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of contemporary, Americana and traditional songs. Friday 5
Glasgow ■ Friday Ceilidh Sloan’s, Argyle Arcade, Argyle Street, 221 8886. 8.30pm. £8 (£5; or two-course meal for £19.95). Ceilidh dinner dance.
Edinburgh FREE Rebels – Beating the Drum for Africa Usher Hall, Lothian Road, 228 1155. 11am & 7pm. Ticketed. Young people express their views on African political, social and economic issues through music and dance. ■ Fundraising Benefit for Bhopal Survivors Counting House, West Nicolson Street, 477 0817. 8pm. £15 (£6). To keep visible the plight of the thousands of people suffering from the Union Carbide poisoning in India, this is a fundraiser of Left-leaning music and song from Dick Gaughan, Leon Rosselson, Mae Shaw, Townhouse, Ruari Sutherland, Norrie MacIver and other guests. Stirling ■ Martin Simpson Tolbooth, Jail Wynd, 01786 274000. 8pm. £14 (£12). Former BBC Folk Musician of the Year, and a superb guitarist and singer. See Thu 4.
Saturday 6
Glasgow ■ Northern Harmony Adelaide’s, Bath Street, 07906 179941. 7.30pm. £9 (£6). Based in New England and with a scattering of instrumental accompaniment, this choir of a dozen or so mixed singers, brings varied styles of folk harmony from Corsica, Georgia, the Balkans, South Africa to their own traditional shape-note and American roots. Edinburgh ■ Love, Lover and Beloved: An Evening of Sufi Devotions and Ecstatic Music Quaker Meeting House, Victoria Terrace, 331 4469. 6.30pm. £8 (£6). Sufi music and chant from The Diwan Ensemble and Murshid Saadi Shakur Chishti. Part of the Edinburgh International Festival of Middle Eastern Spirituality and Peace 2010. ■ Edinburgh Festival of Music, Speech and Dance: Final Concert The Queen’s Hall, Clerk Street, 668 2019. 7pm. £8 (£4; children free). A showcase of highlights from this year’s festival, featuring classical and Scottish music, ballet and traditional dance. Including the four finalists of the Concerto Class, accompanied by the Friends of The Festival Orchestra. ■ Refugee Survival Trust Ceilidh Roxy Art House, Roxburgh Place, 7pm. £10 (£6.50; under 12s 3.50). Ceilidh dance to raise funds for the Refugee Survival Trust, with the Cosmic Ceilidh Band. Organic bar and raffle. ■ Richmond Fontaine and Alana Levandoski Cabaret Voltaire, Blair Street, 220 6176. 7pm. £13. Bittersweet rockin’ Americana from this novelist- fronted Oregon band, promoting their latest album We Used to Think The Freeway Sounded Like a River. Support from Canadian Levandoski’s lyrical vocals.
Sunday 7 Glasgow ■ Graeme Stephen Sextet with special guest Ben Davis City Halls, Recital Room. 8pm. £12. British folk, classical and jazz influences create an eclectic mix. Graeme Stephen (guitar), Ben Davis – of Mercury nominees Basquiat Strings – (cello), Chris Stout (violin), Fraser Fifield (soprano sax/kaval), Martin Kershaw (alto sax),
Mario Caribe (bass), and Scottish Jazz Awards Drummer of the Year 2009 Stuart Ritchie are touring in this Arts Council- sponsored Tune Up tour presented by Jazz International. ■ Yurodny Café Cossachok, Trongate, 553 0733. 9pm. £6. ‘Celebration, Lamentation, Storytelling, Meditation, Education, and Ceremony’ is the philosophy of this arty, Dublin-based reeds, brass, electronica and string nonet (including Loyko’s virtuoso violinist Oleg Ponomarev) playing original, traditional, Balkan and East European material. Edinburgh ■ Edinburgh Bands Together for Haiti Wee Red Bar, Edinburgh College of Art, Lauriston Place, 229 1442. 6.30pm. £10–£15. Blues, jazz, world, rock and more as blues/jazzer Tam White & The Usual Suspects heads up Nobby Clark & His Band, Liz MacEwan & Blind Lemon, Safehouse, Soulussion, The Rattlers and Senegal’s Samba Sene & Diwan, all playing for the good cause. ■ Land-Song-Being: Sacred Chants with Fionntulach and Peter Govan Quaker Meeting House, Victoria Terrace, 331 4469. 7pm. £10 (£8). The Fuinn with Fionntulach of the Order of Céili Dé. Part of the Edinburgh International Festival of Middle Eastern Spirituality and Peace 2010. FREE Footstomping Whiski, High Street, 556 3095. 9.30pm. Irish/Scottish session.
