FOLK AWAIT LORETTA’S RETURN
CANADIAN folk star Loreena McKennitt will play Scotland tomorrow for the first time since 1995.
And it’ll be the 62-year-old’s first gig in Edinburgh in 28 years.
Multi-instrumentalist Loreena told The Ticket: “It’s wonderful to be back in Edinburgh to perform.
“One of my first performing experiences was at the Edinburgh Festival around 1991.
“It is such a handsome city with such a rich history. I only wish to have spent more time in Scotland, and in particular Edinburgh, than I have to date.”
Loreena was dubbed the queen of pan-Celtic music after the release of 1998’s The Book of Secrets but retreated from public life after the 1998 drowning of her fiancé and a privacy court course which ran from 2005 to 2007 when it reached the House of Lords after a former employee wrote a book about her.
Loreena, who won the case, hasn’t toured central Europe since 2013 but the release of Lost Souls – her first album of original songs since 2006 has spurred her on to playing live more extensively.
For her Usher Hall gig tomorrow night, Loreena will be playing harp, piano and accordion and will be bringing Brian Hughes on guitar, bouzouki and oud, Caroline Lavelle on cello, Hugh Marsh on fiddle, Dudley Philips on bass and Robert Brian on drums. She said: “I can honestly say we are really looking forward to returning to Edinburgh.” The concert will include a mix of Lost Souls and her expansive back catalogue, She added: “We will also be performing songs which have come out of the past recordings, which resembles a musical travelogue, connecting to the history of the Celts, though not always overtly Celtic in sound.” Loreena plays the Usher Hall, Edinburgh tomorrow.