After what seems like far too long an absence, Mairi Campbell will be the welcome guest at Irvine folk Club on Wednesday 1st March. When last in Irvine, it was with her husband Dave Francis as part of their successful duo The Cast. Nowadays, as well The Cast, Mairi has an extremely busy diary built on her 30 years’ experience in traditional and classical music.
Mairi plays Fiddle, Viola and according to The Scotsman, ‘her voice can stop the clock’. Indeed, her exquisite version of Auld Lang Syne caught the attention of Sarah Jessica Parker so much that it was included in the pivotal scene in the blockbuster movie ‘Sex and The City’.
Voted Female Musician of the Year by liveireland, winning the Neil Gow Composition Award, and being Tutor of the Year and also Scots Singer of the Year at the Scots Trad Music Awards are all indications of the enormous regard in which Mairi Campbell is held by her peers and audiences.
Mairi is a tutor for Improvisation at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, organises regular Campbell’s Ceilidhs, runs retreats on the isle of Lismore for mixed ability musicians, along with husband Dave is part of the Bella McNabs Band and also finds time to be part of the celebrated ceilidh band The Occasionals. Phew! And, having visited Cape Breton in the 1990s, she fell in love with place and with Step Dancing so much that she now teaches it in Scotland!
Classically trained, Mairi said in a recent interview with The Living Tradition magazine that all that she does reflects the deep foundation of ideas, influences and connections of over 30 years resulting in a natural progression of her work.
Make sure you are in the Irvine Folk Club audience on the first day of March at 8pm to hear Mairi Campbell. The Club meets in Vineburgh Community Centre in Quarry Road. It’s BYOB and there’s also a café.
Elsewhere, looking ahead to Sunday 26th March, a Tapestry of Gaelic Song featuring Maggie MacInnes is at the Woodlands Centre in Irvine’s Kilwinning Road. It starts at 3pm and admission is £5. Email uwsjimsmith@gmail.com for more information. And looking further ahead, the 43rd Girvan Trad Folk Festival dates are Friday 28th – Sunday 30th April. Visit www.girvanfolkfestival.co.uk
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presenting folk music in Ayrshire for over 50 years