It's nearly that time of year again... Here come some Celtic Connections adventures with:
Wildings - 22nd January
Rachel Newton Music - 27th January
Admiral Fallow - 29th January
November adventures
I've a few gigs over the next couple of weeks with different bands, plus a solo appearance at The Islay Sessions, too. Looking forward to getting out and about.
With Rachel Newton:
9th - The Hug and Pint, Glasgow
With Wildings
11th - Caol Community Centre, Fort William
12th - Old Inn, Carbost, Isle of Skye
15th - The Old Hairdressers, Glasgow
19th - Scots Fiddle Festival, Edinburgh
Solo
20th - Port Charlotte Hotel, Islay
With Alistair Anderson & Northlands
23rd - Percy Park RFC, North Shields
24th - Community Centre, Stocksfield
25th - Alnwick Playhouse
Here comes a busy autumn...
Some September news
Over the next couple of weeks I'll be working with long time collaborator Sara Kazmi (vocals) and new friends Rakae Jamil (sitar), Adam Stearns (keys, vocals) and Hardeep Deerhe (tabla) to create some new music rooted in Scottish and South Asian folk traditions. We'll be based at the Glad Cafe, delivering workshops in local schools and playing two gigs on 17th and 18th September. More information available soon!
24th September sees a rare live outing for my solo album, Woven. The mighty six piece band and I will be performing it in full at the Queen's Hall, Edinburgh, supporting The Shee at the launch of their new record, Continuum.
Very excitingly I've found myself in the house band for Running Up That Hill: A Celebration Of The Work Of Kate Bush (25th September, His Majesty's Theatre, Aberdeen). Curated by Emma Pollock, with a whole host of star guest singers: Kathryn Williams, Karine Polwart, Kathryn Joseph, Rachel Sermanni, James Graham, Peter Brewis, Roddy Hart and Emma herself.
Thank you
...to everyone who came along to my two solo gigs this week in Glasgow and Edinburgh. Really enjoyed them! Special thanks go to Olympic Swimmers, Phil Hague and Joe Rattray for being such an important part of it all.
Next up, three dates with Sara Kazmi & Highlight Arts, as part of Edinburgh International Book Festival:
21st August - Unbound, Edinburgh
23rd August - An Lanntair, Stornoway
24th August - Mission House Studio, Finsbay
Glasgow solo gig in August
I'll be playing a solo gig on 3rd August at The Hug and Pint, Glasgow. The wonderful Olympic Swimmers (acoustic) will also be playing. More information here!
More solo shows added
Photo by James Arthur
Last Sunday, I had a great time supporting Claire Hastings and band at the launch of her marvellous debut album, Between River and Railway.
I'm looking forward to getting out and about to play some more 'solo' gigs over the next few months. Inverted commas because for these shows I'll be ably assisted by the tallest man in percussion, Phil Hague. Here's the lowdown:
18th June - Killin Music Festival
19th June - Solas Festival
4th August - Electric Circus, Edinburgh *solo headline show | support TBA
24th September - Queen's Hall, Edinburgh *full band performance of Woven | double bill with The Shee
Solo date added: 8th May, Cottiers Theatre, Glasgow
I'm looking forward to supporting the lovely Claire Hastings at her album launch this Sunday in Glasgow! Tickets available here.
Da Fishing Hands - Aberdeen
I've loved being part of Inge Thomson's Da Fishing Hands project over the past couple of years; really looking forward to playing her excellent music again this Saturday 9th April at the Lemon Tree, Aberdeen. The five of us (Inge, Steven Polwart, Graeme Smillie, Fraser Fifield and I) will also be collaborating with Finnish band Kardemimmit. Tickets available here.
Andy Crabb's film of our time on Fair Isle in May 2014:
Long May You Run...again!
I'm really looking forward to being part of this special evening celebrating the music of Neil Young! Loved it the first time around, last September in Aberdeen. A few tickets left I believe...
Lahore to Glasgow: City to City 2016
Last weekend I went to Lahore. It was a very brief but packed visit to an incredible city, as part of the latest phase in Highlight Arts' City To City project (you can read about last year's experiences here). Sara Kazmi and I reprised our three songs alongside poetry translations, storytelling and new illustrations at the Lahore Literary Festival. I'm finding it difficult to sum up the whole experience in a paragraph or two, so here are my notebook ramblings instead...
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Emerge from stale aeroplane fug to the chaos of morning. Wry smiles exchanged at the rain in the air; we've brought it with us. Rose petals on airport floor. Journey to hotel, eyes wide, trying to capture everything. Drinking in the newness.
Colours, patterns, animals. Tiny chicks for sale, dyed bright pink, green and yellow. Donkeys. Goats. Black kites circling above. Painted trucks, rickshaws. Traffic swerves from all directions. Driver's palm permanently hovers over the car horn. Families on mopeds, curious toddlers peer through the window.
Stalls, barbecue smoke and smell. Hive of activity as the day begins. Homes and shops jostling alongside grand columns and walled monuments, a reminder of colonial past.
Security, military, guns.
Jewel coloured clothes. Warm evening air. Dusk at the mosque. Filigree and paint. Whispering wall. Calm. Smiles and selfies. Bubbles, LED toys, flutes drifting, dusty feet.
Hunger for discussion, debate, big questions, exchange of opinion and experience. Freedom of expression vs state control. Wealth and poverty side by side. Laughter, music. Celebration of the written word and its power for positive change. Adapting to circumstance: date, stage time, venue, equipment have all been in flux. Audience appreciation. Wah-wah!
Late night gathering, palatial surrounds, sculptures and palms, Jolene on the stereo. Drivers line the roadside, waiting patiently.
Rooftop view, grilled meat, saag, daal chawal, roghni naan. Bazaar. Onyx, wooden crafts, shelves of stoles and shawls, strawberry seller, children running.
Final meal at a long banqueting table, orange glow. Darkness falls and airport scheduling begins to clamour for our attention again.
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The trip was so much more than this. Quite possibly I'll return to this blog in weeks to come. For now, though: thank you to Dan & Ryan at Highlight Arts, the British Council, Lahore Literary Festival, musical partner Sara Kazmi, poets Vicki Husband, Jim Carruth, Gerry Cambridge, Kathrine Sowerby, Afshan Sajjad, Dr Khalid Javaid Jan, Kishwar Naheed and Ali Akbar Natiq, storytellers Mujahid Eshai and Ian Stephen, illustrators Mehreen Fatima and Kate Leiper, and photographer/designer extraordinaire, Ali Kamran.
