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  • Celtic Connections: The MacLean Bros & Special Guests

    The Old Fruitmarket, 100 Candleriggs, Glasgow, G1 1NQ

    The Maclean Brothers swap the seas for the stage, with tales from the Pacific Ocean and special guest performances.
    Lifelong trad music fans Jamie, Ewan and Lachlan Maclean captured the world’s attention when they set a new record for rowing across the Pacific Ocean unsupported. Music was crucial to their miraculous journey, with Jamie famously playing the pipes in all conditions - even as they rowed into Cairns, Australia, after 139 days at sea.

    Now, the pipe-playing rower will be shaking off the salt water to perform on home soil alongside siblings Lachlan on accordion and Ewan on guitar. The multi-talented trio from Edinburgh, who now live in Assynt, will welcome a host of Scottish trad talent who soundtracked their epic voyage for this special show.

    Ross Ainslie and Duncan Chisholm, who released a charity single to aid the brothers’ efforts, will perform alongside high-octane outfit Valtos, and RURA, known for their epic, inspirational instrumentation. Stunning vocalist Siobhan Miller and Mull duo Sorren Maclean and Hannah Fisher will also make appearances across the night.

    A Q&A session will kick things off, giving audiences the chance to hear first-hand about the brothers’ adventure and quest to raise £1 million for clean water projects in Madagascar.

  • Celtic Connections: Rhymes & Reels

    The Mackintosh Church, 870 Garscube Road, Glasgow, G20 7EL

    A special night of poetry and music with Liz Lochhead & Duncan Chisholm, Esther Swift & Jackie Kay, and Brìghde Chaimbeul & Aonghas Pàdraig Caimbeul
    Esther Swift and Jackie Kay bring their new Edinburgh International Book Festival commission to Celtic Connections. A series of poems by Jackie Kay set to music by Esther Swift, ‘The Small,’ uses four singers, double bass, spoken word and harp to explore themes of grief, ritual, peace and inter-generational protest. Tonight they perform alongside classical performers Sarah Shorter, Rosie Lavery, Poppy Shotts and Andrew Robb, in an emotionally affecting and eclectic mix of spoken word, folk music, jazz and classical music.

    Duncan Chisholm and Liz Lochhead are two of the best loved and respected performers in their respective fields, and tonight they will explore their much-discussed aspiration to share the stage with poems and tunes. Duncan is one of Scotland’s most recognised and accomplished fiddle players, known for his powerfully cinematic and deeply expressive music, and over a career spanning several decades, he can boast of being one of only a handful of musicians who have performed at every Celtic Connections festival. Likewise, Liz Lochhead is a poet, playwright, performer and broadcaster, and is fast becoming a national treasure. She served a five-year term as Scotland's Makar, or National Poet, from 2011 to 2016, and was awarded the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry in 2015. Along with her many accolades and awards, audiences will be reminded of her iconic performances alongside the late Michael Marra, which provided the inspiration for tonight’s concert.

    Brìghde Chaimbeul is a master of the Scottish smallpipes; a bellows-blown, mellower cousin to the famous Highland bagpipes. A native Gaelic speaker, Brìghde roots her music in her language and culture. She rose to prominence as a prodigy of traditional music, but has since begun a journey to take the small pipes into uncharted territory.

    Her mesmerising musicianship has won her many awards and media recognition, including the BBC Young Folk Award, BBC Horizon Award and a SAY Award nomination. For tonight’s performance, she joins forces with her father, Angus Peter Campbell, who is an award-winning poet, novelist, journalist, broadcaster and actor. Born and brought up in South Uist, he spent his teenage years in the Oban area where he was taught by Iain Crichton Smith at the local High School. He graduated with Double Honours in Politics and History from Edinburgh University, and, in 2001, he was awarded the Bardic Crown for Gaelic poetry. He recently released the stunning novel ‘Donald and his Seven Cows’, which reflects on the eternal circle of time and man’s relationship with the land.