sands, Tommy Sandu, Aurelia Sandu, Florentina Sarah-Jane Summers Trio Scott, Darrell Scott, Eddie Scottish Ensemble ScottishPower Pipe Band Session A9 Seudan Shaw, Dave Shaw, Donald Shaw, Eilidh Shee, The Shepherd, Robbie Simonson, Jonas Simpson, Martin Skáidi Skalder Skerryvore Skipinnish Smedley, Jack Smith, Emily Smith, John Somerville, John Sonos Souza, Alan Speed Caravan Spillane, John Spina, Adriana Spiro Stephenson, Ian Stevenson, Anna-Wendy Stewart, Andy M Stewart, Calum Stewart, Norman Stewart, Sheila

17,

10,

11, 17, 9,

55 28 13 13 38 25 63 35 8 24 57 63 39 11 42 55 30 50 54

41 41 32 26 44 27 20 9 21 49 35 23 34 9, 54 10, 58 51 60 60

Stewart-Skinner, Chrissie Stornoway Stout, Chris Stringjammer Sutherland, Adam Sutherland, Jim Swarbrick, Dave Swire, Dr Jim Swell Season, The

63 40 9, 14, 34 51 24, 27 9 41 47 34

T Talbot, Heidi Taylor, Allan Taylor, Brian Thom, Sandi Thompson, Danny Thompson, Teddy Thorpe, Daniel Tokumaru, Shugo Tommy Sands Trio Treacherous Orchestra, The True North Orchestra Tyminski, Dan Tyskie

28 56 47 49 13, 17, 25 13 32, 37 45 28 22 9 17 27

U Unni Boksasp Ensemble Unwinding Hours, The

39

W Walker, Rachel Wallochmore Ceilidh Band, The Warren, Krystle Warren, Kyle Watkins, Sara Watson, Innes Watson, Lori Watt, Catriona Watt, Irene Watt, John Wells, Bill Wilkie, Euan Williams, Holly Wilson, Jason Winkleman, Claudia Wishart, Ruth Wiyos, The Wolfstone Wood, Chris Woodward, Alun Wright, Chris

41, 59 51 13 37 17 27 32 32, 59 60 60 43 56 49 41 55 47 31 41 18, 38 43 30

Y 58 43

V Vale of Atholl Pipe Band Valkyrien Allstars, The Vallely, Niall Vance, Foy Väsen Vass, Ali Vass, Mike Veirs, Laura

Vernal, Ewen

Yates, Neil

Z Zoey Van Goey

10 43 26 40 14, 22 29 29 48

39

43

69

Photography credits Peter Dibdin: Cover image and brochure theme photography (1, 5, 61, 65) Lieve Boussauw: The Treacherous Orchestra (2, 22), Old Fruitmarket (19), Pennoù Skoulm (20), Nordic Tone (30), Karen Matheson (35), Michael McGoldrick (39), The Chair (43), Ceilidh (51), Workshops (63) Ashley Coombes, EpicScotland: Torchlight Parade (8) Dave Taylor: Torchlight Parade (8) Craig MacKay: Aidan O’Rourke (9) Daniela Dacorso: Carlos Núñez (9) Annie Tuite: Phil Cunningham (11) Larry Shirkey: Cherish the Ladies (11) Ann Marsden: Bobby McFerrin (12) Keith Morris: Nick Drake (13) Joan Thomas: Aurelia Sandu (13) Maria Camillo: Väsen (14) Susan Titelman: Ry Cooder (15) Elio Guidi: Trilok Gurtu (16) Con Kelleher: Lúnasa (16), Niall Vallely (26) Jeremy Cowart: Sara Watkins (17) Stuart Barett: Black Cat Balkan Band, Balkanarama (18) Bartosz Madejski: Justin Adams and Juldeh Camara (21) Emile Holba: Penguin Cafe (23) Will Tell: Buffy Sainte-Marie (23) Tom McKelvey: Danny Thompson (25) John Irons: Tunes for Gordon (27) Conor Masterson: The Swell Season (34) Lindsay Addison: Patrick Callaghan (37), Mairi Chaimbeul (37), Lorne MacDougall (37), Hannah Phillips (37), Daniel Thorpe (37), Kyle Warren (37) Archie MacFarlane: Sarah-Jane Summers Trio (38) Rachel Waller: Del Castillo (39) Genia Ainsworth: Dick Gaughan (41) Michael Flack: Shugo Tokumaru (45) Chris Barany: Joe Pernice (50) Louis DeCarlo: Breabach (31), Lori Watson (32), The Poozies (52), Old Blind Dogs (65) Leila Angus: Catriona Macdonald (54) Reaaz Mohammad: Duncan Chisholm (54) Sean Purser: BBC Scotland, Pacific Quay (55) Blowfish: Tom Russell (56) Rebecca Marr: Long Gone Lonesome (57) Fin Serck-Hanssen: Valkyrien Allstars (65) We would like to thank all the photographers who may be uncredited, this was completely unintentional.

