More Acts Added to Celtic Connections 2010 Program

Ticket sales for Celtic Connections 2010 are going well, with festival fans snapping up tickets faster than ever before. Top selling shows so far include The Chieftains with Ry Cooder (which has only a few remaining tickets), Natalie Merchant & Lúnasa and the popular Transatlantic Sessions concerts.

Celtic Connections 2010, which runs from 14th – 31st January and is sponsored by ScottishPower, was launched on 20th October, and since then Artistic Director Donald Shaw has added a host of top acts to the bill. Program additions include:

Acclaimed bluegrass acts Blue Highway and Alecia Nugent will celebrate the 40th anniversary of US label Rounder Records in the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on 19th January.

Glasgow-based indie label Chemikal Underground also celebrates a milestone at the 2010 festival with an all-star line-up assembling for its 15th birthday bash at the O2 ABC Glasgow. The line-up, which has just been announced, features label founders and former members of The Delgados Alun Woodward (aka Lord Cut Glass) and Emma Pollock, as well as Aidan Moffat, Bill Wells, Adrian Crowley, Zoey Van Goey plus some special guests. The night also sees the first performance by The Unwinding Hours, a new outfit born from the ashes of Aereogramme, featuring Craig B and Iain Cook.

A string of high profile names have been added to the bill for Way to Blue – The Songs of Nick Drake with Teddy Thompson, Robyn Hitchcock, Krystle Warren, Lisa Hannigan and Belle and Sebastian’s Stuart Murdoch joining Danny Thompson, Vashti Bunyan, Green Gartside to pay tribute to the late musical icon at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on 20th January.

The frontman of the Mercury-nominated avant-pop outfit Guillemots, Fyfe Dangerfield, showcases music from his debut solo release Fly Yellow Moon (due out in January) with a gig on 20th January, with support coming from Oxford band Stornoway.

Two new shows have been added to the program at City Halls, with Portuguese band Deolinda taking to the stage on 29th January, and a triple bill featuring Grace, Hewat & Polwart, Diana Jones and Rachel Harrington on 30th January.

The Celtic Connections Opening Concert, which sees Jim Sutherland’s True North Orchestra perform excerpts from the composer’s epic Aisling’s Children, will also feature 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.

BBC Radio Scotland’s Iain Anderson will be joined by an eclectic mix of local figures for the festival’s series of lunchtime discussions, including Pat Kane and Ricky Ross, Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow, Jack McConnell and Duncan Bannatyne.

The Dan Tyminski Band will no longer perform at City Halls on 30th January, however Dan Tyminski will still appear in both nights of Transatlantic Sessions. Gandalf Murphy and The Slambovian Circus of Dreams will now perform at the O2 ABC Glasgow on Wednesday 27th instead of Òran Mór on Thursday 28th.

Celtic Connections 2010 runs from Thursday 14th to Sunday 31st January and comprises approximately 300 concerts, ceilidhs, talks, workshops, free events and late night sessions taking place over 18 days in 14 venues across Glasgow.

The focal point of Celtic Connections is the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, where every available space is utilized during the festival, from workshops in the foyers to performances by world-class artists in the Main Auditorium. Elsewhere in Glasgow, venues such as O2 ABC Glasgow, The Tron, Òran Mór, The Classic Grand, City Halls and festival fans’ favorite the Old Fruitmarket will all play host to Celtic Connections events, whilst the legendary Celtic Connections Festival Club will be held in the The Art School.

Celtic Connections 2010 tickets are on sale now and can be booked:
Online www.celticconnections.com
By phone: 0141 353 8000
In person Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, 2 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, G2 3NY