The iconic Scottish folk group, Capercaillie, is set to grace the 40th Orkney Folk Festival this May in a never-before-seen collaboration with a local orchestra. Led by Orkney Schools Instrumental Music Service, the orchestra will comprise players from Orkney Camerata and Kirkwall Town Band.
Celebrating their own 40th anniversary, Capercaillie will join a roster of 24 acts announced for the festival, including artists from Scotland, England, Wales, Ireland, the USA, Canada, Norway, and Sweden, as well as local Orcadian musicians.
Regarded as a seminal force in contemporary Celtic music, Capercaillie has performed in over 30 countries and sold over a million albums. They are known for their electrifying live performances, which have captivated audiences worldwide. Despite their Orcadian debut in 1986 at the fourth Orkney Folk Festival, the band has only made a few appearances in the county since, with their last visit over two decades ago. However, they will be returning in just three months for an unprecedented collaboration with an orchestra from across Orkney.
The band has been preparing for this momentous occasion, having already premiered three of their songs with full symphonic arrangements in the summer of 2022. The fully orchestrated versions of their songs will feature in their Orkney Folk Festival performance. While Capercaillie has previously collaborated with world-class orchestras, such as the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Real Filarmonía de Galicia, and Orchestre du FIL, of Brittany, their upcoming performance will be the first to feature a community orchestra.
Capercaillie’s Karen Matheson (vocals), Donald Shaw (accordion), Charlie McKerron (fiddle), Ewen Vernal (bass), Manus Lunny (bouzouki), and David Robertson (percussion) will join James Mackintosh (drums) and Fraser Fifield (whistles and pipes) on stage alongside the bespoke orchestra from across Orkney. The performance will take place at Kirkwall’s Pickaquoy Centre arena on Friday, May 26th. The set-list, featuring brand-new orchestrations by Greg Lawson, who will also conduct the orchestra, and Donald Shaw, will span Capercaillie’s entire discography, from their debut album Cascade to their latest release, 2013’s At the Heart of It All, including their first Gaelic Top 40 single, Coisich, a Ruin.
Looking ahead to Capercaillie’s return visit to the festival, Donald Shaw said: “We can’t wait to get back up to Orkney – and are delighted to be able to make it work within the festival’s 40th anniversary. Getting to work with orchestras is always inspiring, but that will take on another dimension to perform these songs with a community orchestra for the first time. We have all been amazed at the quality of musicianship that has come from Orkney over these last few years, so we’re very much looking forward to this special concert.”
Orkney Folk Festival producer, Craig Corse added: “I’m not sure I can put into words how thrilled I am to see this actually happening. Not only the return of undoubtedly the most influential band on the Scottish folk scene in the last 40 years, and in our 40th anniversary – but this scale of local involvement really is exceptional, will be very special indeed, and something everyone involved should be immensely proud of.
“Whilst the idea behind the project came about between Donald and I well over a year ago, it could only be possible with a tremendously strong instrumental service in Orkney’s schools, and I want to say a huge thank-you to the brilliantly enthusiastic tutors for going with us and helping make the idea a reality. As a former pupil within the service, I very much hope that the collaboration leaves a legacy and inspiration well beyond the festival, and can’t wait to see everyone together on stage.”
In their native Scottish Highlands, Capercaillie first took the stage as teenagers nearly forty years ago, and have since become widely recognized for bringing traditional Celtic music to global audiences. From the Brazilian rainforest to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, and even the UK Top 40 pop charts, the band’s musical journey has taken them far and wide. Nevertheless, it’s the ancient Gaelic culture of their homeland that remains their biggest inspiration.
With Karen Matheson’s sublime vocals and a store of songs passed down from her Barra grandmother, Capercaillie played a pioneering role in Scotland’s Gaelic song revival, inspiring numerous successors. Their innovative approach to arrangements and instrumentation, which looks outward while remaining firmly rooted in tradition, has been hugely influential in the ongoing Scottish folk renaissance.
Capercaillie will join a stellar lineup of international artists at the festival, including Texan hot jazz and Western swing trio Hot Club of Cowtown, Cape Breton fiddle and New England cello duo Mairi Rankin and Eric Wright, leading English duo Spiers & Boden, singer-songwriter Katherine Priddy, and celebrated Scottish acts like Elephant Sessions, Breabach, and Kinnaris Quintet.
The Orkney Folk Festival festival will also feature the return of Kris Drever, one of Scotland’s finest and most acclaimed songwriters, fronting his own band, as well as performances by home-grown groups Fara and Gnoss, and local favorites like The Chair and Saltfishforty. More artists will be announced in the coming weeks.
More information at orkneyfolkfestival.com
Author: World Music Central News Room
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