Veteran troubadour Alastair McDonald is the guest at Irvine Folk Club on Wednesday 8th May. He has played in Irvine so often that he nearly has the vote!
Alastair is the folk-singing, jazz banjo player or the jazz banjo playing folk singer – it all depends where he’s appearing! He is equally at home in folk clubs, jazz venues, theatres, concert halls or churches. His TV and Radio appearances are too numerous to mention and likewise the number of albums he has recorded. Suffice to say that since becoming a fulltime performer in 1970, Alastair has built up a successful career in Scotland and globally too.
Glasgow born Alastair emigrated with his family at the age of eight to Australia. It was while growing up in the Australian outback that he developed an interest in ‘home made’ entertainment. Returning to Scotland four years later, there was a growing pop scene and skiffle had also arrived. At just 21, Alastair was already regarded as one of the leading jazz banjo players.
As years passed Alastair’s musical horizons extended and took him into variety shows, pantos, plays, TV and Radio work. His continued popularity is down to his commitment to entertain. Performances by Alastair McDonald can be described by words like wholesome, uplifting and entertaining. He likes humorous material and Matt McGinn’s terrific song Sam the Skull often features in Alastair’s playlist.
Hear Alastair at the Irvine Club on the 8th May at Vineburgh Community Centre in Quarry Road. The Club starts at 8pm and it’s BYOB.
Elsewhere, this coming weekend being the May holiday means that many roads will lead to Girvan for the annual folk festival. Whilst the emphasis is on traditional music, there is a lot more besides so it’s well worth checking out the programme online.