With the sunshine and stages of summer keeping me busy I fear that I have neglected the news page for months but just getting back to it now as August disappears for another year. Many thanks to all of you who have come along to concerts and kept in touch by email or guest book, special thanks to those of you who visited the shop here on the website and cleared the shelves of two of my albums, “Unapproved Road” and “Live”. Not a copy of either left! Apologies for the delay for those of you who have ordered either of these in last few days but new supplies are on the way and the shelves should be replenished with new editions by mid September!
I’m just home after a couple of lovely festivals last weekend. On Saturday I was in the North East for the first Sunderland Folk Festival where it was great to meet up with many friends including Doreen Henderson who inspired the song “From the Darkness of the Mine”. Then Sunday and Monday it was all the way down to Cornwall and the wonderful Wadebridge Folk Festival with music, song and dance filling every corner of the winding streets. I even managed to join Pete Crassby’s All Star Ceili Band in a session that included a rare appearance by the legendary Cornish musician, John the Fish.
Looking ahead and the road leading into September has some gigs that I’m really looking forward to very much. In the early part of this month there are four “sailings” of The Seedboat in Scotland with the superb Scottish Gaelic singer and harper Maggie MacInnes. Because of the salt water between us and our own work in other areas, it’s rare enough that we get the chance to do The Seedboat gig so it’s always special to meet up with Maggie to investigate those bi lingual songs and stories from either side of the sea. As you’ll see on the gigs page, we have concerts in Irvine, Girvan and The Blas Festival in Strontian. Sad to say that the concert planned for The Rothes Halls in Glenrothes has been cancelled due to circumstances beyond our control.
Back home after that for solo concerts in the atmospheric little theatre in Stephenstown Pond just outside Dundalk in County Louth on September 14th and the equally intimate setting of the Iona Bistro in Holywood County Down on Monday 19th. Check the gigs page for more details of concerts in the weeks and months ahead and it would be great to see you somewhere along the way!
I’m just home after a couple of lovely festivals last weekend. On Saturday I was in the North East for the first Sunderland Folk Festival where it was great to meet up with many friends including Doreen Henderson who inspired the song “From the Darkness of the Mine”. Then Sunday and Monday it was all the way down to Cornwall and the wonderful Wadebridge Folk Festival with music, song and dance filling every corner of the winding streets. I even managed to join Pete Crassby’s All Star Ceili Band in a session that included a rare appearance by the legendary Cornish musician, John the Fish.
Looking ahead and the road leading into September has some gigs that I’m really looking forward to very much. In the early part of this month there are four “sailings” of The Seedboat in Scotland with the superb Scottish Gaelic singer and harper Maggie MacInnes. Because of the salt water between us and our own work in other areas, it’s rare enough that we get the chance to do The Seedboat gig so it’s always special to meet up with Maggie to investigate those bi lingual songs and stories from either side of the sea. As you’ll see on the gigs page, we have concerts in Irvine, Girvan and The Blas Festival in Strontian. Sad to say that the concert planned for The Rothes Halls in Glenrothes has been cancelled due to circumstances beyond our control.
Back home after that for solo concerts in the atmospheric little theatre in Stephenstown Pond just outside Dundalk in County Louth on September 14th and the equally intimate setting of the Iona Bistro in Holywood County Down on Monday 19th. Check the gigs page for more details of concerts in the weeks and months ahead and it would be great to see you somewhere along the way!