Monday 8
Glasgow ■ Michael Simons Tchai Ovna, Otago Lane, 357 4524. 8pm. £2. Glasgow- based guitarist plays folk/blues and more. Edinburgh ■ Songs for Coming Out in Daylight Quaker Meeting House, Victoria Terrace, 331 4469. 6.30pm. £8 (£6). Probably the first time a selection of spells from the Egyptian Book of the Dead has been sung publicly in the original dialect for around 2000 years. Part of the Edinburgh International Festival of Middle Eastern Spirituality and Peace 2010. ■ Lucy Wainwright Roche The Voodoo Rooms, West Register Street, 556 7060. 8pm. £7. Young indie-acoustic singer, and one of Loudon Wainwright III’s musical offspring, mixes folk tunes with her own original songs. Please note change of date. FREE Muckle Flugga Whiski, High Street, 556 3095. 9.30pm. Scottish music from this ceilidh band.
Stirling ■ Adam McNaughton Stirling Folk Club, Stirling County Rugby Football Club, Bridgehaugh Park, Causewayhead Road, 01259 218521. 8pm. £7. The witty, veteran Glasgow singer, folk historian and songwriter (he’s the man responsible for ‘The Jeely Piece Song’ and ‘Hamlet’).
Tuesday 9
Glasgow FREE Thank Folk it’s Tuesday Sloan’s, Argyle Arcade, Argyle Street, 221 8886. 7pm. The GU Celtic band host this folk and traditional session. Edinburgh ■ Allie Robertson Leith Folk Club, The Village, South Fort Street, 07502 024852. 7.30pm. £6. Young artist, one of those at the forefront of the new generation of Scottish and Irish harpists. ■ Ceilidh Club The Lot, Grassmarket, 225 9922. 8pm. £6. Ceilidh dance with live music and callers to lead you through the steps. Music from fiddle- and-flute-fronted Islander. FREE Footstomping Whiski, High Street, 556 3095. 9.30pm. See Sun 7.
Wednesday 10 Saturday 13
Folk Music
Edinburgh ■ Celtish Edinburgh Folk Club, Cabaret Bar, The Pleasance, 650 2458. 8pm. £8 (£7). A Wales-based quintet of pan-Celtic musicians on harp, fiddle and guitar, with a strong vocal style from lead singer Gwyneth Keen and the classical flute tone of Imogen O’ Rourke.
Dunfermline FREE Bob Knight Dunfermline Folk Club, Thistle Tavern, Baldridgeburn, 01383 729673. 8pm. Singer-songwriter from Aberdeen. Fife ■ SpringFest Falkland Palace Chapel, Falkland. 7pm. £5 (£3). Traditional song and music from Siobhan Miller and Jeana Leslie, Iain Anderson, Gemma Donald, Norrie McIvor, Neil Paterson, Peter Shepherd, Alan Small and the Early Learning Ceilidh Band. Two-night event (see Thu 11). Also showing on both nights is Arcadia, a unique sound piece using the 17th century Dutch tapestry as a ‘score’. For further info, go to www.centreforstewardship.org
Thursday 11
Glasgow ■ Tich Frier St Andrew’s in the Square, St Andrew’s Square, 0870 013 4060. 8pm. £8 (£6). The wee man with the big voice entertains with driving guitars and a pawky sense of humour.
Edinburgh ■ Rantum Scantum The Jazz Bar, Chambers Street, 220 4298. 6pm. Donation. See Thu 4. ■ Karine Polwart Roxy Art House, Roxburgh Place, 7pm. £12 (£8). A quality blend of acoustic folk, traditional Scots, indie, and alt.country from the Border- based award-winning songstress Polwart. She’s joined by special guest, guitarist and songwriter Ewan McLennan and friends. ■ James Grant Brunton Theatre, Ladywell Way, Musselburgh, 665 2240. 7.30pm. £14.50 (£12.50). See Sat 6. Fife ■ SpringFest Falkland Palace Chapel, Falkland. 7pm. £5 (£3). See Wed 10.
