The Saturday January 19 schedule at Celtic Connections is extensive. Highlights include the Galician Night featuring renowned instrumentalists Xosé Manuel Budiño, Mercedes Peón & the Anxo Lorenzo Band. Shetland’s "national" instrument, the fiddle, will be represented by Fiddlers’ Bid. There will also be a concert by veteran band Old Blind Dogs with the Alan Kelly Quartet.
Complete schedule:
Public Workshops
Kids Percussion Workshop for Wee Ones
Sat 19 January, 11am
£4
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Exhibition Hall
Big Groove will lead a workshop for children aged 4-6 years. This is a terrific introduction to wee ones to enjoy their natural sense of rhythm. All children must be accompanied by an adult and all drums are provided.
come&try
Whistle
Sat 19 January, 11am
£6
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Buchanan Suite
Here’s an opportunity to learn the very basics of this user friendly instrument-portable, versatile with a really sweet sound- just like the tutor, Hamish Napier. Whistles in the key of D are provided but if you have your own, bring it along.
come&try
Bodhran
Sat 19 January, 11am
£6
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Lomond Foyer
The come&try bodhran workshops at Celtic Connections are responsible for the terrific popularity of this fine instrument in sessions all over Scotland. Have you ever had a notion to get stuck in to a session? Well here’s your chance. Drums are provided so all you need is a sense of rhythm. Andy May will take you through the basics of the instrument and who knows-you could change your life!
come&try
Fiddle
Sat 19 January, 11am
£6
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Clyde Foyer
Try your hand at one of the favorite instruments of all time. Two of Glasgow Fiddle Workshop’s experienced tutors, Louise Hunter and Lynsey Tait will take you through the basics of this fine instrument. Fiddles are supplied.
Public Workshops
Kids Percussion Workshop
Sat 19 January, 12pm
£4
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Exhibition Hall
This workshop is for children aged 7-10 years and Big Groove will lead them through simple and fun rhythms with samba instruments. Children must be accompanied by an adult and numbers are strictly limited.
Public Workshops
Percussion Workshop
Sat 19 January, 1:30pm
£6
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Exhibition Hall
Big Groove will continue their day of percussion with a workshop aimed at adults and older children to explore the fascinating rhythms of samba. This is guaranteed to be a fun packed workshop to get your juices flowing!
Public Workshops
Beginner Whistle
Sat 19 January, 1:30pm
£6
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Buchanan Suite
Now if you have just started learning the whistle and want to learn a little more, this is the workshop for you. Hamish Napier will take you through the fundamentals of the instrument concentrating on simple melodic Scottish tunes.
Public Workshops
Beginner Bodhran
Sat 19 January, 1:30pm
£6
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Lomond Foyer
Andy May will help students of the instrument to reach a higher level of skill. If you have already started learning the bodhran, this workshop will build your confidence and style.
Public Workshops
Beginner Fiddle
Sat 19 January, 1:30pm
£6
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Clyde Foyer
If you’ve caught the fiddling bug then this is the workshop for you. A firm favourite amongst learners and renowned for her patience and enthusiastic teaching technique, Lynsey Tait will give you that little bit of extra help you’ve been looking for to develop your playing skills.
Danny Kyle’s Open Stage hosted by Gibb Todd
Sat 19 January, 5pm
Free
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Exhibition Hall
Hosted by Danny Kyle’s good friends Gibb Todd and Liz Clark, the Open Stage is a chance to see new musical talent as they try to win a coveted support slot at next year’s festival – and all absolutely free!
In partnership with the Evening Times
Spencer Bohren
Sat 19 January, 6pm
£10
City Halls, Recital Room
Born into a gospel-singing family, veteran folk/blues troubadour Spencer Bohren came of age during the 1960s folk boom, and has since won fans worldwide with his richly seasoned, grittily atmospheric songs and virtuoso guitar work.
Shetland Night with Fiddlers’ Bid
Sat 19 January, 7:30pm
£18, £16
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Main Auditorium
One small group of faraway islands – so much musical talent. Shetland’s "national" instrument, the fiddle, rightly takes pride of place in a packed program, highlighting the wealth of both tradition and innovation at work in this most fertile of musical territories.
Four of them are wielded by Fiddlers’ Bid alone, as the seven-piece instrumental powerhouse take a break from recording their fifth album to raise the Concert Hall roof.
