Celebrates the rich and ever present exchange between the old world and the new.
“Playing music together always feel natural with the old time States and the Scots Irish music”, artistic director Donald Shaw. And the power of quality live music to bring us all together.
The TS band opened on the Scottish stage Concert hall Glasgow with upbeat tunes –
Led by Shetland fiddler Aly Bain, Phil Cunningham, John McCusker, Michael McGoldrick, James Mackintosh and Donald Shaw along with guests Euan Burton, Julie Fowlis & Kris Drever. They wereoined by master dubro player Jerry Douglas remotely from America.
Gaelic singer Julie Fowlis charmed with her pure dulcet tones. Plus popular Orkney singer songwriter, Kris Drever performed his own compositions.
On the American stage Nashville Tennessee : A welcome return of Tim O’Brien’s bluegrass songs. Plus Molly Tuttle, Allison Brown, Stuart Duncan and fun Irish guitarist John Doyle, sang to their friends across the ocean.
I’ve been reading up recently on the Scots Americans. Americans often reference the Scotch-Irish and view this as a close connection. From the 1700s Scots Americans came in 3 Main Groups - The Highlander Scots, Lowlander Scots and the Scotch Irish.
I lived ten years over in Ohio and Chicago Illinois. In Cincinnati at a German restaurant with singing waiters, they said they’d sing an Irish song 'Danny Boy' for my parents who were visiting from Scotland! I thought this odd at the time, but after reading this it makes sense. The connections between Ireland and Scotland are very strong ones!
Bonny and braw Transatlantic Sessions concert, with the excellent, warm energy of Celtic and bluegrass tunes, and poignant moments too with an Irish piper lament, Gaelic song,
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| Transatlantic Sessions 2019 |
My last live concert was at the Transatlantic Sessions 2020. As I left into the cold winter evening not knowing it would be my last for such a long time….. So a massive thanks to Celtic Connections and Glasgow Life for bringing all the musicians together to enrich our lives with these online concerts!
I’ve taken photos at the festival since 2008 and have a large archive of images on my website - https://pkimage.co.uk/celticconnections
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| Transatlantic Sessions 2020 |
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