Transatlantic Sessions 2026

The Celtic roots celebration returns for its 31^st year at Glasgow's Celtic Connections music festival. Transatlantic Sessions is one of the highlights of Celtic Connections music festival, with both the familiar tunes and the new. TS brings together the deep connections between Irish, Scots and American music. Its a special blend of the churning rhythms of bluegrass, country, the fine Scots melodies, jigs and reels and the haunting Irish Gaelic song. This year we were treated to a quality range of performers – from America, Kathy Mattea, and Darrell Scott: from Scotland Karine Polwart and from Ireland Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh. 

To set the tone the concert began with the familiar refrains of Aly Bain’s tune Waiting for the Federals. America dubro master, Jerry Douglas was our musical director and compare for tonight’s concert and he provided his dynamic steel guitar melodies, along with Tatiana Hargreaves and Allison de Groot on banjo and fiddle - counterbalancing the Scots fiddles, pipes and accordion of John McCusker, Donald Shaw, James Mackintosh, Michael McGoldrick and strongly backed by John Doyle’s energetic rhythm guitar and Kimbro on double bass. 

Irish singer Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh, transported us with her Irish Gaelic song - An Rabhais ac an Carraig which was heart wrenching and haunting. She spoke of how ‘Irish Catholics were repressed, to wipe out their language and music ‘ Through music, messages were sent back and forth. She is a musician from Country Kerry and was the lead singer for the traditional music group Danu

American award-winning musician and songwriter, Darrell Scott, was a highlight with his songs Great Day to be Alive and Wandering Johnny. Fellow American, country singer Kathy Mattea and Scott were moving with their stirring duet of his song, You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive. Mattea also sang a poignant Dougie MacLean song, Ready for the Storm.

Karine Polwart is a popular stalwart of Scottish folk music - renowned for her solo albums and for her collaborative work. Tonight she performed her impassioned song Liberty Tree, inspired by Tom Paine (whose pamphlets on the rights of man helped to start the American wars of independence). 

Aly Bain drives deep into the emotions, as he played his subtle and expressive Shetland fiddle with his expert ease on Hector the Hero set. Polwart then led us all in rousing singing of the well kent Scots classic, Wild Mountain Thyme. Followed by energetic uplifting tunes for their encore. The quality TS band are always tight and impressive, the glue for this concert. As we leave to brave the cold January night air, we are heartened by the jovial warmth and musical energy of this ever popular concert!

Like a musical river from Tennessee to Nashville to west Kerry, than to Shetland and to Pathhead Midlothian. As Mattea described, the colourful, one off collaborating at Celtic Connections lead to arteries “like the roots of a tree that lead to different accents – and make the collaborating more sweet.” Like a fascinating patchwork quilt with the variety and range of musical styles and genres that challenge and add musical colour to our lives.

The show's seasoned house band, guided as ever by Aly Bain and Jerry Douglas, features renowned Celtic and Americana roots musicians John Doyle, Michael McGoldrick, Tatiana Hargreaves and Allison de Groot, John McCusker, Donald Shaw, James Mackintosh, and Daniel Kimbro.

 

(Darrell Scott has written American country hits, such as Dixie Chicks Long Time gone, and is  a leading Nashville season instrumentalist. Scott has collaborated with Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris, Kate Rusby, Robert Plant. His songs have been covered by Garth Brooks, the Dixie Chicks, Suzy Bogguss and more. His album, Crooked Road, 2010, won the award for the Country Album category from The 10th Annual Independent Music Awards.) 

Photos and Review Pauline Keightley – www.pkimage.co.uk

**SET LIST 

Tune. Waiting For The Federals

Darrell Scott    Great Day To Be Alive   Wandering Johnny

Muireann  Si Bheag Si Mhor    Nead Na Lachan

Tunes: My Lily

Karine Polwart   Rebecca   Liberty Tree

John Doyle   Little Bird

Tune For Danny/ Michael McGoldrick

Kathy Mattea- - Love at the Five and Dime/   Come From The Heart 

Tunes:  Far From Home

 

Second Set:  Jerry tune  The Last Wild Moor

Tati and Allison

Daniel Kimbro My Common Law Mexican Step-Dad

Muireann An Rabhais ac an Carraig

Kathy Mattea  -  Ready For The Storm

Tunes: Charlie Hunter

Darrell and Kathy -  You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive

Tunes:  Hector the Hero set

Karine  - Wild Mountain Thyme

Encore:  Tunes Jiggy/Helvic 

 

Irish musician Mairtin O’Connor with SCO

 

Julie Fowlis was very well supported by renowned Irish accordion player Mairtin O’Connor, also backed by the orchestra on some powerful tunes. O’Connor has performed with Boys of the Lough and Riverdance. 

