Stopgap festival becomes a real class act
ITS roots may be humble – it was originally intended to fill gaps in the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall programme in the January doldrums – but Celtic Connections has grown into one of the country’s finest musical events. Its success is down in no small part to its vast breadth of artists and the eclectic range of musical styles they offer.
The 18-day programme for this year’s festival includes some of the best-known musicians in traditional and roots music, world, indie, jazz, folk, soul and Americana.
More than 2,000 artists from around the world will be in Glasgow from next Thursday until Sunday, February 1, filling 17 venues.
The 2015 festival will celebrate one of the pivotal figures in Britain’s folk revival, Ewan MacColl. In a night curated by MacColl’s sons Calum and Neill, former Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker will join the line-up.
They are added to an already stellar array of artists including Kate St John, Dick Gaughan, Martin Carthy, Eliza Carthy and Karine Polwart.
Carlos Núñez returns with a brand new commission, The Atlantic Corridor, and will be joined by a host of special guests including Argentina’s Chango Spasiuk, a hugely talented musician and accordion player.
Núñez and friends will once again explore Celtic music’s subsequent leaps-and-bounds evolution, splicing traditional and original material from Galicia, Ireland and Brittany, along with newly created Scottish piping arrangements.
Québécois quartet Le Vent du Nord will be joined by an array of fantastic female guests, including Emily Smith, Julie Fowlis, Sharon Shannon, Patsy Reid, Megan Henderson and Christine Hanson.
In only its third year, the Roaming Roots Revue is fast becoming a cherished Celtic Connections institution, exemplifying the festival’s facility for conjuring musical magic from fresh artistic alliances. Joining the star-studded UK and US line-up will be Massachusetts’ very own alt folk siblings The Parkington Sisters and English singer-songwriter duo Kami Thompson and James Walbourne, better known as The Rails, who will be showcasing their spine-shivering harmonies.
Southern, a brother-and-sister duo from Belfast, will be supporting Hudson Taylor in Oran Mor on January 31. Southern perform a mixture of blues, alternative rock, pop and hip hop.
THE band has been championed by BBC Radio Ulster’s Gerry Anderson, who has described them as ‘ the most promising singer/songwriters in Ireland today’. BC Camplight will be supporting Tucson-based collective Calexico in the Old Fruitmarket on February 1. BC Camplight is the moniker of songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Brian Christinzio. His 2005 album Hide, Run Away was released by One Little Indian and featured Cynthia G Mason on vocals.
Dunblane-born troubadour Aaron Fyfe i s a 26- year- old singersongwriter. He will be supporting Diana Jones in the Glasgow Art Club on January 28.
Irish rockers The Riptide Movement will be supporting Hayseed Dixie – whose hillbilly banjo take on artists such as Motorhead and AC/DC is incredible – at the O2 ABC on January 30. Demand has already been huge, forcing organiser s i nto s i gnif i c ant changes. An extra date has been added for the sell- out show Frances Black & Kieran Goss’s Reunion. There will be an additional concert on Monday, January 26, in the Strathclyde Suite in Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. There has also been a second night added for the sold-out The Crew of the Puffer present Para Handy, A Highland Voyage, on Sunday, January 19, in St Andrews in the Square. Due to fantastic demand Justin Townes Earle and Lindsey Black will now be appearing at the O2 ABC on Saturday, January 17, in order to allow more people to buy tickets.
As ever, there’s no shortage of homegrown talent being showcased. Originally commissioned to mark 700 years since the Battle of Bannockburn, The Bruce 700 is an epic creation by revered Highland piper and Gaelic scholar Allan MacDonald and features a cast of 50 musicians, on pipes, strings, brass, vocals and percussion.
Combining his wealth of historical knowledge with grand contemporary flair, the music, on which MacDonald collaborated with cellist and arranger Neil Johnstone, vividly and movingly evokes the sounds, action and emotions of battle.
Performers include Angus MacDonald, Iain MacDonald, Aidan O’Rourke, Lori Watson, Innes Watson, Christine Hanson, Fraser Fifield, Dick Lee, Duncan Lyall, Mary Macmaster, Donald Hay, Daniel Thorpe, Griogair Labhruidh, Kathleen MacInnes and Rod Paterson, together with Stirling youth music groups.
For more details and ticketing, visit www.celticconnections.com.