Scots Gaelic Kim Carnie Transatlantic Sessions, Celtic Connections 2024, #ccfest2024,

 

Scots Gaelic singer songwriter, Kim Carnie, lead singer with Manran, performed at the Transatlantic Sessions, Celtic Connections 2024, #ccfest2024,

Ciaran Ryan Celtic Connections 2024

   

Ciaran Ryan played at the Old Fruitmarket, as part of Celtic Connections 2024, when he supported Kinnaris. 

Ryan is a dynamic, high energy player. He is a Scottish tenor banjo player, one of the UKs top players and a founding member of folk band Dallahan, His second solo album, Occupational Hazards, was released 2024. 

 

Kinnaris Quintet PHOTOS at Celtic Connections 2024

Electrifying, genre-bending and joyous!

 

Kinnaris consists of five accomplished musicians - Jenn Butterworth on guitar, Aileen Reid on fiddle, Fiona MacAskill on fiddle, Laura-Beth on mandolin, and Laura Wilkie on fiddle. 

 

The all female band sparkled on the Old Fruimarket stage! And the packed audience, with many well dressed female fans, were ready to party. This is as far from the decades old folk image of arran sweaters as we might choose to get! 

 

Their set was begun with a toe-tapping tune This Too – after which the band were joined on stage by the ever-popular Celtic Connections singers Julie Fowlis and Karine Polwart with a rousing Emeli Sande song, Read All About It and a poignant Gaelic song Puirt sung by the enchanting vocals of Julie Fowlis, while backed perfectly by the dynamic band. 

 

Aileen Reid

Karine Polwart, a festival stalwart and activist for inclusivity, had us all singing along to her emotive song, Come Away In. and them moved by a stirring song Lost Words Blessing.

 

This wonderfully escapist concert was brought to a fitting climax with the Kinnaris tunes Wonderful and Saltsprings. Kinnaris play with verve, with both a lightness of touch and also high energy. They mix many influences to great challenging effects, from traditional Scottish, Irish, Bluegrass, Classical, Scandinavian and Appalachian music; with which they create technically exciting arrangements, while their performances are filled with a contagious positive verve. 

 

An upbeat evening to remember! 

Karine Polwart

Laura-Beth Slater

II  Kinnaris were very well supported by the dynamic, high energy playing of Ciaran Ryan, Scottish tenor banjo player, one of the UKs top players and a founding member of folk band Dallahan, His second solo album, Occupational Hazards, was released 2024. 

 The evening concert was opened by Norwegian band Gangar, with their fresh take on Nordic roots music and a modern rock take on traditional tunes.

Roaming Roots Revue at Celtic Connections 2024

 

Brownbear

What a wealth of talent!

The Roaming Roots Revue celebrated its ever popular, sold out show, with its 12^th year as part of Celtic Connections. This year honouring the modern Scots song, interpreted and chosen by some of Scotland’s top talent. The concert was hosted by the excellent talent of Roddy Hart and his band the Lonesome Fire and backed by the RCS Symphony Orchestra, conducted by John Logan, which created a rich and dynamic backdrop for the songs. 

 

The show was an eclectic and diverse look at the development of the modern Scots songs from well renowned Gerry Rafferty to more recent hits such a Frightened Rabbit.  New talent Brownbear aka Matthew Hickman, sang Spin Another Web and Aztec Camera’s Somewhere in my Heart. Eddi Reader performed King Creoste’s Something to Believe In. 80s artists Frank Reader and John Douglas impressed with Al Stewart’s Year of the Cat.

 

A highlight was Justin Currie of Del Amitri – who sang Be My Downfall and Nothing Ever Happens, plus a dramatic The Fight to be Human. After which the crowd cheered along to Franz Ferdinand’s Take ME Out, well performed by a dancing Hamish Hawk! The popular singer Simon Neil sang Biffy Clyro songs Space and Victory Over the Sun, plus Frightened Rabbit’s Keep Yourself Warm.

Emma Pollock performed Gerry Rafferty’s classic Night Owl. Roddy Woomble shone along with the RCS Symphony Orchestra - after a wobble to get Rod Jones guitar plugged in – with Idlewild songs You Held the World in Your Arms and American English. Eddi Reader drew proceedings to a close with In a Big Country, followed with the entire ensemble's rousing The Whole of the Moon by the Waterboys. (An additional Roaming Roots Revue was performed on the Saturday at the famous Barrowlands venue.)

Roddy Hart

Roddy Woomble 

Simon Neil

It would have been impossible to include every quality song of the recent decades in one concert – while I might have enjoyed to hear Deacon Blue’s Dignity or a Michael Marra song, but we were certainly very happy to hear the popular Proclaimer's anthem Sunshine on Leith, ably performed by Admiral Fallow’s Sarah Hayes and Louis Abbott! 

Scotland has seen a resurgence of the Scots folk scene back in the 60s and 70s with folklorists and song collectors such as Margaret Bennett, Hamish Henderson, Dick Gaughan, plus the rock and pop successes over the 80s and 90s. Scots songwriters mix the ballad traditions and contemporary influences to great effect. We should be proud and happy to see the new generations take up the mantle that was first worked on to preserve Scots voices in the 1700s by poets Allan Ramsay, Robert Fergusson and Robert Burns.

Eddi Reader

Eddi Reader

Biffy Clyro’s Simon Neil, 

Idlewild’s Roddy Woomble and Rod Jones, 

Del Amitri’s Justin Currie, 

Camera Obscura’s Tracyanne Campbell, 

Admiral Fallow’s Sarah Hayes and Louis Abbott, 

Plus Emma Pollock,  Hamish Hawk, Brownbear, 

Review & Photos by Pauline Keightley  -  https://pkimage.co.uk