Dick Gaughan’s appearance at Red Clydesides John Maclean concert

 

Billy Bragg & Dick Gaughan at concert Celtic Connections 2024

 One aspect of folk music is its inclusive, open culture – its for everyone. Its not about a few musicians on stage. All can sing the choruses, dance or clap along. 

 

This year traditional Scots musician Dick Gaughan made a surprise appearance at the concert for Red Clydesider John MacLean to a standing ovation. Gaughan had a stroke a few years back and has been unable to perform or play his guitar. Gaughan has become something of 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. 

John Maclean socialist reformer 1879 - 1923

 

I remember Dick Gaughan standing near the Celtic Connections press office. He was happy to chat, maybe he remembered me from the intimate Milngavie folk club concerts, where some musicians there said he was a living Scots legend. My younger son came to hear him and was impressed with his dramatic guitar playing, and the strength of his guttural voice on his highly memorable and meaningful folk songs. 

 

Dick Gaughan is a song collector, songwriter and traditional ballad singer and musician. I remember Gaughan singing telling his stories and songs -  The Yew Tree, What you do with what you’ve got, The Flowers of the Forrest, Westlin Winds,

 

In 2018, Celtic Connections held a tribute concert for Dick Gaughan at the Old Fruitmarket. With the Wilson Family, guitarists Tony McManus and Martin Simpson, Karine Polwart ,The Bevvy Sisters, Mary Macmaster, Patsy Seddon and Dougie MacLean, They performed songs with a social conscience – of Grenfell tower monument to greed and selfishness, Aberfan disaster, miners strikes, Jute mill songs, Neil Gow’s fiddle. Where are the young voices of protest today to stand up for people’s rights?  DickGaughan Tribute concert 2018

 

The first time I heard Robert Burns Parcel of Rogues was Gaughan’s interpretation at the festivals Auld Lang Syne concert in 2009. I had no idea before this that Burns was such a radical reformer and like many, I had thought he mostly wrote his love songs and poems. 

Certainly an Outlaw and Dreamer like no other! An inspiration.

I have taken photos at Dick Gaughan’s concerts over the past years since 2006 and here are some of them. 

Many of this generation of folk singers are now getting older and I wonder who among the younger musicians can replace them? In 20 we lost Dundonian character songwriter Michael Marra (more later), in 2012 the iconic Scots songwriter Gerry Rafferty (I took photos at a concert to his memory at Celtic Connections) and just last year the wonderful Rab Noakes, who I knew well from his concerts and taking his photos there. What an interesting gentleman and creative songwriter he was. I remember in my twenties in my folk days, we would often sing in harmonies his early songs – Branch, Clear Day, Eden’s Flow -  Happy Days indeed! Another massive Bob Dylan fan. Noakes started out playing with Gerry Rafferty in the Humblebums.

 

Dick Gaughan Tribute Concert at Celtic Connections 2018

Mary Macmaster, Patsy Seddon

Songs of Defiance and social conscience and an evening of contrast, quality, and sincerity

Gaughan has become something of a legend on the Scottish and world folk circuits for more than 40 years. He is an interpreter of Scotland’s traditional folk songs with his distinctive style of guitar playing, with open chords and timing that he learnt from guitarist Davey Graham. Fans beside me had heard Gaughan over in California.

The concert was a tribute to Gaughan’s authenticity. He cares about the truth of things and of digging below the surface for stories behind the songs. We live in shallow times, where false greed and facades matter more than being open hearted or honest. Gaughan is not only angry – he was furious at injustice and he spoke and sang of this with unequalled passions. In-between songs, while tuning his guitar Gaughan, would tell his stories.

Tonight’s performers sang political and social songs of the poor state of things – that tell of Grenfell tower monument to greed and selfishness, Aberfan disaster, miners strikes, Jute mill songs, Niel Gow’s fiddle. Where are the young voices of protest today?

