Foot Stompin’ Free Scottish Music Podcast No 44

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Even in the Rain by Deaf Shepherd

Hi there,

Here’s the latest podcast. We’re featuring Scottish bands in this edition. There are not so many CDs coming out at the moment but 2 to look forward to are ‘They Dressed in Yellow‘ by Fiddlers’ Bid and Donald Grant’s The Way Home. Both ate fantastic fiddle records that are approaching things slightly differently. We’ll play them on the podcast when they come out.

I’m heading to Quebec on Wednesday with pianist Dave Milligan for a few days. It’s an accordion festival with lots of music and stepdancing on the streets. I went a few years back and loved the people and their music. It will be nice to be back!

We’ve just announced the Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame inductees. Everyone of them is amazing and given so much to Scottish traditional music. The list is

Performers:
Bill Black
Dick Gaughan
Rona Lightfoot
Jim Kilpatrick MBE
Phil Cunningham MBE
Sheena Wellington

Hamish Henderson Services to Traditional Music: Dr John Barrow

The inductees will be presented with their awards on the 28th November as part of the Scots Trad Music Awards. http://www.tradmusichall.com/index.htm

Even in the Rain by Deaf Shepherd
Track – Millenium Village
I’ve always loved this band and have followed them since their conception. Their particular brand of bagpipe folk always brings down the house. They recently performed on the BBC Radio 3 stage at Womad to great acclaim. They’ve recorded half a 4th album which should hopefully be out in the new year (and yes it’s nearly hear!)

May You Never Lack a Scone by Jock Tamson’s Bairns
Track – Gude Claret / Wee Hieland Laddie (song/march)
This is another band who I’ve alway enjoyed. Rod Paterson’s singing is hard to beat and their choice of tunes is always interesting and good. They were also in there right at the beginning of the Scottish folk fusion movement.

Dochas by Dochas
Chuir Lad Mise dh’Eilean Leam Fhin
This band are currently recording their latest release which must be available soon. Listening back to this track it is not hard to see why they have been successfull and why Julie Fowlis (the singer) has done so well.

On Safari by Keep it Up
Track – Edward
We don’t play much nowadays but when we do it is always fun.

Sugarcane by Shine
Track – Alasdair Og
We received a few comments about this band when I last played them on the podcast so I thought I would play them again. Their music is very original and the production of the CD by Jim Sutherland makes it sound very different. It would be great to have a sequel to the CD girls?

Albannach by The Whistlebinkies
Track – The Loch Ness Monster
This band have toured all over the world and released a mountain of records. Their old singer Mick Broderick did last month but he left a wealth of stories. Meanwhile the Whistlebinkies carry on and again it must be time for another CD!

BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician Award 2010 Semi-Finalists Announced.

BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician 2010 last years winner - Ruairidh Macmillan

The BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician Award is 10 years old this year and again we have a great lineup of young musicians for the semi-finals. From pipes and song to fiddle, accordion and harp we’ve got an excellent night of music ahead on Saturday 3rd October in South Lanarkshire.

The musicians are:
Steven Blake – pipes, piano (Livingston)
Patrick Callahan – accordion, harp (Glasgow)
Mairi Chaimbeul – clarsach, voice (Isle of Skye)
Shelley Clark – song (Sanquar)
Amy Corfield – fiddle (Paisley)
Andrew Gibb – accordion (Biggar)
Megan Henderson – fiddle, accordion (Fort William)
Emily Hoile – clarsach (Newcastle upon Tyne)
Lorne MacDougall – pipes, whistles (Carradale, Argyll)
Hannah Phillips – clarsach (Glasgow)
Daniel Thorpe – fiddle (Glasgow)
Kyle Warren – pipes (Helensburgh)

The semi-finalist concert on Saturday 3rd October is in Coulter Hall, Coulter starts at 7.30pm. Tickets are £8 and £6 conc. The concert is a culmination of a weekend of workshops where the young musicians learn about the music business from guest speakers.

Simon Thoumire, the event organiser said:
“It’s amazing to think that we have been going for 10 years and every year the quality of the musicians is superb. This will be another exciting night of music in South Lanarkshire.”

