Aoife O'Donovan at Celtic

Great review of Aoife O'Donovan's new album in Sunday Times. 'Fossils' signals the arrival of a serious talent! — with Aoife O'Donovan and Bruce Molsky.

Aoife sang with the band Crooked Still at the Transatlantic Sessions.
Photos of Aoife at Celtic 2013.

Celtic Connections festival Review 2013

It’s always exciting when the Celtic program arrives each year – who are the big names, which big concerts are there, who is at which venue…

The Concert hall was quieter this year with no Open Mic or Late Sessions, due to renovations at the hall.

I missed

The Roaming Roots Revue of new indie artists. It would have been nice to have made more events, if that was only possible. I also missed the Big Burns Night. I never made the Old Fruitmarket venue which I love at Celtic – for some reason I was more excited by those performing at the ABC venue. 

A highlight this year was the concert for Dundee singer songwriter Dundee Michael Marra.

I have seen Marra live several times and he was such an engrossing and interesting artist. We were very saddened by his passing last November. Michael's two children Alice and Mathew Marra were perfoming with their band The Hazey Janes and I got a nice photo with three Scottish legends on stage together at this concert -  Dougie MacLean, Eddi Reader and Rab Noakes.  

Alice Marra

This year I saw English folk band Bellowhead and American singer songwriter Aimee Mann at the ABC O2;  Cara Dillon and The BBC Scottish Symphony orchestra at the City Halls;  and The Transatlantic Sessions at the Concert Hall; and also the Celtic Connections 20^th Celebration concert with some of the cream from the Scottish folk scene - Eddi Reader, Julie Fowlis, Phil Cunningham and Rod Paterson.

In the past few years I have seen several exciting new artists at Celtic – Manran, Rura, Rachel Sermanni, and this year I caught memorable singer Genesee at the Danny Kyle Open Stage. She was one of the winners in 2013.

There are several well known musical partnerhips/couples in the folk world – Donald Shaw and Karen Mathieson, Karine Polwart and Mattie Foulds, John McCusker and Heidi Talbot, Cara Dillon and Sam Lakeman, Rosanne Cash and John Leventhal.,,, and more I am sure!

The festival Celtic Connections 2013 ran from Thursday 17^th January – Sunday 3^rd February and comprised concerts, ceilidhs, talks, workshops, free events and late night sessions taking place over 18 days in various venues across Glasgow -  Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, O₂ ABC, The Tron, Òran Mór, The Arches, The Mitchell Theatre, City Halls, Kelvingrove, The Barrowland Ballroom, St Andrews in the Square and festival fans’ favourite the Old Fruitmarket all played host to Celtic Connections events.  

This is my sixth year covering Celtic Connections festival and now I am showing others where things are! I enjoy the buzz. It is also wonderful to have such excellent concerts at this cold time of year. It’s the ideal setting for musicians to get together to collaborate and I look forward to next years festival!

*Celtic Connections Festival Glasgow 2012!

Held when we feel the winter blues, Celtic offers the warm glow of dancing fiddles, energetic guitars and free flowing singers....

In my twenties I dated a folk guitarist in Edinburgh and visited Sandy Bells and Arran folk festivals. The immediacy and passion of live traditional reels and folk songs were infectious and I was hooked. 
The recent successes of younger artists such as Mumford, Laura Marling and Bellowhead, show there is now renewed interest in the musical traditions worldwide. Aly Bain commented stated that there is little acoustic music on tv these days. Celtic started in 1994 when Aly Bain was the only professional fiddle player in Scotland and he wondered would they sell 100,000 tickets in January in Glasgow.....? Well yes they did and now in 2012 Celtic is one of the largest gatherings of folk music worldwide. 

My guitarist son and I take a front row seat every year at the Transatlantic Sessions, one of Celtics highlights which is led by musical directors Aly Bain and Jerry Douglas. This concert, which is held in the Glasgow Royal Concert hall, has an energetic impact where the folk traditions of close live collaborations and instrumental skills abound.

The mix of Scottish traditional lilting tunes alongside its' partner the fun rhythms of American bluegrass and country music works a treat. Nashville legend Dubro guitarist Jerry Douglas leads the Americans on the right if the stage and backing bands don't come any better then this!  Image, age and celebrity matter not one bit. What matters is the live music, nothing else. There are no flashing lights, gimmicks or egos - the music is simply down to the quality of the sound, instruments and playing skills. One of the main aspects I enjoy at Celtic are the very interesting and sometimes usual collaborations. 
 

The band includes veterans Danny Thompson on double bass, Bruce Molsky on guitar, Phil Cunningham on accordion, and also Michael McGoldrick, John McCusker, Donald Shaw, Darrell Scott, John Doyle, Russ Barenberg and James Mackintosh. 

After a couple of reels we have the pleasure of several singers from Tim O'Brien to the likes of Gaelic singer Julie Fowlis last year in a royal blue velvet dress.  James Taylor, Emmylou Harris and Nanci Griffith have also attended.  This year the sessions include Raul Malo, Ruth Moody, Declan O'Rourke, Eddi Reader and Karen Matheson. This concert is pure class - acoustic music at it's very best.  Long may it last!   Transatlantic now goes on tour after the festival, check for dates.  http://www.celticconnections.com/ 

 

The festival centres around the concert hall with open mic sessions, concerts and more, as well as many other Glasgow venues that include the Old Fruitmarket, City halls, The Arches, Classic Grande, the ABC, Oran Mor, more.   
This is one of my favourite festivals and 2012 will be my fifth year covering Celtic.