WE’RE going all Strathspey Surreal this week, folks, and also taking in pagan folk psyche prog rockers brilliantly described as “emerging from the woodlands, riverbanks and the dales like the grizzled ‘green men’ resistance fighters of the post-Norman invasions”.
Wow. More of the latter anon. First to the fiddle, an instrument soaked in Scotland’s soul. The Scots Fiddle Festival, in Edinburgh this week, has established itself over the last 20 years as one of the main events in the musical calendar, attracting seriously swell international performers.
Take, for example, Haley and Dylan Richardson, siblings from the States steeped in traditional Irish music. Dylan’s driving rhythms back Haley’s fabulous melodies, and they’re just the support for Duncan Chisholm (joined by Conal McDonagh and Innes Watson) on Friday.
Duncan’s music, from the Highland tradition, is described as “elegant, trance-like and laced with strokes of genius”. It explores music’s relationship to the natural world and has unsurprisingly brought him international acclaim.
That’s just a taster of Fiddle 2016. There’s a plethora of concerts, recitals, ceilidhs, workshops and even talks, including Fiona Scott reading from her Gaelic-English book, Fiddlers in Fairyland.
After my intro, I must mention the fabulously named Strathspey and Surreal Society, a group of 20-plus fiddlers creating idyllic soundscapes that were premiered earlier this year at Celtic Connections in Glasgow. They’re at Edinburgh’s Queen’s Hall, with Adam Sutherland, on Sunday.
This Saturday in Glasgow, though, sees another important musical event, one that is guaranteed to transport you deep into the leafy autumnal loam of old England, particularly if you’re into what is billed as “beardo wizard shit”.
Wolf People bring mesmerising rhythm and guitar-fuelled mystery to the lieges, earning them a fantastic tribute from author Ben Myers, from which I took my opening quote (and which is worth reading in full at the website listed below).
The band’s latest album Ruins explores the idea of nature reclaiming the land, reaching back, says Myers, “into a fecund past to tell us who we are today”. Highly recommended.
The Scots Fiddle Festival runs at Queen’s Hall, King’s Hall and Summerhall, Edinburgh, from Friday till Sunday (scotsfiddlefestival.com), while Wolf People play Nice N Sleazy, Glasgow, on Saturday (wolfpeople.co.uk).
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here