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Please check each venue’s website for the latest Government restrictions and possible cancellations due to COVID 19.
JANUARY
Celtic Connections
Now in it’s 28th year, Celtic Connections is the largest world music festival on the planet. It features over 300 concerts ceilidhs, talks, free events, late night sessions, workshops and focuses on traditional Scottish music as well as international folk, roots and world music artists.
Please check their website for listings celticconnections.com.
Heal & Harrow
Mitchell Theatre
Friday 21st January – 19:30
Heal & Harrow is a new multi-disciplinary work produced by award winning harpist Rachel Newton and violinist, Lauren MacColl. It pays a humanising tribute to those persecuted during the 16th and 17th Century Scottish Witch Trials, while also exploring historical beliefs in the supernatural and modern day parallels in our society. My brothers and I used to visit an aunt in the village of Kilbarchan, in Renfrewshire every year for Christmas. She often told us of Maud Galt, a woman accused of witchcraft there in the 17th century. Maud was seemingly guilty of nothing more than preferring the company of woman to men, but that constituted Witchery back then. She was eventually found not guilty of Witchcraft and is one of the earliest recorded cases of lesbianism in Scotland. See, we were a tolerant society even back then. Go Maud.
Choice Tracks: Rachel Newton – The Early Morning. Lauren MacColl – Air Mullach Beinn Fhuathais.
Chloe Foy
The Hug And Pint
Tuesday 25th January – 19:30
The beautiful Chloe Foy is a Glostonian singer/songwriter who has been releasing music since 2013.
It might sound like folk music, but her unorthodox chordal interjections steer her away from the traditional folk music form and keeps someone like me engaged for longer than I usually am with this genre. Special note also goes to her backing vocal arrangements, they can get very big and very lush very quickly.
Choice Track: Chloe Foy – Where Shall We Begin.
Lindisfarne
Baljaffary Parish Church, Bearsden.
Saturday 29th January – 19:30
Lindisfarne are an English folk rock band from Newcastle Upon Tyne who started making music in 1968 and achieved huge success throughout the 70s.
There was quite a scene in and around Newcastle at that time and it spawned the likes of The Animals, Brian Johnson and the Knofler brothers, who all did alright. With over 50 years worth of gigs and albums behind them Lindisfarne still sound as good as they ever have.
We played with them at The Watchet Festival in Somerset last Summer. They were on just before us. It’s the only time in over 35 years of gigging that my brother walked into our dressing room and said ‘how we gonna follow that? They were amazing’. I couldn’t have agreed more. What songs, what poise, very cool guys and the audience went nuts for them.
In case you’re wondering we did go down well, but after us it was Alabama 3, and that’s another story… an eclectic festival The Watchet.
Choice Track: Lindisfarne – Run For Home.
FEBRUARY
Dry Cleaning
Queen Margaret Union (QMU) Click to book
Saturday 19th February – 19:00
Dry Cleaning are an English, post punk art school band formed in South London in 2018. The band is composed of vocalist Florence Shaw, guitarist Tom Dowse, bassist Lewis Maynard and drummer Nick Buxton and are noted for their unconventional lyrics and use of spoken word primarily in lieu of sung vocals. Their sweet-and-sour mix of acerbic post-punk with bass-heavy melodies wouldn’t sound out of place on a Postcard Records compilation so they should go down well with a Glasgow audience.
One of their USP’s has to be Tom Dowse, one of the most compelling and inventive guitarists I’ve heard since The Smith’s Johnny Marr. Enjoy you’re shoegazing.
Choice Track: Dry Cleaning – Scratchcard Lanyard.
Sons Of Kemet
Oran Mor oran-mor.co.uk
Sunday 20th February – 19:30
Sons of Kemet are a British jazz group formed by Shabaka Hutchings(Sax & Clarinet), Oren Marshall (Tuba), Seb Rochford (Drums) and Tom Skinner (Drums). This unorthodox line up plays a mixture of jazz, rock, Caribbean folk and African music and in 2018 their 3rd album ‘Your Queen Is A Reptile’, released on Impulse Records was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize. They are out on tour promoting their 4th album ‘Black To The Future’. It is widely recognised that saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings has been a key figure in the development of the British jazz scene over the past decade and it will be great to see him live on a rare visit to Glasgow.
Choice Track: Sons Of Kemet – Hustle.
The Lumineers
OVO Hydro ovohydro.com
Friday 25th February – 18:30
‘You belong with me, I belong with you, my sweetheart…’ I can’t stop humming this tune now!
This unshakable melody belongs to The Lumineers, a 3-piece American folk rock band based in Denver, Colorado. They are a deceptively simple bunch with a strong sense of community. Their songs are wholly acoustic and sound like they’re from an era when computers were just a science-fiction dream. But they’ve had a hugely successful career over the last 10 years and have used their popularity to bring attention to and support many worthwhile causes. Most notably, The Global Citizen movement which has served as a powerful platform for world leaders, artists, activists, and citizens to come together and advocate for women’s rights, education, sustainable development and an end to extreme poverty by 2030.
Not a limo or private jet in sight then.
Choice Track: The Lumineers – Ho Hey.
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