Opening Phil’s Songbook
Folk legend Phil Cunningham is looking forward to bringing his Christmas Songbook to Stirling - the place where he made his name ... literally!
Best-known for teaming up with Aly Bain, Phil told the Stirling Observer that his first-ever paid gig as a solo performer was in 1975 at the Stirling Folk Club when it was in the Golden Lion Hotel.
“I shared the bill with the great Eric Bogle,”said Phil.“Little did I know what would happen over the next 42 years.”
He added:“It was also where I ‘made my name’because it was where my name changed officially from‘Philip’to‘Phil’on that gig. It was easier to fit on the poster and business cards.”
On Saturday, December 16, he’ll be at the Albert Halls with the Christmas Songbook show alongside friends Eddi Reader, Karen Matheson, Kris Drever, John McCusker, Ian Carr, Kevin McGuire and the Songbook Brass Band for a night filled with favourite classics, contemporary carols, tunes and banter.
“One of the great things about the Christmas Songbook team is that as we have all been really good friends for years,”added Phil.
“The show gives us an opportunity to get together over the festive period, have some fun and play some nice music. It is one of the loveliest reasons ever to do a concert.”
The Songbook tour also takes in Perth, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh but he’ll be back at home on Christmas Day.
“I have wonderful memories of Christmas as a child. Three chairs, lined up in front of the Christmas tree, a string stretched across the back of all three, dad’s old fire brigade socks hanging from the string held in place with wooden clothes pegs.
“We would get up in the morning. Mum would run downstairs to see if Santa had been and she’d call us down if he had. Mum and dad were more excited than we were, watching us - me, Johnny and Laura marvelling at the piles of gifts on the chairs and the socks stuffed with goodies. There was always an orange and a shilling wrapped in Christmas paper right in the toe!
“As an adult and a father, my favourite memory of Christmas was putting great effort into filling my daughter’s sock, lighting and dressing the fireplace to look like a scene from a Christmas card.
“There was always a sooty footprint on the fireplace on Christmas morning - and an empty port glass!”
He added:“Once I made her ruby slippers because she loved the Wizard of Oz, I placed them carefully on top of what Santa had left just before she woke up. We nearly cried when Rowan put on the slippers and clicked her heels together immediately! What was she trying to tell us?”
This year, though it will be a quiet one.“I’ll nip over to visit my sister and her family early in the morning then come home and make my Christmas vindaloo.
“It’s always one of the quietest days of the year, not much traffic on the roads so I like to get out in the early afternoon with my microphones and record the wildlife around where I stay. Nature recording is my hobby. More animals, less cars! “I’ll have a quiet evening, and rest up till the day after Boxing Day when I have to start getting ready for the live Hogmanay show on BBC Scotland. I pre make my New Year’s Day steak pie on Boxing Day and put it in the freezer so it’s there for me when I get home from the BBC in Glasgow.”
2018 will be a busy year for Phil starting with Celtic Connections then the Transatlantic Sessions tour. He’ll tour with Aly in Spain, England and Scotland, make some new recordings and work with students at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
First of all, though, it’s the Christmas Songbook - and some of his favourite festive songs. Does he have a favourite?
“With so many to choose from - that’s a difficult task. If I was pushed to choose, it would probably be‘In the bleak midwinter’or maybe‘When Santa got stuck up the chimney’.”
It remains to be seen if either of them feature at the Albert Halls on December 16. Tickets £26/£25/£24/£23 are on sale at the box office on 01786 473544 or www.culturestirling.org.