Various venues in Shetland, 29 April-2 May 2004

Jock Tamson's Bairns © Jock Tamsons Bairns

FROM YELL in the North to Fair Isle in the South, Shetland has been reeling to the sounds of the 24th folk festival. An eclectic and innovative programme of visiting and local artistes ensured that they and the sell-out audiences enjoyed four folk-filled days of concerts, workshops and sessions. Ah… the sessions. Islesburgh Community Centre in Lerwick serves as the festival club for the duration and many a musical tryst it’s seen over the years.

Almost a Eurovision Song Contest of Folk this year with Finland represented by their top fiddling folk ensemble Järvelä Pikkupelimannit (JPP), Norway sent Geitungan, a trio of young traditional players, with dancers that delighted audiences. Zar are a classically trained young Danish outfit who took a trick with their mellow jazzy style, great instrumentalists with a superb young singer. Asturias in Northern Spain is the home province of folk band Corquiéu, who featured the Asturian pipes and a fabulous flautist.

But on the weekend that they joined the European Union, Slovakian band, The Brothers Zamiszkovci were the surprise hit, winning over audiences wherever they appeared with four-part harmony and honest, naïve delivery of their ingenious music.

Hailing from the High Tatras the land-locked boys had never travelling on a plane before never mind having to face a fourteen-hour ferry journey. Not to mention subsequent ferries to the outlying island venues most days.

One notorious trip found them singing to the fishes. Nothing that a pint of vodka and lucozade can’t sort, allegedly. They finished off their festival with a Slovakian rending of She’ll be Coming ‘Round the Mountains delighted to get all the audiences singing to a chorus of Yo Yo Yuppe Yuppe Yo. Well… what the heck! It might be the in thing in the High Tatras.

American troubadour Chuck Brodsky entertained with his gently subversive songs that shine a light on the small-town life. And April Verch showed why she has twice been a Canadian champion. The dynamic step-dancing fiddle player delivered polished performances all weekend and genuine delight at being in Shetland showed, as she couldn’t stop grinning all weekend.

From Scotland we had crafty old masters, Jock Tamson’s Bairns, great to see them back. Sunhoney featured with stylish arrangements supplemented by sublime vocals from Michaela Rowan and Delta Croft Review gave a good time to add with their fusion of blues, jazz and folk.

The tongue-in-cheeky Kremlinaires were a musical Molatov of Russian and English musicians that burned bright all weekend. Several Shetlanders are now chanting mantra-like “Take me back to Belgrade I’m too young to marry.”   And The Real MaCaws with their brass and percussion served up a sassy mix that pleased the late night festival dance crowd.

Returning to the festival from Cape Breton was multi-instrumentalist JP Cormier and his pianist wife Hilda, thrilling Shetland audiences with their sheer virtuosity and endearing humour.

Shetlander Astrid Williamson (late of Goya Dress) also returned to her native islands and delivered up a set of soulful songs, sometimes hard for a solo artiste to win an audience if they are programmed between high-octane fiddle fuelled energy. Astrid shone however on Sunday at the Shetland Hotel.

Treating the crowd to a back-catalogue of self-penned songs. Highlights being Hosanna and Blood Horizon, title track of her last CD. This is the connoisseurs’ concert of the weekend, where festival faithful return annually to the afternoon event. Always melodious, mellow and mercifully short. Believe me, when you know you have the festival foy to follow which runs for at least five hours two hours of afternoon singing is but a blink.

The Festival Foy is the final ticketed event of the long, long weekend. It’s held over three venues in Lerwick when all the visiting acts get their fifteen minutes of fame as they are shuttled between the halls with no sound check, straight on stage for an average of three numbers then off to the next mini-bus. It sounds mad but it works, well most of the time at least!

As festivals go it was a fine one. Not earth-shattering but consistent high quality music. The sun shone and everything was good. Organiser Davie Henderson is already looking toward next year, the 25th Shetland Folk Festival and promising that there will be some special events to mark the quarter century. “Can’t wait” was the verdict from the tired but faithful at the UK’s furthest flung festival of folk.

© Jane Moncrieff, 2004