SPONSORED BY

TICKETS: 0141 353 8000

70

EDUCATION:

AT THE HEART OF CELTIC CONNECTIONS

Whether it’s enabling children to experience live music for the first time, or giving adults the chance to try a new instrument, Celtic Connections is as committed to ensuring the future of traditional music as it is to celebrating the past and the present.

More than 15,000 children each year attend special concerts by big-name Celtic artists in the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall during the festival. For many, this will be their first experience of live music, and an unforgettable introduction to Scottish culture and its links to music from around the world. Free to schools and home educators throughout Scotland, the concerts attract children from as far away as Tiree, Fort William and Dumfries & Galloway.

The final education concert this year will also feature the winner of the ScottishPower Powerful Performance – a nationwide schools competition run by Celtic Connections’ principal sponsor, aimed at encouraging more children to celebrate Scotland’s musical heritage.

Over 2,000 Glasgow children annually benefit from in-school workshops, offering a hands-on introduction to everything from fiddle to Scottish step-dancing! Since 1999 over 155,000 children from all over Scotland have participated in the Celtic Connections Education Programme. For more information on the public workshops run during the festival, please see pages 62-64.

“A wonderful opportunity for children to participate in this international festival. The Celtic Connections Education Programme gives children opportunities for new experiences which they may not otherwise have outside of school. The visit to the concert hall itself is an invaluable experience in terms of social education and citizenship, as the children have the opportunity to assemble with pupils from other schools from in and around Glasgow.”

St Stephen’s Primary School

COMMUNITY CONCERTS The Celtic Connections Education Programme is working in partnership with Culture and Sport Glasgow to bring the festival to communities throughout Glasgow with the Celtic Connections Community Concerts. These concerts will feature BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award winners Bodega, and will take place in Barlanark, Barmulloch, Knightswood, Langside and Penilee. For more information and details on how to obtain tickets, visit

www.celticconnections.com/education The Celtic Connections Education Programme is supported by ScottishPower, Glasgow Airport and the BAA Communities Trust, the Educational Institute of Scotland, the Cruden Foundation, and Celtic Connections Friends.

MAP

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MAP and venue details

www.standrewsinthesquare.com

www.theartschool.co.uk 12

The Pearce Institute 840-860 Govan Road, G51 3UU 0141 445 6007 www.pearceinstitute.org.uk

5 7 12

BROOMIELAW

BUCHANAN ST

WEST NILE ST

ARGYLL ST

4

8

HOWARD ST

CLYDE ST

RIVER CLYDE

HIGH ST

2

ALBION ST

CANDLERIGGS

BRUNSWICK ST

HUTCHESON ST

GLASSFORD ST

VIRGINIA ST

MILLER ST

ELL ST

QUEEN ST

CENTRAL STATION

MITCH

The Art School

GEORGE ST

GEORGE SQUARE

GORDON ST HOPE ST

CADOGAN ST

QUEEN ST STATION

INGRAM STREET WELLINGTON ST

WATERLOO ST

167 Renfrew Street, G3 6RQ 0141 353 4500

www.oran-mor.co.uk

1 St Andrew’s Square, G1 5PP 0141 559 5902

BOTHWELL ST

57 Sauchiehall Lane, G2 4JD 0141 332 8899

ST VINCENT ST

OSWALD ST

11

Universal

WEST GEORGE ST

ROBERTSON ST

10

Òran Mór

St. Andrew’s in the Square

CCA

www.cca-glasgow.com

Byres Road, G12 8QX 0141 357 6200 6

CATHEDRAL ST

WEST REGENT ST

350 Sauchiehall Street, G2 3JD 0141 352 4900

18 Jamaica St, G1 4QD 0141 847 0820 5

10

WEST CAMPBELL ST

9

Classic Grand www.classic-grand.co.uk

BATH ST

www.tron.co.uk

300 Sauchiehall Street, G2 3JA 0141 332 2232 4

Tron Theatre 63 Trongate, G1 5HB 0141 552 3748

O 2 ABC Glasgow www.o2abcglasgow.co.uk

www.bbc.co.uk

YORK ST

3

1 SAUCHIEHALL ST

BLYTHSWOOD ST

www.glasgowconcerthalls.com

KILLERMONT ST

3

JAMES WATT ST

Candleriggs, G1 1NQ 0141 353 8080

RENFREW ST

9

DOUGLAS ST

City Halls, Recital Room & Old Fruitmarket

8

COWCADDENS RD

BUCHANAN BUS STATION

11

RENFIELD ST

www.glasgowconcerthalls.com

5

ST UNION

40 Pacific Quay, G51 1DA 0141 422 6000

2 Sauchiehall Street, G2 3NY 0141 353 8080 2

BBC Scotland

A ST JAMAIC

7

BROWN ST

Glasgow Royal Concert Hall

PITT ST

1

6

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TITLE:

SUB TITLE

ScottishPower is proud to support Celtic Connections