Northings | Sue Wilson | Activity

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, Speakout: The Womex Opportunity, on the site Northings

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 09:11:04 +0000

Celtic Music in the Wider World
SUE WILSON reflects on the lessons to be drawn for Scottish musicians from the Womex world music convention in Gateshead
SINCE ITS FABLED invention as a marketing strap-line by a […]

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, Blas Festival: Oidhche nan Caileagan / Girls Allowed, on the site Northings

Tue, 11 Sep 2012 16:09:24 +0000

Inverness Airport Restaurant, 10 September 2012
EVEN looking across its younger generational stratum, today’s folk scene often still appears a largely male-dominated realm, so the affirmative action embodied by […]

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival, on the site Northings

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 07:59:14 +0000

Belladrum, near Beauly, Inverness-shire, 3-4 August 2012
EVEN as the country’s lower reaches found themselves inundated once again, northern Scotland’s enviable track-record for festival weather this summer […]

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, Hebridean Celtic Festival 2012, on the site Northings

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 15:37:40 +0000

Lews Castle, Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, and other venues, 11-14 July 2012
WITH ticket sales up by 7% on last year, and merchandise by a whacking 38%, the 17th Hebridean Celtic Festival was rated by many regulars […]

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, The Insider, on the site Northings

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 09:23:59 +0000

Inshriach Estate, by Aviemore, 15-17 June 2012
GIVEN that the concept of combining music and sport was partly what put paid to the Outsider festival – inadvertent parent to the contrastingly bijou and successful […]

Sue Wilson changed their profile picture

Thu, 21 Jun 2012 10:26:11 +0000

Sue Wilson changed their profile picture

Thu, 21 Jun 2012 10:16:46 +0000

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, 30th Orkney Folk Festival, on the site Northings

Wed, 06 Jun 2012 17:30:09 +0000

Various venues, Orkney, 31 May-3 June 2012
TO SAY that Orkney’s 30th folk festival was celebrated in suitably splendid style would be a somewhat gargantuan understatement.

AS THE event’s director, Bob Gibbon, […]

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, Ceòl Mòr Ostaig, on the site Northings

Mon, 28 May 2012 15:00:47 +0000

CCA, Glasgow, 26 May 2012
SINCE 2004, Ceòl ’s Craic (“music and banter”) has been a social and cultural home from home for expat Gaels in Glasgow, combining elements of club, concert and ceilidh to showcase […]

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, Shetland Folk Festival 2012, on the site Northings

Sat, 12 May 2012 08:11:26 +0000

Shetland, 3-6 May 2012
AS THE Lovin’ Spoonful’s John Sebastian once observed, reflecting on the travelling musician’s lifestyle, “If you ever wonder why we ride the carousel/We do it for the stories we can […]

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, Speakout: The Womex Opportunity, on the site Northings

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 12:21:48 +0000

Celtic Music in the Wider World
SUE WILSON reflects on the lessons to be drawn for Scottish musicians from the Womex world music convention in Gateshead

SINCE ITS FABLED invention as a marketing strap-line by […]

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, Celtic Connections Big Top, on the site Northings

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 17:18:37 +0000

Broadford Airfield, Isle of Skye, 23-24 March 2012 EVEN after 19 years of its parent festival in Glasgow, now securely ranked among the world’s top music events, the Celtic Connections Big Top on Skye still represented a considerable leap in the dark. WHILE the idea of an outdoor satellite event beyond the city has been mooted for […]

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, Transatlantic Sessions in Shetland, on the site Northings

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:27:22 +0000

Clickimin Centre, Lerwick, Shetland, 3 February 2012 IT MIGHT seem a totally insane idea, transporting the entire 17-strong line-up for Celtic Connections’ flagship Transatlantic Sessions concerts all the way up to play in Shetland, in between their two sellout dates in Glasgow – not least since the festival’s artistic director, Donald Shaw, was o…[Read more]

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, MG Alba Scots Trad Music Awards 2011, on the site Northings

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 18:28:00 +0000

Perth Concert Hall, 3 December 2011 HIGHLANDS and Islands artists once again featured prominently among the winners in this year’s ninth Scots Trad Music Awards. THE event was attended by around 900 movers, shakers and supporters of Scottish folk music in all its manifestations, who made another mighty night of it in Perth. Coinciding with the s…[Read more]

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, Lagavulin Islay Jazz Festival 2011, on the site Northings

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 13:47:31 +0000

Various Venues, Islay, 16-18 September 2011
LAGAVULIN, Laphroaig, Bruichladdich, Bowmore, Ardbeg: not just the litany of legendary single malts treasured by whisky-lovers worldwide, but also the locations, in both distilleries and village halls, for most of the concerts making up the Islay Jazz Festival.

