Bob Wood – 9th August

Ewan Wilkinson & Sandy Brechin are at Irvine Folk Club on Wednesday 26th April and it will be the first time that the Irvine audience has heard this duo – although they have been playing for over ten years.
They sing a mix of Scottish, Irish and English trad songs as well as some contemporary material and some of their own compositions. Ewan is a powerful baritone who also plays Guitar and is increasingly well-known for his self-penned songs written in the folk idiom. Sandy Brechin played at the Irvine Club a number of years ago as the lead in the ‘Heavy Folk Rock’ band Burach. He can play the Accordion unbelievably fast – but it’s not all fiery and frantic fingering of keys. Sandy can do subtle and sensitive accompaniments and was part of the ‘uber-classy’ instrumental line-up at a Songs of Robert Tannahill concert at this year’s Celtic Connections.
So, get along to the Irvine Club on the 26th to hear for yourself the talented music of Ewan Wilkinson & Sandy Brechin. The Club starts at 8pm in Vineburgh Community Centre in Quarry Road and it’s BYOB plus there is a good café.
Last call for Auld Hats, New Heids on Friday 21st April at Vineburgh Community Centre. It starts at 7.30pm. The Friel Sisters are the headline guests at Girvan Folk Festival taking place from Friday 28th to Sunday 30th April. Visit www.girvanfolkfestival.co.uk for details. Scotland has a wealth of Folk Festivals throughout the year, all helping to keep music live. Full info on what’s on where from www.tmsa.org.uk

A wee reminder that the Auld Hat New Heids Show will be appearing in Vineburgh this Friday at 7.30pm. Same format as club night – BYOB but café open for teas/coffees etc.
The show will last from 7.30pm – 10pm. Should be a good night. Tickets are £10 available at door. The club is not running this show only helping out and the raffle profits will go to Irvine Folk Club.

Sunjay made his debut appearance at Irvine Folk Club three years ago, and such was the impact he made that he was immediately booked for Marymass and has had repeat Club bookings. If you haven’t heard Sunjay, make sure you are in the audience on Wednesday 12th April at the Irvine Club to hear this very talented and immensely likeable performer.
From Stourbridge in the West Midlands, Sunjay is a rising star on the Folk and Acoustic circuit. Such are his guitar skills, that some reviewers say he is reminiscent of Ralph McTell and John Martyn. Match that with an authoritative voice that belies his 23 years years and the reasons for the glowing reviews become apparent. Sunjay picked up the guitar aged four and hasn’t put it down since. As a youngster he was introduced by his Dad to the sounds of Don McLean and Buddy Holly and now Sunjay’s guitar picking skills are said to be among the very best. The material played by Sunjay is heavily influenced by the Blues but also draws from Folk, Country and Rock. He also writes some of his own material.
He has a confidence, maturity and ease on stage and is held in high regard by folk world luminaries such as Steeleye Span. Hear Sunjay at Irvine Folk Club on Wednesday 12th April in Vineburgh Community Centre in Quarry Road. The Club starts at 8pm and it’s BYOB.
Looking a bit ahead, on Friday 21st April, Auld Hat & New Heids is at Vineburgh Community Centre. It’s a specially arranged show featuring Ian & Fraser Bruce, Pete Clark & Gregor Lowry and concentrates on well-loved songs that the audience can join in with. Tickets priced £10 are available from Joyce on 551047 or at Irvine Folk Club.
And finally, from 26th April – 7th May, Tradfest is on in Edinburgh. Described as a feast of folk arts and seasonal customs, there are 131 events over 34 venues. The Box Office is at 0131 556 9579 or visit tradscotland.org/tradfest.

The dates for the 50th Marymass Folk Festival were agreed at the AGM last night.
Thursday 24th August – Sunday 27th August
Full details soon.

(The following is a review from Celtic Music Radio of Auld Hat New Heids’ recent performance at St Andrews In The Square on Sunday 29th Jan 2017).

Throughout the years that Celtic Connections have been running there have been many memorable concerts. This concert will go down as one of them! It was a truly memorable night and up there with the best concerts over the years. A show designed to rekindle the songs and atmosphere of folk clubs of yesteryear with audience participation it did exactly what it said it would.

Seasoned performers and brothers Fraser and Ian Bruce, accompanied by Gregor Lowrey (accordion) and Pete Clark (fiddle) put on the show of their lives. Starting the night with Doon In The Wee Room they immediately increased the bands vocal support by over 300 as every member of this sell out audience joined in with the singing. This continued throughout the night and is exactly what this show is all about. Every single song was a well known one and passionately delivered by Ian and Fraser. There was hardly a dry eye in the house at their renditions of the Loch Tay Boat Song and Silver Darlings.

Another inspired part of this show was the showing of slides onto a large screen paying tribute to musicians, alive and dead, who had been major influences and inspirational to many up and coming musicians. Also included in the slides were the choruses of many of the songs to assist the eager audience with the words and to encourage their singing. Much of Scotland’s’ working past was also remembered with songs such as The Jute Mill Song, The Shoals of Herring and The Wark O’ The Weavers. Of all the songs performed few had a rousing reception as great as that given to The John MacLean March.

