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A Celtic get together
 Music lovers from near and far are set to descend on Glasgow this month
for Britain’s biggest Celtic festival - Celtic Connections.
Celtic Connections boasts it’s the largest of it’s kind in the world. And with
more than 100,000 people expected to attend that’s probably right. Focusing on
the roots of traditional Scottish music the festival will play host to some of
the most successful home grown and international talent around including Roddy
Frame, The Levellers, The Dubliners, The Waterboys and Altan and Dougie MacLean.
Running from January 11-29, Celtic Connections is entering its 13th year and
everything from concerts to ceilidhs will be shown in as many as 12 venues
across Glasgow.
Here are some of the acts to watch out for.
The Levellers Acoustic
January 12 at the Arches, 8pm
The Levellers have broken new ground in numerous directions, not least musically
with their rousing blend of folk, punk, rock and agit-prob, but also by their
refusal to work within the mainstream record industry. It’s this proud spirit of
independence, which continues to cement the Levellers unique relationship with
their legions of loyal fans. This unplugged performance will feature the full
six-piece band mixing tracks from their current album Truth and Lies with
back-catalogue favourites.
Lunasa with Le Vent Du Nord
January 13 at The Gait, Old Fruitmarket, 9.30pm
One of the hottest tickets in Irish music since they formed in 1997 Lunasa are
currently scaling new heights of brilliance. Weaving a virtuosi array of wind
and string textures — flutes, whistles, fiddle, uilleann pipes, guitar, bass —
into the perfect marriage of thrilling melodic sweetness and awesome rhythmic
verve Lunasa live are simply unbeatable. And it’s the unfailing eagerness to
crank the buzz to the max that makes Le Vent du Nord apart from the rest.
Guaranteed to be a great night.
Dougie McLean
January 15 at the Concert Hall, 7.30pm
Building on his achievements at last year’s Celtic Connections when he premiered
his four-movement multimedia symphony Rural Image McLean continues his musical
odyssey with another new commission — Muir of Gormach — named after a stone
circle lying off the beaten track in his beloved native Perthshire.
Subtitled A Pictish Story, the piece will be performed by Ali Fergusson, Alan
Sutherland, Jamie MacLean, Ross Ainslie and Chris Agnew with Dougie himself
leading from the front on vocals, acoustic guitar and fiddle.
Brian Kennedy
January 17 at the Concert Hall, 7.30pm
A certain lady from Cardiff may have appropriated the voice of an angel tag but
Brian Kennedy’s fans remain secure in the knowledge that there’s only one true
contender for that particular accolade. Raised on the Falls Road in Belfast
Brian first shot to fame as a featured vocalist in Van Morrison’s globetrotting
Blues and Soul Revue. He has worked with everyone from Lulu, Liam Clancy and
Moya Brennan to Juliet Turner.
Brian has been one of the festival’s most consistent and popular visitors.
Altan
January 21 at the Concert Hall, 8.30pm
There are few acts who can stay at the top of their game for 20 years, but with
their 10th album Local Ground Altan have raised the bar once again. The unique
strength of this Donegal-based five-piece was originally forged in numerous pub
and kitchen sessions around Ireland, in friendship and in a deep shared affinity
with the local traditions that remain the wellspring of their music. Hence their
choice of album title to mark that 20-year anniversary, even though those two
decades have seen them carry the Irish gospel to almost every corner of the
globe. “We never ever forget who we learned this music from and where it comes
from,” says fiddler and whistle player Ciaran Tourish.
Dubliners
January 22 at the Concert Hall, 8.15pm
It is often said that The Dubliners are the best accident that ever happened to
the world of folk music responsible for bringing ballads and traditional music
from the small clubs and pubs to the international stage of popular music. The
godfathers of Irish music, they paved the way and influenced future followers
such as Planxty and The Pogues, and all from their humble beginnings in the back
room of O’Donoghue’s pub in Dublin. Shooting to stardom with the release of
their now famous version of Seven Drunken Nights it was not unusual for them to
appear on Top Of The Pops or make the Top 40. Things may be different now, but
the Dubliners still endure as one of the most popular folk groups of today.
Danu and Dochas
January 27 at the Arches, 7.30pm
With their all-acoustic, seven-piece line-up, Danu epitomise both the pure
spirit and irresistible power of Irish traditional music at its best. Their
reputation has been cemented by worldwide touring and four critically acclaimed
albums — most recently 2003’s The Road Less Travelled.
After their previous all-conquering visits to Celtic Connections Danu are set to
carry all before them once again. With a line-up encompassing two pipers, two
accordionists and two pianists, plus fiddle, clarsach, whistles and bodhran, the
result is a beautifully configured, confidently wide-ranging sound. Guaranteed
to be a super night.
The Waterboys
January 28 at the Concert Hall, 7.30pm
Throughout their various incarnations, now dating back more than two decades The
Waterboys have embodied their founder and frontman Mick Scott’s “vision of an
ever-changing band, playing an ever-changing music, and following that music
wherever its inner sources and inspirations lead”.
Steve Wickham on fiddle, together with Richard Naiff on keyboards, bassist Steve
Walters and drummer Carlos Hercules, the Waterboys circa 2006 embrace both the
rock and acoustic aspects of the band’s diverse history together with the
continuing twists and turns of Scott’s songwriting muse.
n For further information on the artistes appearing at Celtic Connections
contact www.celticconnections.com or see the official Scottish Arts Council
Celtic Connections magazine. | 