I Mary Coughlan Siraihclytle Stlite. Royal Concert Hall. Satichtehall Street. 2875511. 8pm. £1-I(£12). Soull'ul Irish singer Mary ('oughlan and pianist Peter O'Brien l'itltgc‘ 1T0”) boogie—woogie It) blues. Support Irom lis-1-'i\e Hand Reel singer-guitarist Bobby liaglesham.
I Berroguetto and Zuba The Arches. Midland Street. 221 4001. 8pm. £12 (£10). ()ne ot' the best bands trom last year‘s eyent. Berroguetto take their beautiful. hypnotic (ialiciari music and mix with a wide range ol conteriiporary inllticnces. Zuba are a (ilasgow -based irittlti-cultural oiitlit.
I Malinky The l’iping (critic. 34
Mcl’hatei' Street. 287 551 I. 8pm. £7 (£5).
Singer/sorigwriter Karine l’olw art. now also \ocalist with the Battlelield Band. leads the iormer ‘1)aiitiy ' award-w inning band.
I Celtic Wah Wah, Wayne Paycheck and Sound Development Agency King Tut's Wah Wah Hut. St Vincent Street. 221 527‘). 8.30prri. £3.50. Triple bill ot‘ beats and roots include Wah \\';i1i's mix ()1 Iiddles. percussion and \ocals.
I Wolfstone The Old lirtiitrnarket. Albion Street. 287 5511. l()pm. £12.50. Legendary Highland rootsy rock 'n' rollers. Support from Beware ()1 The Dog.
I Ceilidh Dance lixhibition Hall. Royal ('oncert 1-1all. Sauchiehall Street. 287 5511. 10pm. £3.50. Music from the Itiishowen ('eili Band.
I Festival Club The Quality (‘eniral Hotel. (Jordon Street. 221 9680. 11pm. £1-£.‘~.50. See Thu 11.
SATURDAY 13
I Beoulach and Tejedor Strathclyde Suite. Royal (‘oncert Hall. Saticliieliall Street. 287 5511. 1pm. £7.50(£5.50i. ('ape Breton seyeri-piece Beoulach are led by acclaimed Iiddler Wendy Maclsaac. Teiedor are from .-\sturias. next to (ialieia in the north ot Spain.
I Song Cycle: Linlithgow Sangschule The Piping ('entre. McPhater Street. 287 5511. 2pm. £6 (£4). The first ()1 this
- year's TMSA concert series. l()c‘llslllg on
traditional song in Scotland.
I Kate Rusby Band Royal ('oncet‘t Hall. Sauchiehall Street. 287 5511. 7.30pm. £12 (£10). Young Yorkshire l()lk singer. brought tip at I'olk liestiyals (her Dad was the sound man) sings ballads and w rites her ow n songs. accompanied on guitar and keyboard. and is joined by John Mc('us1s'er. Michael McGoIdricls'. lan ('arr. Andy (‘utting and others. Also joining her w ill be the Alison Brown Quartet and John Herald.
I Les Batinses and Sun Honey The Arches. Midland Street. 221 4001. 8pm. £12 (£10). Making their 17K debut. this Qtiebecois outlit haye a llayour of La Bottine Souriarite. Scots fiddler Aidan ()‘Rourke leads his new batid. Sun Honey in support.
I Buddy MacMaster Straihclytle Suite. Royal (‘oricert Hall. Sauchreliall Street. 287 5511. (Split. £lili£iS).\ieteranCapc Breton tiddle star Buddy .\lac.\lastcr and his iiitisicians are routed by Scots and (iaelic singer Margaret Bennett.
I The Sangsters The Piping ('entrc. McPhater Street. 28'" 5511. (Spin. £7 (£5). 1-‘ine close harmony singing trom this l5ite- h‘asc‘tl (no.
I Luka Bloom The Old lir'uitmai'ltet. Albion Street. 287' 5511.‘)pm. £12.50. The brother ()1 (‘hristy Moore. this \ei‘satile songwriter's music spans Irish t'ollt through to rock and rap.
I Ceilidh Dance lixhibition Hall. Royal Concert Hall. Sauchiehall Street. 287' 5511. 10pm. £3.50. See Fri 12.
I Festival Club The Quality ('entral Hotel. (iordon Street. 221 9680. 1 1pm. £l-~£3.50. See Thu 11.
I Song Cycle: Glasgow Irish Singers The Piping Centre. Mel’hater Street. 287 5511. 2pm. £6 (£4). The (ilasgow Irish Singers (iroup illuminate the musical links between Scotland and Ireland.
I New Voices: Chris Stout SIt‘allic‘lydc Suite. Royal Concert Hall. Sauchiehall Street. 287 5511. 2pm. £6 (£4). Launching this year's series ol‘ new commissions. ('hris Stout of the young Shetland band Fiddler's Bid collaborates w ith singer .r\1_\ tli .\lc(‘ormack.