In between the songs the wit and humour from the Bruce brothers was excellent. These guys put the fun back into music. It was hard to believe that Fraser Bruce had taken a near 30 years sabbatical from performing only returning to stage in 2014. His enthusiasm in getting this project up and running puts a lot of artists half his age to shame. The ultimate accolade I could give them is to liken them to The Corries in their heyday. The interaction with the audience, the humour and their rendition of many of the songs reminded me so much of Ronnie Brown and Roy Williamson.

This was one of those nights you did not want to finish. People left this historic venue with huge smiles on their faces raving about how good the evening was. At the start of the evening Fraser recited a poem listing the many folk clubs that used to be open over the length and breadth of the country. Sadly the majority of these clubs are no longer however Auld Hat New Heids is doing everything in their power to bring back those heady days. This show continues around the country, it would be foolhardy to miss it. For songs and laughter this is the show to go to.

Danny Matheson (celticmusicradio.net)

On Wednesday 29th March at Irvine Folk Club, the very special guest will be Geordie man Bob Fox. A man with a busy gig list and who is much respected by the likes of Ralph McTell among many others.
Bob started his singing career around the then busy folk scene in the North East of England. It was while playing at The Davylamp Club in Washington where he was resident, that he met Fiddler Tom McConville. They formed a duo which toured all over the UK and from then Bob’s musical career never looked back.
He plays Guitar, Piano, Dulcimer and Button Key Accordion and his clear voice has a rich, velvety tone which he puts to good use on a range of traditional and contemporary songs. As well as the aforementioned Tom McConville, Bob has had a number of musical collaborations throughout his career. They include an enduring partnership with Stu Luckley, plus The Hush, ex-Lindisfarne frontman Billy Mitchell and The Pitmen Poets who are Jed Grimes, Benny Graham, Billy Mitchell and of course Bob. All the collaborations have been very successful.
In recent years, Bob played the invisible spirit character in the National Theatre’s much acclaimed production Warhorse. So successful was the production that Bob recorded an album of the songs which he now presents on tour in An Evening with the Warhorse Songman.
In short, this amiable and humorous man is worthwhile going along to hear at Irvine Folk Club in Caldon Road on Wednesday 29th March. The Club starts at 8pm.
Elsewhere, on Sunday 26th March at the Woodlands Centre in Irvine’s Kilwinning Road, Maggie MacInnes features in A Tapestry of Gaelic Song. The event starts at 3pm and tickets are £5 at the door or email uwsjimsmith@gmail.com for further info. At The Star in Glasgow on 28th March, the Adam McCulloch Ban will top the bill. The Star starts at 7.30pm in The Admiral Bar.

Fraser Bruce is bringing his show Auld Hat New Heids to Vineburgh Community Centre on Friday 21st April at 7.30pm. Tickets priced £10 are available from Joyce 01294 551047. You are advised to get your tickets early as space is limited and this should be a very popular show. Went down well as Celtic Connections and getting good reviews around the country. The Folk Club are not running this show – merely helping out with the door and ticket sales. Looking forward to it.

The AGM of Irvine Folk Club will take place in Vineburgh Community Centre on Wednesday 22nd March 2017 at 7.30pm. If you have not yet renewed your membership please do so before the AGM. Hope to see you all there.

Rallion is a four-piece folk band combining exceptional musical talents to create an exciting contemporary sound playing traditional music and they will be popular guests at Irvine Folk Club on Wednesday 15th March.

Rallion is a much respected band even although according to The Dictionary of Scots Language, Rallion means a loud, sharp noise! This is a group of four very talented and experienced musicians. Fiona Cuthill and Andrew Lyons provide the double fiddle powerhouse and are complemented by the superb vocals of Marieke McBean and the virtuoso guitar and bouzouki playing of the ubiquitous Stevie Lawrence.

The band is drawn from Glasgow and Perth. Classically trained singer Marieke is from the Netherlands and moved to Scotland in 2001 because of her love for traditional Scottish music. Think of Scottish folk music with a soulful edge and you have Marieke’s voice.

Fiona Cuthill and Andrew Lyons are impressive and distinctive fiddle players and Fiona is also an acclaimed composer. Stevie Lawrence is a much sought after session player. His playing of the guitar and bouzouki covers the whole range from driving rhythms to sensitive phrasing. Stevie also plays with the Red Hot Chilli Pipers. They are also awfy nice people.

What comes through any performance of Rallion is the evident joy in their music and the fact that they love playing together. Their repertoire includes fast-paced modern compositions played in traditional style, some slower more thoughtful pieces and old songs given a fresh treatment. The Band has played at Irvine a number of times and have never failed to disappoint.

For entertainment and skilful playing, go along to Irvine Folk Club on 15th March to hear the excellent Rallion. It really would be a good decision! The Irvine Club meets in Vineburgh Community Centre in Quarry Road, starts at 8pm and it’s BYOB.

Elsewhere, Wizz Jones is the guest at The Star Club on 14th March. The Club meets in The Admiral Bar in Glasgow’s Waterloo Street and starts at 7.30pm.

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