From this concert 6 musicians will win through to the final on 31st January, 2010 at Celtic Connections festival, Glasgow. This is an excellent opportunity for the young musicians to hear bands, meet influential people, play an amazing concert at the City Halls, Glasgow which is broadcast to a wide audience live on BBC Radio Scotland.

Last years winner Ruairidh MacMillian has had a busy year and is due to record his debut CD with Greentrax Recordings in the autumn.

Many thanks to our sponsors who are Scottish Arts Council, Celtic Connections Festival, Greentrax Recordings, Foot Stompin’ Scottish music, Musicians Union, Traditional Music and Song Association, and Watercolour Music. Please support them.

This Award exists to encourage young musicians to keep their tradition alive and to maximise their musical potential by the pursuit of a career in traditional music. The winner will be provided with high profile performance opportunities and the necessary tools and advice they require to launch a career in traditional music.

ENDs

Note to the Editor
Contact Simon Thoumire Hands Up for Trad on 07775 854572, info@handsupfortrad.co.uk, http://www.handsupfortrad.co.uk
Previous BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician Award winners:
Gillian Frame, Emily Smith, Anna Massie, James Graham, Stuart Cassells, Shona Mooney, Catriona Watt, Ewan Robertson, Ruaridh Macmillan
http://www.handsupfortrad.co.uk/press/Young_Traditional_Musician_semifinalists_2010.htm

Foot Stompin’ Free Scottish Music Podcast No 43 (mid August 2009)

Four Seasons in One Day by Alistair McCulloch

Listen to the Foot Stompin’ Free Scottish Music Podcast No 43

Hi Folks,

Summertime’s always busy when the kids are off school. I always feel very guilty working with them in the house. Working at a computer is such a non sharing activity. You just look ahead and see nothing but the screen. Hanging out the washing, loading the dishwasher, hoovering are fine because they can follow you around playing games etc. I find this guilt the most incapacitating thing about home working. Making the podcast is always funny as you have to shut the office door as the TV is often blaring with some cartoon and often if you listen carefully to the chat in the show you can hear the telly in the distance! Also with the door shut you can’t see anything and the kids know this and use the time to hit each other which inevitably ends in tears and you have to open the door again and record with the noise. In my early podcasts I used to do them with one child sitting on my knee. I must find them for a laugh.

As I said on the podcast this weekend its the World Pipe band Championships in Glasgow. As usual there’s an amazing lineup of bands from all over the world (apart from Lahore as they’ve strangely been refused entry). It’s been broadcast live on BBC online which is brilliant. You can watch it here http://bit.ly/3ycw62. YOu can catch all the results on the Foot Stompin’ results page here http://www.footstompin.com/public/article/world-pipe-band-championships/world-pipe-band-championships-results.

So to mark this fact I’ve featured two pipe bands on the podcast. We start off with Twelve Thousand Miles by Manawatu Scottish Pipe Band. This is a great sound and I love the way they’ve recorded the start of the track The Road To Lipetsk.

Alistair McCulloch is a great fiddler who performs in many different bands. This set of reels from his album Four Seasons In One Day is really kicking – he must of been knackered after playing Marco’s Reel/Jim Connor’s Welcome To Grand Central Station/Gibby Gray/Trip To Shanghai. I can’t stop thinking of Crowded House when I hear the album title though!

This next album is the fifth collection of Old Songs and Bothy Ballads to be recorded at the Fife Traditional Singing Weekend. The Old Songs & Bothy Ballads: Grand to be a Working Man album comes from the May 2008 singing weekend. I picked this track because I love community singing. I don’t think it gets any better when every voice in the room sings the chorus. Jimmy Hutchinson is one of Scotland’s top tradition bearers.

I don’t know anything about this next band unfortunately apart from it really swings and I would dance to it! Dance for Joy by Reel of Seven

Our second pipe band track. The thing that drew me to these Parade Marches is I used to play them every other weekend in the 65th Edinburgh Boys Brigade Pipe Band. I can still picture the rainy gala days and muddy spats. The track comes from the album Legacy by the Winnipeg Police Pipe Band

We finish up this podcast with Stramash by Colin Steele. Colin has been working on and performing this project for the last few years and it has gone down a storm. As you will hear from the track Steele’s Reels, it is a great fusion of traditional and jazz music featuring many of Scotland’s top musicians.