Wilson Family

Tony McMannus

**The concert was a celebration of the music and politics that matters to Gaughan. Host Elaine C Smith sang Michael Marra’s Mother Glasgow, and introduced an incomparable line-up of Gaughan’s long time friends and collaborators. 

The Wilson Family sang Baker Hil - “close the mineshaft door” - and other songs, with powerful male harmonies. The accomplished guitarists Tony McManus and Martin Simpson paid tribute and Simpson performed Bob Dylan’s Blind Willie McTell and other songs. Karine Polwart sang Craigie Hill’ and told the moving story of being given Dick’s album a Handful of Earth the night before her grandfather’s funeral - a song about immigration and leaving. The Bevvy Sisters sang Marra’s Like Another Rolling Stone. Mary Macmaster, Patsy Seddon sang Gaelic songs (Clan Alba) .

Dougie MacLean closed this very special evening with a moving climax with his song This love Will Carry. Gaughan, who has has been ill the past year appeared on stage to a standing ovation. I was glad he had been persuaded him to appear for his devoted fans and that he didn’t remain a ‘presence’ behind the curtain. Dick said he hoped to be back to sing next year for us and we hoped too!

I first heard Gaughan back in the 80s at an Edinburgh folk club and I have met him at Milngavie folk club and he is always friendly and unassuming. He would open his set with the Si Kahn song, What you Do With What You’ve got. I’ve heard many folk singers live and Gaughan is by miles the most moving and powerful. Like Dylan, he doesn’t smooth over the Big Issues of our time,

I took my guitarist son a few years back to hear him and he was hugely impressed. I will always remember sitting enthralled to this Westlin Winds, his impassioned and defining interpretation of the Robert Burns song, when he would say, “One of the best songs ever written, it says all there is to say. Certainly an Outlaw and Dreamer like no other!

DICK GAUGHAN BLOGS -  http://www.musicfootnotes.com/2011/07/dick-gaughan-milngavie-folk-club-june.html

Did anyone record a full set I wondered with his chat between songs? Folk singers know the depth of things – as Dylan wrote – Folk songs were my guide to a new republic.’

Maybe he is, but Gaughan should write his thoughts for a book. Like Burns and Dylan before him Dick trawled the archives in the national library for the rich tapestry of the old ballads and brought many back to life. His personal heritage mixes Celtic traditions of both Ireland and the Scottish Islands.

(Clan Alba, A folk supergroup, featured Dick Gaughan. Mary Macmaster, Brian MacNeill, Fred Morrison, Patsy Seddon, Davy Steele, Mike Travis and Dave Tulloch. With guitars, harps, pipes, fiddles and percussion, and distinctive collective harmonies. Their 1996 debut album - included ‘Bye Bye Big Blue’, a lament for the closure of the Ravenscraig Steel Works, and Gaughan’s evocative ‘Childhood’s End’.)

Scotia's Bard Dick Gaughan - NEW album Harvard Tapes

I am proud to have taken photos at Gaughan’s concerts and met him a few times. He spoke of singing with Emmy Lou Harris and was totally unassuming. I was sad to hear he had a stroke in 2017, and I attended a wonderful tribute concert for him at the Old Fruitmarket, during Celtic Connections 2019. 

Since the 70s, Gaughan has been one of Scotia’s most powerful, authentic and honest Bards. He does this through an open chord tuning on his Stratocaster, and an unerring, defiant and hard-hitting voice. Like Burns before him, he believes we all deserve an equal chance in life. Like Burns he draws on the old traditions and adds his own verses and tunes.

He digs deep into our social heritage of the voices of ordinary folks, unrecognised folk and of those who labour for a better world. He also includes the voices from further afield – America, England, Ireland, France, more . He was a central figure in 1970s Celtic folk revival with Boys of the Lough and his early classic album, Handful of Earth. He also worked with Billy Bragg, Andy Irvine, Five Hand Reel and Clan Alba. Gaughan is half Irish and Half Scots. 

