Just before heading to Kazakhstan, it was a few weeks of full on music here in Glasgow at Celtic Connections. First up I played The Tron with Kathleen Boyle. It was a great night of music and craic. The place was packed with familiar faces which made it more fun. Kathleen’s dad Hughie might have just stole the show with his grand entrance and storytelling. The following evening I was playing as part of the Auld Lang Syne concert in the Royal Concert Hall. The line-up for this was huge and I won’t even try to recall everyone involved. It was held together by Phil Cunningham and John McCusker and needless to say, was great craic.

The next day was full on again. I was very fortunate to be asked to play in three of the commisions as part of the “Homecoming Suite” which featured the RSNO playing new pieces by several composers. I played on Steve Forman’s, Chris Stout’s and Tommy Smith’s pieces and each piece was very distinctive and brought it’s own challenges. Some absolutely beautiful music written and I was honoured to be involved.

After a couple of days rest  I was lucky enough to be involved in the Guitar Summit Concert. This featured 7 top guitarists; John Doyle, Russ Barenberg, Tony McManus, Ian Carr, Anna Massie, John Goldie, Tim Edey and myself on bodhrán. It was a real pleasure to play with and also just listen to these guys do their thing.

The following day I was playing with Julie Fowlis back in the Concert Hall again. To a packed auditorium. We opened the show with a Gaelic song just accompanied by bodhrán which has taken me literally about 2 years to get my head around, due to the complex phrasing of the words. I think we might just have pulled it off The gig went really well and it’s always a lot of fun for me playing in Julie’s band.

Last, but by no means least was the Box Club gig. The main gig itself in the Strathclyde Suite was great and everyone was in good form, however it was later that night in the Festival Club that we had that special moment. After 2 weeks of the festival, energy levels are naturally going to drop and before going on stage we were all definitely a bit tired. However, the adrenaline that kicked in from the audience response was indescribable. If only you could bottle it and sell it I don’t think I’ve ever seen the club like this. There was stage diving and crowd surfing and really felt quite surreal. We gave it everything we had and had a great buzz. A great way to finish up the festival for me.

As well as playing quite a few gigs, I also got to check out some great music which is a rare treat these days. Bela Fleck with Toumani Diabate, and Mairtin O’Connor band being just two of the highlights for me.

Well, that’s all for now folks. I’m in the studio tomorrow with Gary Innes & Ewan Robertson who are working on a new album, then in the studio with Fred Morrison later on in the week. Will post more about this later. Next week I’ll be packing my bags again as I head off to the States for a month, touring with top Irish band Danú. Tour dates will be updated shortly.

Over and Out

I’ve just finished work on my good friend Kathleen Boyle’s debut solo record, “An Cailín Rua”. As well as producing, engineering and playing on the record I also designed the artwork. We’re really chuffed with how it’s turned out. It’s in the shops now and available from KT’s website – www.kathleenboyle.co.uk

Also available now is the debut album from Box Club. Open your ears to the sound of 4 accordions www.boxclub.co.uk

Julie Fowlis – Cuilidh (available to buy direct from Julie’s website)
Maeve Mackinnon – Don’t Sing Lovesongs (on Foot Stompin Records)
Archie McAllister – Fiddler’s Rock (on Skipinnish Records)

I was fortunate enough to be involved in a project by Aidan O’Rourke called “The Well”. This was a commission by An Tobar, the arts centre in Tobermory on the Isle of Mull, as part of their 10th Year Anniversary. The other musicians involved were Martin Green on Accordion, Phil Bancroft on Sax and Catriona McKay on Harp. We spent a few days rehearsing the music and then performed it for the first time to an invited audience in An Tobar. We performed it the following day also, as part of a festival by ColmCille, and then spent 2 days recording the music which will hopefully be released on CD at some point.

Dochas were back on the road for a couple of gigs in Argyll. The concerts were a preview of the Glasgow International Piping Festival, Piping Live. We started off down in Campbelltown and onto Dunoon afterwards. It was great to catch up with the girls and make plans to do a bit more with the band next year. We’ll be out on tour this October and full details will be posted on the tour page above and over @ dochas.co.uk too.

The end of June was pretty full on. I started off flying to London to play a gig with Neil Yates‘ New Origins band. Gig went great and all the lads were on good form. Next morning I had to catch an early train to get across to Glastonbury, where I was playing with my great friend and amazing singer Julie Fowlis. Now, when people joke about bringing your wellies (I now realise that’s no joke , you’ve no idea how much mud there is. We had to drive onto the site and all the way through most of the crowd to get backstage and God only knows how we never got stuck in the mud. I managed to acquire a pair of wellies which I needed to just go between the dressing room and stage. The band were rockin and Julie sang and played a blinder.

From Glastonbury I headed to Galway, or at least I thought I was flying to Galway, until I boarded the plane and was told that the flight was being re-directed to Knock because of airspace restrictions around Galway Airport. Turned out there was an air show on in Galway. Got a bus from Knock to Galway, then taxi to Rossaveal, where I got the ferry to Inis Oirr, the smallest of the Aran Islands. I was out teaching for a week at Craiceann, the bodhrán summer school. This was my first time on the Island and it was just amazing. There were over 100 bodhrán players signed up for the week. I had a brilliant time and got to meet loads of interesting people from all walks of life and all corners of the globe. I hope to make it back next year. And for anyone that’s interested in signing up for next year, you’ll have to be quick as it will be first come, first served due to the increasing numbers.

There’s a review of the Concert from Rob Adams which appeared in the Herald here