By Michael Kornfeld<\/p>\n
Among the musical highlights of the recent Association of Performing Arts Presenters 50th Annual Members Conference in New York was a series of showcases by contemporary musicians from Scotland. The last time I heard so much good live Scottish folk music was at the Edinburgh Folk Festival in 1981, and come to think of it, not all of that music was Scottish and fiddling was not as prominently featured. <\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The [Scottish folk music] scene is quite healthy; there are a lot of young people playing great music throughout Scotland,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Mike Katz, who plays Highland and small pipes (as well as whistles) with Battlefield Band, a mainstay of the Scottish folk scene for three decades, that played an impressive set of songs and tunes during a short Saturday afternoon showcase. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153There are lots of lads writing new tunes and playing tons of old tunes,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he added.<\/p>\n
Indeed, most of the showcasing Scottish acts were new visitors to our shores and many had not even been born yet when Battlefield Band was launched in the 70s.<\/p>\n
Mesmerizing the audience with her beautiful, stirring voice, Julie Fowlis, clearly revealed why she received the 2006 BBC Radio 2 Horizon Award for Best Emerging Artist and is currently a nominee for Folk Singer of the Year (this year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s awards show takes place Feb. 5). Fowlis, who hails from North Uist, a small, remote island in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, sings in Scots Gaelic, which is still the major language in that part of west Scotland. She was voted Gaelic Singer of the Year 2005 at the Scots Traditional Music Awards.<\/p>\n
Although she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been performing professionally for only a few years, Fowlis said she \u00e2\u20ac\u0153grew up with the music. For us, it was very normal to sing in Gaelic. Obviously not everybody else in Scotland has been exposed to that.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Commenting on the reception she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s received elsewhere in the United Kingdom since winning the New Horizon Award, she said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been absolutely amazing. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s given me an opportunity I otherwise would not have had.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Making Fowlis debut performance on this side of the Atlantic all the more impressive was the fact that she was going on little sleep, having flown to New York after playing the Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow, Scotland late the previous night. Accompanied by a fiddler, guitarist, bouzouki player and bodhran, Fowlis began her short set with a wee song dating back to the 1600s that translates to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153My Love is on the High Seas.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Strathspeys (including one she described as being about a man who likes potatoes, butter and women) and work songs from her 2005 debut CD, As My Heart Is, and her forthcoming release, Cuilidh (due out in Europe in March), followed, with instrumental accompaniment \u2014 including her own tin whistle playing interlude \u00e2\u20ac\u201c lending just the right touch in enhancing her lovely, expressive vocals. <\/p>\n
Blazin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Fiddles came on doing just that. Their rousing and rollicking repertoire of jigs, reels, strathspeys and original tunes evocative of the various styles of fiddling that are still alive in the highlands and islands of Scotland was simply brilliant. Some tunes inspired toe-tapping and were eminently danceable (though the showcase audiences were more sedate), while others were slower and very pretty to just listen to intently. Blazin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Fiddles also paid tribute to the late great Johnny Cunningham (a guiding force behind the bands Silly Wizard and Relativity, as well as the originator of the Celtic Celebration that concludes the annual Greater New Bedford Summerfest) by playing one of his compositions. While five fine fiddlers (all but one male) took center stage, their fiery sound was punctuated by guitar and keyboards in the background.<\/p>\n
Back of the Moon is an acoustic quartet comprised of talented twenty-somethings who are equally adept at trad-based instrumental tune sets and songs. Voted Best Folk Band in the 2005 Scots Trad Music Awards (an honor previously bestowed on such stellar acts as Capercaille and Old Blind Dogs), Back of the Moon had previously been named Best Up and Coming Act in 2003. The band includes Gillian Frame, Radio Scotland\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Young Traditional Musician of the Year 2001, on fiddle and vocals; Ali Hutton on border pipes, whistle and bodhran; and brothers Findlay and Hamish Napier, who add rhythmic punch to the mix on guitar and piano, respectively, while also alternating on lead and harmony vocals, along with the clear and smooth-voiced Frame.<\/p>\n
Apart from the Scottish Music Showcases organized by British Council Scotland with funding from the Scottish Arts Council, other showcases also featured Scots performers.<\/p>\n
One showcase, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Highland, Heath and Holler (Celtic Music\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Voyage to Appalachia),\u00e2\u20ac\u009d paired master Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser and young American cellist Natalie Haas with Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill, a talented Irish fiddle and guitar duo; as well as Appalachian fiddler, guitarist, banjoist and singer Bruce Molsky for a wide-ranging mix of ballads, jigs, reels and other tunes. <\/p>\n
Shetland based fiddle band Fiddlers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Bid is a high-energy ensemble comprised of seven musicians \u00e2\u20ac\u201c including four fiddlers, a guitarist, a bass player and, most notably, a pianist who also plays the Scottish harp (clarsach) and truly enhances the ensemble\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sound. Although the band\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s music is exhilarating and all its young players are talented, Catriona McKay\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s simply lovely harp playing stood out \u00e2\u20ac\u201c particularly on an entrancing original composition about a herring fishing boat that had a somewhat symphonic movie soundtrack quality to it. McKay also performs as part of a duo with Christ Stout, one of Fiddler\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Bid\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fiddlers. <\/p>\n
Also entertaining APAP Showcase audiences (and keeping them well-fed with Walker\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s shortbread) was Scottish balladeer Colin Grant-Adams, who sang traditional Scots and Celtic ballads in his clear tenor, while accompanying himself on guitar.<\/p>\n
While acknowledging that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153you have to work hard to get good returns,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the Battlefield Band\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Mike Katz described showcasing at APAP as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153a good experience.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Said the piper, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Working in conjunction with our agent and manager, we are trying to whip up enthusiasm and get bookings. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re in the fortunate position that we play a lot.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
In fact, Scotland\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Battlefield Band has been impressing audiences worldwide for years. The four-piece outfit \u2014 which also includes founding member Alan Reid, a keyboardist who also handles most of the signing and songwriting; fiddler Alasdair White and its most recent addition, acoustic guitarist Sean O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Donnell \u2014 is returning to Australia and New Zealand this year and also has two tours planned in the U.S. Battlefield Band\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s latest release, last year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Road of Tears, features music and lyrics inspired by the subject of immigration. <\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Because we tour a lot, the problem is getting time to record a new album,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Katz. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got plenty of material; we just need to work it out.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d As Battlefield Band continues to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153move forward with Scotland\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s past,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll do just that. Carry on lads. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Among the musical highlights of the recent Association of Performing Arts Presenters 50th Annual Members Conference in New York was a series of showcases by contemporary musicians from Scotland. The last time I heard so much good live Scottish folk music was at the Edinburgh Folk Festival in 1981, and come to think of it, not all of that music was Scottish and fiddling was not as prominently featured. <\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The [Scottish folk music] scene is quite healthy; there are a lot of young people playing great music throughout Scotland<\/p>\n
[To see the entire article, click the title in red] <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-celtic-corner","category-featured-articles","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/acousticmusicscene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/acousticmusicscene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/acousticmusicscene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acousticmusicscene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acousticmusicscene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/acousticmusicscene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/acousticmusicscene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acousticmusicscene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acousticmusicscene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}