MUSICAL NOTES

A guide to the best of Celtic Connections.

Siobhan Miller

Glasgow Royal Concert Hall: New Auditorium, Feb 3

FOR countless musicians around the world, being invited to play at Celtic Connections is a major ambition.

But for acclaimed Scottish folk singer Siobhan Miller, it’s hard to imagine the festival not being part of her life.

For more than half of her 31 years, the three-time Scots Singer of the Year winner has featured on the bill at the world’s premier roots music event.

“I was 14 or 15 the first time I played there,” Siobhan smiled.

“I was part of a show Findlay Napier brought together which featured young female vocalists, such as Julie Fowlis, Emily Smith and Gillian Frame, who were all still studying at the time. I think Findlay heard me at the Auchtermuchty Festival and I’ve been lucky enough to perform at Celtic Connections every year since.

“It’s a really important festival for me.

“It’s been amazing to see how much the festival has grown, even in the time I’ve been involved.”

Siobhan, from Penicuik, was brought up in the folk scene as her dad, Brian, is a renowned folk musician. But it wasn’t something she pursued as a career at first.

“I was interested in trad music from a young age and would always be going to festivals at the weekends with my parents. I was surrounded by musicians passing songs on to me.

“But it was only when I finished high school and realised there was a course at the RSAMD that I thought I could do it as a career.”

More than a decade on and Siobhan has released three albums, toured the world, performed on Broadway and had a singing role in hit TV series, Outlander.

Her latest release, Mercury, came out in November and is her first record of entirely original material.

“We toured the UK when it came out and it was interesting to play a lot of that new material alongside the trad music from my previous albums,” Siobhan continued.

“I wasn’t sure how I would tie together my love of trad and folk with the music I write myself, as it’s two very different sounds, but it got a great reaction and felt like it worked.

“Now I can’t wait to play Celtic Connections with a full band show.”

As well as Siobhan’s show, there are more than 2,000 musicians taking part in 300 events at more than 30 venues between Thursday and February 3.

We take a look at some of the other highlights here.