Also featured are Shetland fiddle music’s finest individual exponents, including the leading figure in its modern-day revival, Aly Bain with his renowned pianist Violet Tulloch, together with Chris Stout.
Filska alternate sparkling instrumentals with sweetly harmonized songs, while the veteran string band Hom Bru showcases some of Shetland’s finest finger-pickers. From the village of Cullivoe on the Island of Yell, The Cullivoe Fiddlers will also be appearing performing traditional Shetland tunes in their own style alongside the new generation of fiddlers.
The evening will also feature a special tribute to the late and much-loved guitar legend Peerie Willie Johnson, who died in 2007. And given Shetlanders’ legendary appetite for a party, there’ll more than likely be another surprise guest or two dropping by.
Ronald Stevenson’s ‘Praise of Ben Dorain’ with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and a chorus assembled by Scottish Opera
Sat 19 January, 7:30pm
£16
City Halls, Grand Hall
The first in a series of international events during 2008 to celebrate Ronald Stevenson’s 80th birthday, tonight marks the long-awaited world premiere of his epic symphonic work Praise of Ben Dorain, inspired by the great 18th century Gaelic poem of that name by Duncan Ban MacIntyre.
As one of Scotland’s most distinguished and prolific composers, Yehudi Menuhin once said that Stevenson was "one of the most original minds in the world of the composition of music".
Stevenson is probably best known for his massive, 80-minute Passacaglia, for solo piano, the score of which he presented to Dimitri Shostakovich (on the letters of whose name the music was based) at the Edinburgh International Festival in 1962. Present on that occasion was the revered Scottish poet Hugh MacDiarmid, who suggested to Stevenson that he compose a piece based on Ben Dorain, using MacDiarmid’s own translation.
Nearly half a century on, the completed work finally reaches the concert stage. Interweaving MacDiarmid’s text with the original Gaelic, it will be performed by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and a chorus assembled by Scottish Opera .
Old Blind Dogs with the Alan Kelly Quartet featuring Donncha Moynihan, John Kelly and Tola Custy
Sat 19 January, 7:30pm
£12.50
Òran Mór
The Old Blind Dogs‘ harmony-rich, dynamically rhythmic music has long been one of the most arrestingly distinctive sounds on the Scottish folk scene. Named as Band of the Year at the 2004 Scots Trad Music Awards, the Dogs released their tenth album, Four on the Floor, in summer 2007, showcasing the current line-up of Jonny Hardie (fiddle, mandolin, guitar, vocals), Rory Campbell (pipes, whistles, vocals), Aaron Jones (bass, bouzouki, vocals) and Fraser Stone (percussion).
Roscommon-born Alan Kelly is Ireland’s foremost exponent of the piano accordion, whose vibrant, sophisticated playing has been heard on two solo albums to date, and on an acclaimed duo recording, Fourmilehouse, with his flautist brother John. The quartet is completed by Donncha Moynihan (guitar) and Tola Custy (fiddle).
Kevin McDermott with Colin Hay
Sat 19 January, 7:30pm
£15
ABC
Glasgow singer-songwriter Kevin McDermott launches his brand-new solo album, Wise to the Fade. The new album from this singularly gifted artist, who describes his influences as Randy Newman and Kate Bush through XTC to Queens Of The Stone Age, with an odd detour into 70s power pop, delivers wittily literate, beguilingly melodic songs which reaffirm McDermott’s reputation as one of Scotland’s finest performers and songwriters.
Those of a certain age will best remember Scottish born Colin Hay as the frontman with 1980’s Australian band Men At Work and author of their massive international hit ‘Down Under’. Now plying his immediately distinctive voice as a solo singer-songwriter, Hay is currently promoting his latest album Are You Lookin’ at Me?, a collection of tautly crafted songs varying from bittersweet acoustic balladry to classic guitar pop.
Paul Burch with Diana Jones
Sat 19 January, 7:30pm
£12.50
The Classic Grand
Described by CMT as ‘a thoroughly modern troubadour channeling a bit of Buddy Holly grafted onto Jimmie Rodgers and Ralph Stanley,’ Nashville-based singer-songwriter Paul Burch draws deep from the well of southern US roots music, while crafting lyrics that speak eloquently to today. His sixth solo album, East to West, featuring guest appearances from Tim O’Brien, Mark Knopfler and the aforementioned Ralph Stanley, was released in 2006.
