Words on the tube

10/11/2012

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A couple of weeks ago I was on the way to a gig with Alex Roth at the Gasoline Rooms in East London. In our rehearsal the previous day he played me a new tune he'd written, and whilst rumbling along the central line, I thought of these words to go with it...

I sailed out of Stromness, horizons so wide;
I flew like an eagle, and I knew I would bide;
And although I loved all I did see and did meet;
My heart will be in this land as long as it beats.

The magical tales I was told as a child;
The light reflecting images, on my mind so beguiled;  
And although I probably won't go home, till I'm very old;
My heart will be in this land as long as it beats.
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Alex and his brother Simon at the Gasoline Rooms in East London
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NUA

06/11/2012

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I'm pleased to announce that as of this weekend I'll be playing with the fab German-based band Nua! 

Very excited to head into the studio to record a new album with the band in the autumn, but first heading over to Germany for a few gigs.  See below for dates if you're around in Germany.  It would be lovely to see you!

Check out the band's website here.



15th June 2012                  20:00            
16th June 2012                  16:00

26th July 2012                   20:00

4th August 2012                20:00

25th August 2012              16:45 

16th November 2012          20:00

17th November 2012          20:00

18th November 2012          20:00

Museum Villa Erckens, GREVENBROICH, Germany

F60 European Celtic Folk Festival, LICHTERFELD, Germany 

Sommerfestival Amberg Innenhof Stadtbibliothek, AMBERG, Germany

Schlosshof Neustadt an der Aisch, NEUSTADT AN DER AISCH, Germany

Irish Folk Festival Volmarstein, 58300 WETTER (Ruhr), Germany

Forum Friedrichsdorf, FRIEDRICHSDORF, Germany 

Venner Folk Frühling, 49179 VENNE OSTERCAPPELN, Germany

Jakobuskirche Pelkum, 59077 HAMM, Germany
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Joy Dunlop and Twelfth Day - Fiere

02/07/2012

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I'm really excited to announce a new project Esther and I (Twelfth Day) have been busy working away on with the fabulous gaelic singer Joy Dunlop. We've collaborated with Joy on a project called "Fiere" where we've taken poems by Scottish women writers in English, Scots and Gaelic and set them to music. Fiere will be out as an album in March and then we'll be on tour around the UK. Hope to see lots of you at the gigs. Confirmed dates so far are:

23rd March 2012 – St Andrew’s in the Square, Glasgow
24th March 2012 – Scottish Poetry Library, Edinburgh (2pm start)
24th March 2012 – Eastgate Theatre, Peebles (7.30pm start)
25th March 2012 - The Reel, Kirkwall, Orkney
26th March 2012 – Sandwick Hall, Sandwick, Orkney
27th March 2012 – Hoy Kirk, Hoy, Orkney
28th March 2012 – Hootananny, Inverness
29th March 2012 - Little Dunkeld Kirk, Dunkeld
30th March 2012 - Church of the Holy Saviour, Tynemouth
31st March 2012 – Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester
1st April 2012 - The Slaughtered Lamb, London

We first met Joy back in February last year after a joke on Twitter about bringing back a one time ceilidh band I had with her brother Andrew called "The Trolly Dancers" (don't ask!).  The three of us met up in Manchester to see what would happen if we joined forces.  Here is the result of that weekend - our version of Faca sibh Raghaill na Ailean? (Have you seen Ronald or Allan?):


We decided we wanted to develop our collaboration and started looking around for texts to set to music.  We discovered loads of gorgeous poems by female scottish writers and thought it would be lovely to use some of our favorites to make a new set of songs about and by scottish women.  And so Fiere (a scots word for companion or friend) began.  It explores the lives, loves and experiences of women in Scotland through poems by Carol Ann Duffy, Liz Lochhead, Jackie Kay, Christine De Luca, Morag Montgomery, Meg Bateman, Ann Frater, Violet Jacob, and a poem especially written for the project by the fabulous Edinburgh poet Sheila MacLeod.  The album will also include the above traditional Gaelic waulking song which kick started our collaboration - "Faca sibh Raghaill na Ailean?". 

Esther and I are busy in the studio this week putting our backing vocals on Joy's beautiful work, and it's all sounding pretty rockin!  Can't wait to share this with you.  

Stay tuned for album pre-oder coming soon...

Catriona x





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Young Trad final, Bach Double at home and new project coming soon....

11/22/2011

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Hi folks!

Hope you’re well and easing into this chilly winter weather ok.  Welcome to blog post no.1…

I'm really happy to have been chosen to play in the final of BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year 2012. I had such a fantastic weekend at the semi-finals in October with an absolutely cracking bunch of people and a group of brilliant musicians. I was lucky to be accompanied by the superb musicians Mhairi Hall and Mike Bryan and had a total blast with them on stage! What a weekend! The final is on Sunday the 5th of February at Celtic Connections in Glasgow and will be held at Glasgow City Halls. It would be lovely to see some of you there if you're around.

You can book tickets here: http://www.celticconnections.com/whatson/event/92465-Celtic-Connections-BBC-Radio-Scotland-Young-Traditional-Musician-of-the-Year-Final-2012

A group of my friends and I had a pretty unusual Saturday night last week when we went along to the X Factor studio to do backing strings for one of the contestants.  It was a lot of fun and pretty fascinating to see a bit of what goes into putting out a show like that live on TV.  Even caught a couple of glimpses of us swaying away in the background in Craig’s song!

I'm busy at the moment getting music ready for my final masters exams at the Royal Academy of Music, which will be happening in the spring. I'm very excited about the music I've chosen - pieces by Lutoslawski, Szymanowski, Sally Beamish, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies and a new piece a friend of mine is busy writing at the moment.  The exams are open to anyone to come and listen, which is lovely as it means that your friends and family who have come along to enjoy the music and to support you, dampen the exam atmosphere and make the whole thing seem much more like a concert than an exam.  I’m looking forward to it!

I’m heading home to Orkney soon to play the Bach Double Violin Concerto with Tabea Sitte (another RAM student who’s family moved to Orkney a few years ago) and the Orkney Camerata.  It’s always lovely to play at home, so we’re really looking forward to it.  The concert will be on Sunday the 11th of December at St Magnus Cathedral.

But before that, I’m going into the studio with my Twelfth Day partner in crime Esther, and the fantastic Gaelic singer Joy Dunlop to record a collaboration project we’ve been working on together over the past few months.  We’re so excited about this and can’t wait to show you the results.  Stay tuned for an announcement about it in the next week or so.

All the best for now,

Catriona

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