RSS feedInterview with Celtic Connections’ Donald Shaw
Posted on February 7th, 2012 in Songlines Blog by Sophie Atkinson.
Well it’s all over. Celtic Connections has – until next year of course – come to an end, and I imagine there were a few sore heads in Glasgow yesterday as a result.
From the almighty opening with banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck and Le Vent du Nord’s tenth Anniversary celebration, to ABC’s headline gigs – Admiral Fallow, Treacherous Orchestra and King Creosote & Jon Hopkins to name just a few; from ‘Deadly Duos’ featured at the City’s Piping Centre, to the impromptu pick-up bands in the festival club and the infamous ‘sessions’ spontaneously taking place everywhere you looked, there was something for everyone under this impressive and eclectic musical umbrella.
Since its incarnation in the mid 90s, CC has garnered a reputation as a stellar festival that represents music across the spectrum, but the festival saw a change in direction when Donald Shaw – Scottish musician, composer, producer, and one of the founding members of the group Capercaillie – came onboard as artistic director in 2006.
“Despite my initial hesitations about the role, I was keen to look for a way to develop the festival from the point it had reached when I came on board,” Shaw tells me during a quick chat in the Concert Hall, during which he candidly admits that he initially turned the role down as he didn’t think he had the background or experience to pull it off.
But how wrong he was, and develop it he certainly did, bringing with him a new element to the festival, namely a host of world music acts, a genre previously ignored by the festival. The 2012 edition of CC saw artists from Pakistan, Portugal, Sweden, Senegal, Armenia and the Australian outback, in addition to the more the more traditionally ‘Celtic’ and traditional folk acts such as Lau, Breabach, Kathryn Tickell, Martin Simpson, Dick Gaughan and June Tabor.
But what is his response to those who criticise the new direction, claiming that these new world acts bear too tenuous a relationship to the umbrella under which the festival’s line-up initially sat?
“The folk musicians that I have approached from countries around the world have always jumped at the chance of coming to Glasgow, meeting other artists from other parts of the world and finding a common voice,” Shaw tells me. “They all have something in common: namely that they are writing new songs while drawing on old traditions and I think it’s for this very reason that none of the world music artists that I’ve booked have thought it at all strange to be invited to play a Celtic festival.”
And more than just introducing these acts to the festival’s audience, Shaw has been eager to encourage ‘cross-fertilisation’ of genres – underpinning the ‘connection’ aspect of the festival’s asuspicious title. This year saw the radical young Irish fiddle trio Fidil perform with Senegalese griot singer and kora player Solo Cissokho, and fadista Ana Moura sing along with N’Diale (a new collaboration between Breton fiddler Molard and Malian vocalist Diarra).
Long may these magical musical experiments continue…
But for those of you that can’t wait until next year for more of the same, CC will be staging a first-of-its-kind, two-day music festival on the Isle of Skye as a finale to the Year of Scotland’s Islands. Taking place on March 23 and 24, the Big Top will feature Rosanne Cash, The Civil Wars, the Michael McGoldrick Band, Aoife O’Donovan of Crooked Still fame, Highland favourites Dàimh and Mànran, who recently won the MG Alba Scots Trad Music Award for Album of the Year.
Meet the Songlines Team
Posted on February 6th, 2012 in Songlines Blog by Alexandra Petropoulos.
Continuing our ‘Meet the Songlines Team’, we’d like to introduce you to one of our team members, intern Louise Ungless.
How long have you been working at Songlines?
For one month only. It’s flown by!
What is your middle name?
Helen.
What do you want to be when you grow up?
I wanted to be a pilot, but soon realised I wasn’t a major fan of flying.
What is your all-time favourite album?
Bjork’s Greatest Hits. Always a winner for when I’m in the mood for some of her classics.
What are you listening to at this very second?
An interesting office debate on world music…
First musical memory?
Watching a Michael Jackson concert on TV with my Dad. I’ve been obsessed ever since.
What is your claim to fame?
Being in a Bollywood movie. I thought I’d be dressed in a glamorous sari, but instead they put me in an orange wig and matching feather bower.
What’s your hidden talent?
I can play ‘For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow’ on the accordion.
What drink best describes you?
Rum and Coke. Laidback, happy and bubbly.
If you were a festival which one would you be?
Sziget Festival, Hungary. It offers every kind of music, which suits my broad taste.
Find out more about Lousie by checking her out online:
Website: www.musika.uk.com (coming very soon) A website for underground and contemporary music
Linked In: http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/louise-ungless/40/6ab/275
Tumblr: http://louiseungless.tumblr.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/LouiseUngless
World Cinema Trailers – #82
Posted on February 5th, 2012 in Songlines Blog by Alexandra Petropoulos.
For the film buffs out there – we’ve pulled together all the trailers from the world cinema reviews in the current issue of Songlines (March 2012 #82). Check them out for yourself and decide which ones you can’t afford to miss.
In Cinemas
Bombay Beach
Carancho
Hadewijch
Trishna
On DVD
The Big Picture
Zift
Sophie’s Celtic Connections round-up part ii
Posted on February 4th, 2012 in Songlines Blog by Sophie Atkinson.
So here’s my round up part deux of Celtic Connections festival… As I mentioned at the tail end of my last blog, simply focussing on the larger gigs that take place at Celtic would be belying the very essence of the festival itself. Should you so wish, you could quite merrily entertain yourself in and around the city from dusk until, well, dusk, with a plethora of workshops, more informal gigs, late night sessions and of course a spot of dancing at the infamous festival club.
The workshops come in all shapes and sizes and are open to participants of all ages and levels. This year, festival-goers were able to try their hand at the fiddle, mandolin, whistle, ukulele, Gaelic singing and harmonising. In addition to these there were the children’s workshops – where you could take your bairns along to percussion sessions for ‘wee ones’ or the Lullabies: Sing a Song of Sleep with Chrissie Stewart, which I was able to attend with my friend and her little boy. We, along with dozens of other parents, learned songs such as ‘Ally Bally Bee’, although I can safely say not much sleeping went on…
Daytime sessions included those hosted by Hazy Recollections – whose aim it is to celebrate and connect acts whose music meets at the boundaries of indie, folk and roots. Special guests over the three Sundays included The Dirty Beggars, Julia and the Doogans, Findlay Napier and the Bar Room Mountaineers, Captain and the Kings and The Hidden Lane Choir. And then there were the Brel sessions, taking place in the Belgian bar in the city’s West End. Acts who played at the intimate bar included Federation Of The Disco Pimp (a 7-piece Scottish band who combine elements of old-school funk, disco, psychedelic and jazz) and Louis Abbott (of Admiral Fallow – who went down a treat at their Celtic gig at ABC) and friends.
It was around about this time – post workshops and afternoon sessions, but pre gigs – that I’d try to grab a nap to re-energise, very much in the knowledge of what the night had in store for me: namely the Late Night Sessions and the FESTIVAL CLUB! Both kick off at around 10pm, and go on to the wee small hours. The line-up for each isn’t decided until mere hours beforehand. Spectacular acts who played at the Festival Club while I was there included Blazin’ Fiddles, Manran, Sweetback Sisters, I Draw Slow, Donald Macdonald and the Islands, Shooglenifty, Rua Macmillan… The list is truly inexhaustive. And the atmosphere here is as important and impressive as the lineup. Another blog compared it, very rightly, to that of a spontaneous house party – and acts that have been playing are more often than not found kicking about and enjoying the festivities both before and after performances.
All in all – a riotous, if not completely exhausting – time was had by all. I’ll be back up in two shakes of a haggis’ tail.