With a voice that’s drawn comparisons to Iris DeMent, Stacey Earle and Mary Chapin Carpenter, Diana Jones weaves together strains of country, blues and mountain music, into poetic reflections on love, loss, healing and redemption.
"It goes without saying, Diana Jones is a consummate singer and writer, who totally charms audiences. What sets her apart – and this is the highest praise in a crowded music profession – is her originality. Her music doesn’t sound like anyone else’s." (Richard Thompson)
Lau with Uiscedwr
Sat 19 January, 8pm
£12.50
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Strathclyde Suite
Lau return to Celtic Connections after a truly triumphant 2007, which saw their debut release Lightweights and Gentlemen declared Album of the Year (in March) by fRoots magazine, and ‘an utter corker’ by the Daily Telegraph, as the band themselves stormed the festival circuit. Accordionist Martin Green, fiddler Aidan O’Rourkee and guitarist Kris Drever create music of thrilling intensity and audacity, interspersed with Drever’s vibrantly expressive vocals.
Opening the show will be the debut of Uiscedwr’s new big-band line-up, with Anna Esslemont (fiddle/vocals) and Cormac Byrne (bodhran/percussion) joined by guests including accordionist Karen Tweed, Nick Waldock on bass, Dylan Bible on guitar and trumpeter Neil Yates.
Travellers’ Day Out
Sat 19 January, 8pm
£12.50
St Andrew’s in the Square
Come and share in the rich traditions of song and storytelling preserved by Scotland’s travelling people, with a line-up featuring Sheila Stewart, Stanley Robertson, Elizabeth Stewart, Jess Smith and Jimmy Williamson.
Galician Night featuring Xosé Manuel Budiño, Mercedes Peón & the Anxo Lorenzo Band
Sat 19 January, 9:30pm
£16
Old Fruitmarket
Galicia is famous for its summer festivals, and tonight we bring a taste of that Spanish Celtic experience to wintry Glasgow, complete with three of the region’s top contemporary artists.
A supremely gifted, audaciously inventive exponent of the gaita, or Galician bagpipes, Xosé Manuel Budiño first honed his craft at the celebrated Pipe School of Moaña, going on to fuse this traditional grounding with rock, funk, world and dance-music elements.
Featured on Budiño’s new CD is the extraordinary, incandescent voice of Mercedes Peón, another of tonight’s performers, accompanied by her own high-octane band. Also a noted gaita player, she too cross-fertilises traditional styles and material with a welter of modern influences, and is a hugely charismatic live performer.
Completing the line-up will be the Anxo Lorenzo Band, made up of an exciting new breed of musicians who see no barriers when experimenting with traditional and contemporary music.
Celtic Connections Festival Ceilidhs
Sat 19 January, 10pm
£8
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Exhibition Hall
Get your dancing shoes on! Enjoy the perfect post-concert fling or pre-festival warm up, with The Sensational Jimi Shandrix Experience led by Sandy Brechin.
Celtic Connections Festival Club hosted by Gibb Todd
Sat 19 January, 10:30pm
£7.50
Central Hotel
The late night club ensures there is even more music to enjoy after all the gigs are over. Join local and international artists as they make special unbilled appearances or join in one of many sessions happening in the bars.
With food and drink in plentiful supply you can happily keep going into the early hours of the morning whilst witnessing some of the best musical collaborations of the festival.
Master of ceremonies, Gibb Todd returns to present each act on stage and Doris Rougvie hosts The House of Song in a peaceful oasis away from the main stage.
The 15th Celtic Connections festival takes place over 19 days in January and February in 14 venues across Glasgow, Celtic Connections is the UK’s premier Celtic music festival, with over 300 concerts, ceilidhs, talks, free events, late night sessions and workshops.
Tickets can be booked:
In person Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
2 Sauchiehall Street
Glasgow, G2 3NY
City Halls and Old Fruitmarket
Candleriggs
Glasgow, G1 1NQ
By phone 0141 353 8000
Online www.celticconnections.com
For further information check www.celticconnections.com.
Author: World Music Central News Room
World music news from the editors at World Music Central