Tonight at Celtic Connections music festival 2026, we were treated to two celebrated musicians and composers – Julie Fowlis and Mairtin O’Connor, both brilliantly backed by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. O’Connor performed his composition The Mighty Ocean: a musical dialogue between mankind and the sea, with his band, Cathal Hayden (fiddle), Seamie O’Dowd (guitar), Matthew Berrill (clarinet), Jimmy Higgins (percussion), Ciara O’Connor (cello), Sinead O’Connor (fiddle). 

He has composed music for TV and theatrical productions. In 2013 he was commissioned to compose a suite of music for the European Conference on Dolphins and Whales held in Galway. This resulted in “The Mighty Ocean”, a musical dialogue between mankind and the sea. 

As a studio session musician he’s contributed to many recordings for artists including The Chieftains, The Dubliners, Liam Clancy, Christy Moore, Luka Bloom, Moya Brennan, Mark Knopfler, Elvis Costello, Rod Stewart, Tim & Neil Finn, Tanita Tikaram and many more.

 

Julie Fowlis with SCO at Celtic Connections 2026

 

The touching, mystical and lyrical beauty of these well-crafted Gaelic songs surrounded by live trad folk music  Julie Fowlis with the Scottish Chamber orchestra - Celtic Scots and Irish traditional folk voices enhanced by the depth of sound of the classical orchestra. As well as her crystal clear voice – Julie has a clear, deeply felt, musicality, along with her husband Irish bouzouki (Greek mandolin) player Eamon Doorley and now partnered with Irish fiddler and Gaelic singer Zoe Conway and Irish musician John McIntyre. 

 

The quartet’s 2024 ALLT albums captures their authentic traditional music with that impactful live vibe and cohesive sound: with soaring pipes, fiddles, melodies, dynamic rhythm guitar, the emotional solo voice, and the collective and caressing soothing vocal harmonies. 

They played the range and depth of traditional music – and the long roots between Irish and Scottish music. Both intimate and powerful. All performers were clearly thrilled to have the impact and range of the SCO behind them, to enrich their music with strings, percussions, wind instruments. Creatively conducted by David Brophy.

 

They began with tunes with Fowlis on small pipes. As well as their toe-tapping, uplifting tunes, there were several stand out ballads, namely the memorable Puthrag Nom Puth’r (Sister o sister, about love and loss), the haunting Cuimhne, the melodic Caim chaluim chille chaoimh specially commissioned for Ireland. And the expressive Theid Mi Do Loch Alainn. 

 

The live trad folk music worked so well along side the live orchestra settings, perfectly back by Doorley’s counter-melodies on bouzouki and withMcIntyre’s dramatic melodic and rhythmic guitar, floated over with the perfect calming Gaelic voices. This was a quality collaboration of kindred musical voices, with Fowlis and Conway’s interwoven harmonies. These Gaelic songs were given heart-stirring, joyful, lyrical and uplifting musical settings. 

 

Their song Faoiseamh was dedicated to the people of Ukraine. Conway spoke of how their music and songs were based on their personal inspirations of Gaelic poems, both old and new. Songs of the natural world, homelands: open hearted story-telling, with songs of place and time, love and loss. 

 

They finished their set with speys and reels and a couple of Polka tunes. For their encore they performed beautiful harmony singing on La Rouil. Followed by lively tunes, when they were joined on stage by Mairtin O’Connor on accordion. 

 

Fowlis’s voice is a delight and her performances always have her audiences entranced. Her music expresses her Hebridean Uist roots, with her intimate and pure voice. Perfectly matched by the Irish voices of Conway and McIntyre’s counterbalancing Gaelic harmonies. A high quality, sublime, engrossing and enriching concert. 