I Danny Kyle’s Open Stage l'.\ltll‘lllilll Hall. Royal Concert Hall. Saticliiehall Street. 28" 5511. 5 ~pm l‘ree See Thu 11 I Kate and Anna McGarrigle Royal (‘oiicert Hall. Sauchichall Street. 28" 5511 ".511l‘tii. £13 (£1 I I ('ariadian star sisters. The _\lc(iai‘rigles w rite arid harmonise some ol the most mo\ mg popular songs ot the last twenty years.
I The McCalmans The l’ipmg Centre. Mcl’hater Street. 28" 5511. 8pm. £2 (£5) l.C:_'L‘lltl\ (t1 Illc‘ Sc'ttlltslt lttlls l'c‘\ l\.tl.
they '\e been singing I'or 33 years. New illl‘lllll l’t‘u’t (' (I’ll! [Tc/Ii".
I Transglobal Underground .llltl The Peatbog Faeries 'l'lie .-\rchcs. Midland Street. 221 4001. 8pm. £12 (£10). Multi~ cultural dance tloor treii/y with two bands who lithe decl‘ i—‘i'ooyes w ith Celtic. rock. r];t// and world music.
I Young Scots Traditional Musician Of The Year Strathclyde Stiitc. Royal Concert Hall. Saiichiehall Street. 28" 5511. Spm £7.50. .-\ new competition encourages and celebrates young traditional musicians and \lllgt‘t'S
I Paddy Keenan The Old 1'r‘urtiriar‘ltet. Albion Street. 28" 5511.11pin. £1250 (£10.50). liy-Bothy Band ls'eeriari is one ol the world's greats on the urlleari pipes - here loined by master liddler‘ 1.i/(‘arro11's Trio and Tommy Sullrsaii.
I Festival Club The ()iraliiy (‘enir-al Hotel. (iordon Street. 221 0680 11pm.
£1 £3.50. See Thu 1 1.
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Brittany Alan Stivell
Spain
Kepa Junkera
Northern Europe
Finlandia Vodka
Nordic Nights
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The music of Brittany enjoyed a gradual revival in the post-war years, part of a more
wide-ranging upsurge of interest in revitalising and redefining Breton cultural identity (sound familiar?). The man who took the next step forward and brought Breton music firmly onto the world stage in the late 605 and early 705, however, was undoubtedly harpist Alan Stivell. His medium for doing so was not pure Breton traditional music, but his own distinctive version of Celtic-rock, combining his haunting harp and vocals with electric guitars and drums. It struck a chord with the times, and won him a huge international following. Stivell slipped from fashion for a time, but has continued to pursue his own very personal musical course. With Alan’s Celtic-rock and the reunion of the Incredible String Band on this year’s menu, close your eyes and it might just seem like 1970 all over again. You can practically smell the incense . . .
I Old Fruitmarket, Sun 28 Jan, 9pm.
The musrc of what is probably best described (to borrow writer and musmran Andrew Cronsbaw’s apt term) as Celtic Iberia takes in the northern regions of Galicia, Asturia and the Basque provrnce, and it is the latter which is home of the brilliant Kepa Junkera The sensation of the festival on his debut two years ago, the accordionist is back in action this year. He hails from the Basque crty of Bilbao, and is the leading exponent of the trikitixa, the traditional Basque accordion. A player of genuine emotional depth as well as sizzling Virtuosity, he draws on both traditional Basque sources and contemporary exten5ions of that tradition, aided and abetted by his excellent band. Just to demonstrate how much he enjoys playing at Celtic Connections, Kepa is taking time out from recording his new studio album to be here, in what Will be an exclusive UK date,
I Old Fruitmarket, Sat 27 Jan, 9pm.
There isn't much of a Celtic connection, but both geography and history have conspired to ensure that there was a long and interwoven relationship between Scotland and the other countries of the northern fringe of Europe. Colin Hynd, the director of the festival, has always invited musicians from Scandinavia and the Nordic regions, but has decided to make more of a feature of the connection this year in the weekend-long Nordic Nights series. There are three programmes in all, and the idea is that on each night, a Scottish band — The Iron Horse, Blazin' Fiddles and Deaf Shepherd respectively - will act as ‘host' to several guests from across the North Sea. The range of guests includes familiar faces like Finland's Varttina and the Anglo-Swedish amalgamation SWAP alongside several newcomers, including the excellent Finnish band JPP, Garmana and Vasen from Sweden, and Serras and the duo Haugegaard and Hoirup from Denmark.
I The Arches, Fri 19 Jan-Sun 21 Jan, 8pm. Sec—18152.") ZOOITHELISTSS