Friday 12
Glasgow ■ Friday Ceilidh Sloan’s, Argyle Arcade, Argyle Street, 221 8886. 8.30pm. £8 (£5; or two-course meal for £19.95). See Fri 5. Edinburgh ■ Samaritans Ceilidh St Bride’s Centre, Orwell Terrace, 346 1405. 7pm. £8–£10 (£6–£8; under 12s £4). Fun for all the family at this night of music and dancing. Live music and a caller to talk you through the steps. ■ Teannaich Pollock Halls, Holyrood Park Road, 7.30pm. £8 (£6). Dance to the funky ceilidh band with mandolin. ■ Ceilidh Dance Old St Paul’s Church, Jeffrey Street, 556 3332. 7.45pm. £7 (under £16s £4). Night of dancing to raise funds for Old St Paul’s Restoration Project. Live band. ■ Edinburgh Ceilidhs Roxy Art House, Roxburgh Place, 339 5374. 8pm. £6–£10. Traditional fun with ceilidh dance bands and a piper, and some international folk dances to complement the Scottish classics. Bar.
Anstruther ■ The Fence Collective’s Homegame Various venues, times vary. £75. Fife’s Fence Collective takes over Anstruther and Cellardyke for the weekend with intimate gigs in various venues. This year’s line-up includes Four Tet, Django Django, Francois and the Atlas Mountains, Findo Gask, Meursault, Panda Su, Benni Hemm Hemm, and of course all the usual local Fence folk.
Glasgow ■ Most Thursdays City Halls, Recital Room. 8pm. £8. Iain Copeland, recording engineer and drummer with Scotland’s Peatbog Faeries, takes the Acoustic Affair series in a different direction with this blend of electronic dances, acoustic roots, and traditional celtic music in a project he has been developing for a number of years. Using cutting-edge Ableton DJ technology on a laptop, he plays percussion while improvising live with a band of top roots and traditional musicians. Edinburgh ■ African Extravaganza Roxy Art House, Roxburgh Place, 477 5567. 7pm. £8 (£7; under 13s free). Fundraising benefit with African music, poetry and storytelling; The Bhundu Boys, Risa Kagona, Samba Sene & Diwan, Mara Manzies, Kokumo Rocks and Edinburgh’s big band La Boum – as well as African food and an exhibition of Kangas and Maasai photos. ■ Edinburgh’s Fiddlers Annual Concert Liberton Kirk Hall, Kirkgate, 6648264. 7pm. £8 (£6). Edinburgh’s Highland Reel and Strathspey Society present some of Scotland’s best-loved traditional music, from slow airs to marches, strathspeys and reels. ■ Big Green Ceilidh St Bride’s Centre, Orwell Terrace, 346 1405. 8pm. £10 (£8). Ceilidh dance to live music from Da Hooley.
Anstruther ■ The Fence Collective’s Homegame Various venues, times vary. £75. See Fri 12.
Kinross ■ Milnathort Folk Festival Various venues, Milnathort, 01577 863000. Times vary. Prices vary. See Fri 12.
Livingston ■ Big Noise – Carnival Band Workshop Howden Park Centre, Howden, 01506 777666. 11am–4pm. £16 (£14). If you play a brass, woodwind or percussion instrument, this is your chance to play in a street band and get tuition from members of Orkestra Del Sol. Players should have at least two years’ experience. Ticket price includes light refreshments and lunch. Age 14+.
Sunday 14
Glasgow ■ Kiila and Alasdair Roberts Stereo, Renfield Lane, 222 2254. 8pm. £8.50. Finland and Scotland refocused through the refractive prisms of Finnish psycho-collective Kiila and Roberts’ distinctive voice in the UK’s new folk scene. See Sat 13. ■ Blazin’ Fiddles The Old Fruitmarket, Candleriggs, 353 8000. 8pm. £15. They’ve been called ‘the Led Zeppelin of the folk world’ and other silly things, but this combination of classic Scots fiddle styles with keyboards, percussion and guitar is great, all-instrumental education and entertainment. ■ Lev & Friends Café Cossachok, Trongate, 553 0733. 9pm. £6. Top quality violinist Lev Atlas presents his Russian, Hungarian, Gypsy, jazz, and classical/folk fusion. Edinburgh FREE Footstomping Whiski, High Street, 556 3095. 9.30pm. See Sun 7.
Check out the GreatOffers on page 6 4–18 Mar 2010 THE LIST 77