 

*Fowlis was very well supported by renowned Irish accordion player and composer Mairtin O’Connor, also backed by the orchestra on some powerful tunes. O’Connor has performed with Boys of the Lough and Riverdance. 

 

I’m personally a massive fan of the live album and I highly recommend both volumes of ALLT. Fowlis plays the Scottish small pipes, oboe, bagpipes  and a melodeon shruti box, which provided a graceful surround to her voice. Mairttn O’Connor, as a session musician has played with the Chieftains, Dubliners, Moga Brennan, Christy Moore, Mark Knopler, Rad Stewart, Elvis Costello, Tim and Neil Finn more. 

 

** Julie Fowlis is an acclaimed Scots Gaelic singer and is well known for her vocals on films – recently on Outlander’s Blood of my Blood and on Disney’s Brave film. She has performed with James Taylor, KT Tunstall, Chris Thile, Graham Coxon (Blur), Nicola Benedetti, Le Vent du Nord, Carlos Nuñez and Mary Chapin Carpenter. Plus a TV and radio presenter (BBC, SKY ARTS, TG4), a voice artist, for The Lost Spells, and on the worldwide best-selling video game Assassins Creed Valhalla, with renowned Norwegian composer Einar Selvik.

 

REVIEW AND PHOTOS PAULINE KEIGHTLEY – www.pkimage.co.uk

 

**ALLT album is a beautiful collection of newly crafted songs and tunes by Julie Fowlis, Éamon Doorley, Zoë Conway and John Mc Intyre.   Recorded live in the round, ‘Allt’ is the culmination of a composition project inspired by old and new Gaelic poetry from Scotland and Ireland. Emotive and powerful melodies coupled with thoughtful and understanding accompaniment, this album captures the spirit and the energy of a live performance.  ‘Allt’ is a truly collaborative venture which artfully and sensitively threads together words and music from their home countries, and reaffirms the ancient musical connection between Ireland and Scotland.  

 Irish musician Mairtin O’Connor

Fowlis was very well supported by renowned Irish accordion player Mairtin O’Connor, also backed by the orchestra on some powerful tunes. O’Connor has performed with Boys of the Lough and Riverdance. 

Tonight we were treated to two celebrated musicians and composers – Julie Fowlis and Mairtin O’Connor, both brilliantly backed by the SCO. O’Connor performed his composition The Mighty Ocean: a musical dialogue between mankind and the sea, with his band, Cathal Hayden (fiddle), Seamie O’Dowd (guitar), Matthew Berrill (clarinet), Jimmy Higgins (percussion), Ciara O’Connor (cello), Sinead O’Connor (fiddle). 

 

Voices of deep humanity in a dark world

 “You can teach the craft but you can’t teach the poetry”.   David Hockney

 

Gaughan is a voice of deep humanity in our present dark world. 

Gaughan brought many of the traditional Irish and Scots Celtic songs to new life. I’d never heard Robert Burns Westlin Winds before Gaugan introduced this as one of the best songs ever written. He searched through the Scottish national archives for the best traditional ballads. Like Burns and Dylan before him Gaughan has been a genius song collector and remaker of the old songs. He drew on his Scots and Irish traditions to develop his song craft and performance. 

 

I first heard Dick Gaughan in the 70s at the Police folk club Edinburgh. A musician friend raved about how incredible and distinctive his guitar playing was. Many years later (after being in America for nearly ten years) I heard Gaughan again at Milngavie Folk club in 2007. This was an intimate gig where his chat and stories between songs while he tuned his guitar, was worth going for alone. In his own distinctive voice, Gaughan hammers and speaks with his acoustic guitar.

 

Songs of social conscience and of contrast, quality and sincerity. Gaughan has became a legend on the Scottish and world folk circuits for more than 40 years. He is an interpreter of Scotland’s traditional folk ballads with his distinctive style of guitar playing, with open chords and timing that he learnt from guitarist Davey Graham. 

 

Gaughan is Scots/ Irish and has spent his life in Leith Edinburgh. He’s a social protester, a profound storyteller who crosses boundaries, forges alliances through the depth of his story telling, song and dramatic guitar playing. His songs don’t flow easily to the shore and they also share the full range of emotions. Gaughan is plain spoken and holds firmly held beliefs on the rights of everyman.