**I first heard Gaughan back at a folk club in Edinburgh in the 80s, when he stood out as so different to the often romanticized view of soft, Scottish folk pop. I’d never heard folk music that challenged in this way. Since then I have heard Gaughan perform at the Celtic Connections concert hall his powerful version of Burns Parcel of Rogues to the Nation. I heard him take it intimate and emotional with Burns Westlin Windsat my local folk club, when he said, it was the best song ever written and says all there is to say really. He challenged with Outlaws and Dreamersand life on the edge. He told stories of old soldiers and miners, such as the powerful Why Old Mew Cry. Gaughan often starts his set with the honesty of the song, What You do With What You’ve Got.

He speaks of the English Diggers - "I tend to side with people like the Diggers, those English revolutionaries who fought without weapons for a fair share of the land that rightfully was the property of everyone to begin with," says Gaughan, summing up his philosophy, and smiling.

Between songs and while tuning his guitar, he tells his stories, often with dark humour and pathos. He talks of the real Scotland, the one he knows in Leith. “We used to elect our king in Scotland, you know. The last one we elected was Macbeth.”

**I heard an interview with Dick on radio Scotland when he spoke of his guitar playing being influenced by Davy Graham,

“When I heard of the murder of Chilean folk singer Victor Jara, by the fascist Pinochet. I knew, I couldn’t just play the old tunes, you had to speak out, and really that is what the tradition is all about. “

"I knew then I couldn't just play old tunes. You had to speak out. And, really, that is what the tradition is about. Traditional music--which to me has always meant just the songs that people sing and listen to, be that rock 'n' roll or old ballads--it has always had to do with politics. People's music, folk music if you will, is very dangerous stuff! It is subversive to acknowledge that ordinary people actually have a culture with artistic merit. This gives the lie to those who would like us to think that the poor are poor because they are stupid! There is a lot of wisdom in some of those old songs, and no reason I can see why songs about the politics of today are not part of The Tradition! I sing 'em, anyway, and that's the tradition I know."

Traditional music - It has always had to do with politics.”

Dick Gaughan at Milngavie folk club

Check out Dick Gaughan’s website -  NEW LIVE ALBUM The Harvard Tapes - https://www.greentrax.com/music/product/dick-gaughan-the-harvard-tapesI

http://www.dickgaughan.co.uk/

Concerts at Celtic Connections and Milngavie folk club - all Photos copyright Pauline Keightley.

**Dick Gaughan Interview with Phil Cunningham Radio Scotland March 2012

Dick chose five songs that have influenced him –

(1) Big Bill Broonzy – Glory of Love

(2) The Shadows – Apache

(3) The Beatles – Love Me Do

(4)  Bob Dylan – Subterranean Homesick Blues

(5)  Davy Graham – 67

*Dick Gaughan Interview with Phil Cunningham

This photo of Gaughan was taken at Milngavie Folk Club in 2011

Dick Gaughan Interview with Phil Cunningham Radio Scotland March 2012

Dick chose five songs that have influenced him –

(1) Big Bill Broonzy – Glory of Love

(2) The Shadows – Apache

(3) The Beatles – Love Me Do

(4)  Bob Dylan – Subterranean Homesick Blues

(5)  Davy Graham – 67

Gaughan talked about his musical influences. His chat is often profound, sometimes humorous and always entertaining.

He said that The Shadows were the first eclectic guitar group and that back then we were discovering all these new sounds for the first time. Before that nearly every American singer  seemed to be called ‘Frankie’ and sang songs about what it was like ‘to be a young lad at summer camp!’   

Gaughan said that ‘Love Me Do’ from the Beatles was another defining song.

He became obsessed with songs - he was like a magpie and studied songs at the National Library. In 1979 the Thatcher government made him first think about ‘why’ he was singing the songs and he became a political artist then. He said that Traditional music is about fair play, the totality of life and about the community.

