Edinburgh Tradfest Spotlight season coming soon ...

Edinburgh Tradfest’s new Spotlight season kicks off next Monday (12 October 2020) with four new video concerts released online.

Kicking off the season will be the legendary, multi-award winning Old Blind Dogs (Mon 12 Oct), playing some of their old favourites, (including the much-loved Earl O March’s Daughter and the Twa Corbies), plus some yet to be recorded new tunes and songs. The band’s unique sound draws on the rhythms of Middle Eastern, rock, reggae, jazz and blues, and the line-up includes founder member Jonny Hardie (fiddle, vocals), Aaron Jones (bouzouki, guitar, vocals), Ali Hutton (pipes, whistles) and Donald Hay (percussion, vocals).

Following on a week later is Shetland Springs (Mon 19 Oct) which was originally commissioned by Tradfest for five fiddlers in 2020 and has been rescheduled to the 2021 festival.  This concert will feature both Catriona MacDonald (fiddle) and Margaret Robertson (fiddle, piano) from the original line-up whose friendship dates back almost 40 years. This online Shetland Springs concert presents a true celebration of Shetland’s rich fiddle tradition told through heartfelt airs and reels.

Next up is Siobhan Miller (Mon 26 Oct) one of the finest young voices on the Scottish folk scene, backed by some of Scotland’s leading musicians: Euan Burton on bass, Charlie Stewart on fiddle, and Innes White on guitar. Siobhan is the only three-time winner of Scots Singer of the Year at the BBC Alba Scots Trad Music Award, and her latest album All is Not Forgotten was released in April this year. This online concert will feature some of the tracks from her new album.

Finally, we are joined by acclaimed Skye piper Malin Lewis, Ali Hutton (guitar) and Shona Mooney (fiddle), pictured above, for Malin Makes Music (Mon 2 Nov). Malin is a piper, fiddler, instrument maker and highly talented composer, and this concert set list is drawn heavily from the band leader’s own music, with one tune from band mate Mooney thrown in for good measure.

All the ‘Spotlight’ concerts were video recorded live at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh at the end of August and include short interview clips, chat, and banter from the bands. 

The concerts will be available to download or watch online from 8pm on the day of the concert and tickets go on sale on Monday 5 October. Details will be posted on www.edinburghtradfest.com  and www.traverse.co.uk

All the concerts are 30 minutes long and can be viewed for seven days.