Nowadays the barrage of media attempts to put forwards ‘one’ message he claimed and he likes to be part of what he calls the ‘awkward squad’ who are the grain of sand in the ointment and have other ways of looking at reality - and try to at least think about it!

He spoke about Dylan’s beautifully crafted songs that punched out images such as ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’. Gaughan played with Aly Bain’s Boys of the Lough and a punk band called Five Hand Reel. Like many others on the folkscene back then he developed a drink problem and then he had a breakdown. He had to clean up and dry up.

Lastly he talked about Davy Graham’s guitar which was tuned differently. His musical ideas were unbelievably creative - he was predictably unpredictable!  Hearing Graham's guitar it becomes clear where Gaughan had learned his distinctive playing style from. His list of favourite song choices is interesting too and shows the breadth of his roots in both traditions and more contemporary musical styles. 

Gaughan is best known for singing the songs Both Sides the Tweed and Westlin’ Winds. 

Some very few artists have the ability to transport and transcend the moment, and Dick does so with forceful guitar playing and classic traditional songs with a strong message and a deep expressive, growling voice.  He draws from both Irish and Scottish folk traditions. I first heard Gaughan play in the 70s in Edinburgh when I was dating a folk guitarist who raved about how incredible and very distinctive his playing was. Many years later (after being in America for nearly ten years and having three children) I heard Dick again at Milngavie Folk club in 2007, and this was an intimate gig where his chat between songs was worth going for alone. In his own so distinctive style, Gaughan hammers and speaks with his acoustic guitar. He performs traditional folk tunes, Robert Burns, favourite cover songs and his own songs.

He doesn't play the predictable smoothed-over sugar box 'tartan shortbread' songs - and he may not be to everyone's taste. Gaughan is plain spoken and holds firmly held beliefs on the rights of everyman and at one time he took past folk stories and songs from the library archives and put new melodies to them. You come away from his gigs questioning but ultimately renewed in the faith of our shared humanity. Dick Gaughan is a Scottish living legend, and he usually performs every January at 'Celtic Connections' Glasgow.   

 

*Dick Gaughan Milngavie Folk Club June 2011

Dick Gaughan is a Scottish traditional folk singer and guitarist, a songwriter, composer and record producer. He sings of Scottish heroes and of stories of our lost past and long forgotten voices.  Gaughan has been playing the circuits both at home and abroad for many years now. He is a legend among folk circles and also one of the most down-to-earth and likeable artists without pretensions of any kind.  
 

I arrived early at the venue and met Gaughan and he seemed to know me from his last visit here. He spoke of playing with Emmylou Harris and what a nice person she was.

Gaughan sang Burn's Now Westlin Winds, his favourite songs of all time; a traditional song re-interpreted by Gaughan Both Sides The Tweed;  What You Do With What You've Got, the best opening song (Si Kahn);  Thomas Muir of Huntershill; Why Old Men Cry; No God and Precious Few Heroes (Brian MacNeill); Song For Ireland; Huntershill. He also played a powerful guitar instrumental and a song by the Scottish poet Hamish Henderson. 

He wondered on No God and Precious Few Heroes (Brian MacNeill) whether we have forgotten the protest voices of the 60s and sang - 'Whatever happened to ' We Shall Overcome' and 'What Are We Fighting For'.  On Why Old Men Cry he told of how he had felt connected to his paternal grandfather while visiting the first World War graveyards in Germany. His grandfather had died when he was half Gaughan's age from mustard gas poisoning and he connected this to the faces he remembered well as a child.  Now, he said, he understood the sadness in the eyes of old miners. 

There is an urgency and force about Gaughan's music as if he feels strongly he has important messages to get off his chest in his music. Gaughan searches below the surface of songs. He plays open chords on guitar and his playing is melodic and strongly emotive.  His voice has a poignant edge and is both harsh and deep in tone and it hits home hard. The words of his songs ring true and with his opening song 'What You Do With What You've Got (which he said he would keep as his opening song until he found a better one) he sang - 

Its' not just what you're born with, but what you do with what you've got.

What's the use of two strong legs, if you only run away.

And what use is the finest voice if you've nothing good to say?

What's the use of two good ears, if you don't hear those you love.

Words & Music : Si Kahn

He sang not of resolutions but of holding on to your vision. Gaughan was warmly received and seemed to enjoy the gig. I felt that his substance, refreshing honesty and questioning words must have impacted on the younger members of the audience.  On the older ones too!  

LYRICS
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Now Westlin Winds (Written by Robert Burns as sung by Dick Gaughan)

Now westlin winds and slaughtering guns
Bring autumn's pleasant weather
The moorcock springs on whirring wings
Among the blooming heather
Now waving grain, wild o'er the plain
Delights the weary farmer
And the moon shines bright as I rove at night
To muse upon my charmer

The partridge loves the fruitful fells
The plover loves the mountain
The woodcock haunts the lonely dells
The soaring hern the fountain
Through lofty groves the cushat roves
The path of man to shun it
The hazel bush o'erhangs the thrush
The spreading thorn the linnet

Thus every kind their pleasure find
The savage and the tender
Some social join and leagues combine
Some solitary wander
Avaunt! Away! the cruel sway,
Tyrannic man's dominion
The sportsman's joy, the murdering cry
The fluttering, gory pinion

But Peggy dear the evening's clear
Thick flies the skimming swallow
The sky is blue, the fields in view
All fading green and yellow
Come let us stray our gladsome way
And view the charms of nature
The rustling corn, the fruited thorn
And every happy creature

We'll gently walk and sweetly talk
Till the silent moon shines clearly
I'll grasp thy waist and, fondly pressed,
Swear how I love thee dearly
Not vernal showers to budding flowers
Not autumn to the farmer
So dear can be as thou to me
My fair, my lovely charmer

What You Do With What You've Got  ( Music and Words by Si Kahn as sung by Dick Gaughan)

You must know someone like him
He was tall and strong and lean
With a body like a greyhound
And a mind so sharp and keen
But his heart, just like a laurel,
Grew twisted round itself
Till almost every thing he did
Caused pain to someone else

It's not just what you're born with
It's what you choose to bear
It's not how big your share is
But how much you can share
And it's not the fights you dreamed of
But those you really fought
It's not what you've been given
It's what you do with what you've got

Now what's the good of two strong legs
If you only run away?
And what use is the finest voice
If you've nothing good to say?
And what good is strength and muscle
If you only push and shove?
And what's the use of two good ears
If you can't hear those you love?

Between those who use their neighbours
And those who use a cane
Between those in constant power
And those in constant pain
Between those who run to evil
And those who cannot run
Tell me which ones are the cripples
And which ones touch the sun?

Dick Gaughan Photo gallery - http://pkimage.co.uk/dickgaughan
Dick singing Burn's Westlin Winds, his favourite song.  http://www.dickgaughan.co.uk/  

Gaughan was born in Glasgow and was raised in Leith Edinburgh. His mother was a Highland Scot, his father a generation away from Ireland. From childhood, he was immersed in Scots and Irish musical traditions by both sides of his family. Gaughan is a national treasure. He is a world weary traveller of stories and music.

CELTIC CONNECTIONS 2024 Review & PHOTOS

 

Kinnaris

 

One aspect of folk music  is its inclusive, open culture – its for everyone. Its not about a few musicians on stage. All can sing the choruses, dance, clap. This year traditional Scots musician Dick Gaughan made a surprise appearance at the concert for Red Clyde sider John MacLean. Gaughan had a stroke a few years back and has been unable to perform or play his guitar. 

 

I remember Dick Gaughan standing near the Celtic Connections press office. He was happy to chat, maybe he remembered me from his intimate Milngavie folk club gigs, where some musicians there said he was a Scots living legend. My younger son came to hear him and was impressed with his dramatic guitar playing, and the strength of his guttural voice on his highly memorable and meaningful folk songs. Dick Gaughan is a song collector, songwriter and traditional singer and musician. I remember Gaughan telling his stories while tuning his guitar -  The Yew Tree, What you do with what you’ve got, The Flowers of the Forrest, Westlin Winds. The first time I heard Robert Burns Parcel of Rogues was Gaughan’s interpretation at the festivals Auld Lang Syne concert in 2014? I had no idea before this that Burns was such a radical reformer and like many, I had thought he mostly wrote love songs and poems. 

 

Many of Gaughan’s generation are now getting older and I wonder who among the younger musicians can replace them? In 2012 we lost Dundonian character songwriter Michael Marra, in 2012 the iconic Scots songwriter Gerry Rafferty. (I took photos at a concert to his memory at Celtic Connections at which the Proclaimers and Rafferty’s family performed, and just last year 2023, we lost the wonderful Rab Noakes who I knew well from his concerts and taking his photos there. What an interesting gentleman and creative songwriter he was. I remember in my twenties in my folk days, we would often sing in harmonies his songs – Branch, Clear Day, Happy Days indeed! Another massive Bob Dylan fan. 

 

Brownbear

Roddy Hart

II   Celtic Connections music festival Glasgow

I spent time abroad, worked and had my family. Years later I returned to Scotland, after nine years in Cincinnati Ohio and Chicago Illinois. While its wonderful to travel its also good to return to our roots. Later , in 2008, I discovered Celtic Connections music festival. Begun in 1994, with the likes of Aly Bain – to fill the cold empty month of January – with 66 concerts at one venue. And I felt a return to the joy of the folk world, I had inhabited years before. That was the first time I heard people singing in a Scots accent and Scots words.  People travel from far and wide to enjoy this magic festival – I hear voices from Cornwall, Northern Ireland, Canada and many more. 

 

Ceiran Ryan

II  

World-renowned folk, roots and world music festival Celtic Connections  -  celebrated in January with 18 days of sold-out concerts, innovative musical sessions and collaborations - with 1,200 artists across 25 venues.

 

#ccfest is the biggest winter festival of its kind in Europe, known for its eclectic mix of genres and inclusive atmosphere, celebrated over 100 sold out shows across its 300 events alongside welcoming over 115,000 attendees.  Once-in-a-lifetime collaborations, rare performances from global sensations, moving tribute concerts and some of the biggest shows ever played by home grown talent were all showcased across the city for 31st edition of Celtic Connections. 

Concerts which celebrated the tradition, innovation and unifying power of music:

●      Opening Concert welcomed the genre-defying European premiere of ATTENTION! from American Grammy winner Chris Thile (Nickel Creek) and guests Rachel Sermanni, Dreamers’ Circus and Sarah Jarosz. 

●      Red Clydeside: John MacLean Centenary Concert, celebrated the music, poetry and legacy of Scottish schoolteacher and legendary revolutionary socialist John MacLean, with an evening of passion and talent. Led by Siobhan Miller, Eddi Reader, Billy Bragg and Karine Polwart, and with a surprise performance from Scottish social protest singer Dick Gaughan  a hugely emotional and iconic moment 

●      Roaming Roots Review, with Songs of Modern Scotland, celebrated some of the most phenomenal artists and iconic tracks. Joining host Roddy Hart were Biffy Clyro’s Simon Neil, Idlewild’s Roddy Woomble and Rod Jones, Del Amitri’s Justin Currie, Camera Obscura’s Tracyanne Campbell, singer-songwriter Emma Pollock, Hamish Hawk, Admiral Fallow’s Sarah Hayes and Louis Abbott and Brownbear  Accompanied by Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Orchestra, conducted by John Logan

●      The Bothy Band, one of the most influential Irish ensembles to revolutionise the playing of traditional music, made their mark on Celtic Connections 2024 with a highly-anticipated performance. For the first time since 1979, Donal Lunny on bouzouki, Tríona ní Dhomhnaill on keyboards, Matt Molloy on flute, Paddy Keenan on Uilleann pipes and low whistle, and Paddy Glackin and Kevin Burke on fiddle came together to perform their first full-scale public concert, joined by Seán Óg Graham on guitar

●      Always a Celtic Connections highlight, Transatlantic Sessions celebrated the rich musical traditions that connect Scotland, Ireland and the US. Featuring a top line-up of the awesome TS band and artists -  AmericanaFest’s “Can’t Miss Act” Lindsay Lou,  Grammy nominated singer-songwriter Carlene Carter, Irish folk singer-songwriter Joshua Burnside, Scots Trad Music Awards Gaelic singer of the year Kim Carnie, the night saw audiences soak up an exceptional array of tunes, songs and genres.

●      Concert to celebrate legacy of Tiree accordionist Gordon Connell - A Ceilidh for Gordon at iconic Old   Fruitmarket. 

●      Grammy nominee and multi-award-winning musician Allison Russell wowed crowds at Òran Mór 

●      Traditional Music and Song Association revisited the landmark Scots Women concert from the 2001 festival. Scots Women - Generations o' Change with Musical Director Iona Fyfe and hosted by Scots Poet Len Pennie.

●      Showcase Scotland, highlighted partners Norway with international delegates from all over the UK, Europe, Australia, America and Canada to join in appreciation of the Scandinavian talent playing at the festival -  violinist Julie Alapnes, fiddle player Alexander Aga Røynstrand, traditional trios Erlend Viken and Ævestaden, Nordic folk five-piece Gangar, and Sámi band Gabba. 

●      Barony Hall proved a spectacular setting for the first time , with award-winning trad band Breabach, r folk musician John McCusker, Irish fiddler Martyn Hayes and multi-talented Damien O’Kane.

●      Music workshops and teaching sessions were also in full swing over the past 18 days. From composing, bagpipes and the ukulele, participants had the chance to fully immerse themselves in every facet of the festival, while the festival’s free school concerts programme shared the joy of live music of 8,000 school children from across Scotland over the course of four morning shows

Dougie MacLean 50th anniversary concert

Donald Shaw, Creative Producer for Celtic Connections, said: "This year's Celtic Connections was a testament to the creative power and enduring importance of the arts and the music of the people. The richness of talent on display, the diverse range of genres and the infectious enthusiasm of the audiences made this year’s edition truly special. It's heartening to see the festival grow and evolve, bringing together artists and audiences from all walks of life, joined by a shared appreciation for music, art and cultural expression. “The continued success of Celtic Connections reflects the passion and commitment of everyone involved. My thanks goes to each person who bought a ticket, performed on our stages, volunteered their time, worked on or backed the event, and to the people of Glasgow who welcomed the world with open arms. Your support is the heartbeat of the festival, and it's your enthusiasm and dedication that make this celebration of music possible year after year.

“Scotland has a rich tapestry of musical traditions, and Celtic Connections is a platform that showcases the beauty and diversity of our own folk music, as well as that of other countries, and the expansive connections it has created. I am immensely proud of how well Scotland continues to champion folk music on the global stage, and feel truly excited about the path that lies ahead for what we’re proud to say has become a world-renowned event.”

Glasgow Life Chair, Bailie Annette Christie, said: “This 31^st edition of Celtic Connections has not only demonstrated how internationally renowned and much-loved this unique festival is, it has also emphasised how immeasurably important it is to Glasgow and to Scotland – and we look forward to building on its incredible legacy in future years.”

Transatlantic Sessions 2024

Kim Carnie

Lindsay Lou

Joshue Burnside

Charlene Carter