Jointly promoted by Jazz Scotland and…[Read more]

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, Blas 2011: Aonghas Grant 80th Birthday Celebration, on the site Northings

Fri, 16 Sep 2011 07:18:28 +0000

Glengarry Community Hall, Invergarry, 14 September 2011 EVENTS like this one fully exemplify that the Blas festival’s strapline of Moladh na Gàidhealtachd – Celebrating the Highlands – is much more than some glib branding exercise. Staged in his local village hall – in the area that his father’s side of the family have called home since Culloden […]

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, Blas 2011: Karen Matheson Band, on the site Northings

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 02:00:40 +0000

Badenoch Centre, Kingussie, 13 September 2011 WHILE songs in English have featured less in Capercaillie’s repertoire over recent years, lead vocalist Karen Matheson has steadily broadened their inclusion among her solo material, here performing several newly-arranged contemporary covers and a traditional Child ballad – works-in-progress for her n…[Read more]

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, Blas 2011: The Outside Track, on the site Northings

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 12:06:58 +0000

Inverness Airport, Inverness, 12 September 2011 REFLECTING the allied home-grown and international nature of Blas itself, the festival’s resident band for 2011, The Outside Track, comprises two Scottish members, harper Ailie Robertson and accordionist Fiona Black; two from Canada – Cape Breton fiddler Mairi Rankin and Vancouver-born s…[Read more]

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, Blas 2011: Fèis Rois is 25 - Roots and Shoots, on the site Northings

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 16:58:11 +0000

Strathpeffer Pavilion, 11 September 2011 HAVING kicked off its silver jubilee year with a big celebratory extravaganza at Celtic Connections in January, Fèis Rois continued the festivities with a rejigged line-up and format for this Blas festival showcase. THE eponymous “Roots and Shoots” denoted the dozen or so leading professional musicians – a…[Read more]

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, Blas 2011: Celebrating The Regal Pipe, on the site Northings

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 16:51:05 +0000

Empire Theatre, Eden Court, Inverness, 10 September 2011 BAGPIPE music enthusiasts come in many different shades of predilection (and aversion), but all would surely have found something to enjoy in this year’s Blas festival piping night – a considerable achievement in itself. SETTING the bar resplendently high was a magisterial opening set from…[Read more]

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, Blas 2011: Heisgeir, on the site Northings

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 07:56:34 +0000

Phipps Hall, Beauly, 9 September 2011 THERE aren’t many music festivals, let alone ones whose budget seems inversely proportional to their geographical spread, which could lay on the world première of a specially-commissioned feature film, created by and integrated with live music from one of today’s leading Celtic acts – but that’s what this ye…[Read more]

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, Blas 2011: The Boy and the Bunnet, on the site Northings

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 23:30:43 +0000

SUE WILSON investigates what connects this year’s Blas festival, Peter and the Wolf and the Curriculum For Excellence? THE answer is The Boy and the Bunnet , an ambitious new musical production that will première during Blas at Eden Court Theatre (with another performance at Celtic Connections next year), and aims to introduce children to …[Read more]

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, Hebridean Celtic Festival 2011, on the site Northings

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 14:34:18 +0000

Hebridean Celtic Festival, Isle of Lewis, 13-16 July 2011 WITHOUT implying any slight on previous Hebridean Celtic Festivals, this year’s 16th gathering – customarily a milestone birthday – really felt like an event that had come of age. Having attracted some of the best UK and international acts on today’s increasingly diverse folk/roots scene, …[Read more]

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, Hebridean Celtic Festival, on the site Northings

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 23:05:18 +0000

THE HEBRIDEAN CELTIC FESTIVAL continues to go from strength to strength, with 2011’s line-up headed by the all-conquering KT Tunstall. HAVING just been nominated as Best Large Festival in the forthcoming Scottish Event Awards – for its record-breaking 15th outing last year – the festival is substantially augmented by the addition of a second ma…[Read more]

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, Shetland Folk Festival 2011, on the site Northings

Thu, 12 May 2011 09:54:43 +0000

Various venues, Shetland, 28 April-1 May 2011 IT’S long been customary at folk gigs for the performers, approaching the end of their set, to thank those involved in staging the event – organisers, sound engineers, venue staff and so on. Perhaps only at the Shetland Folk Festival, though, will you hear gratitude particularly expressed to “the ladies […]

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, Duncan Chisholm, on the site Northings

Sun, 01 May 2011 08:40:21 +0000

HIGHLAND fiddler Duncan Chisholm has been a prominent figure on the Scottish folk scene for more than 20 years. He co-founded Wolfstone, still one of the world’s leading folk-rock outfits, in 1988, and continues with them to this day. IN the interim, he’s also featured in both Blazin’ Fiddles and Session A9, before joining Gaelic singing star […]

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, Ailie Robertson's Traditional Spirits, on the site Northings

Mon, 18 Apr 2011 13:49:05 +0000

Teviot Row House, Edinburgh, 15 April 2011 HIGHLIGHTING the increased opportunities and developmental infrastructure now available for folk-based musicians to spread their compositional wings, Edinburgh harpist Ailie Robertson’s new instrumental suite, Traditional Spirits , began life as a short piece written (aptly enough, given its title and…[Read more]

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, MG Alba Scots Trad Music Awards 2010, on the site Northings

Tue, 07 Dec 2010 17:53:34 +0000

Perth Concert Hall, Perth, 4 December 2010 AFTER MUCH advance consternation about whether the show would or should go on, and if so what proportion of the audience and performers could get there, the 2010 Scots Trad Music Awards serendipitously coincided with a two-day relative respite in the weather – enough to see everyone safely home again […]

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, The MacDonald Sisters, on the site Northings

Tue, 23 Nov 2010 11:12:08 +0000

Ceòl ‘s Craic, CCA, Glasgow, 20 November 2010 CONSIDERING the extent of the MacDonald Sisters’ fame in their 1960s and 70s heyday, it’s strange that this groundbreaking Gaelic girl-group has been so widely forgotten, outwith their own Hebridean generation. They predated Na h-Òganaich, who are still cherished as seminal pioneers of the c…[Read more]

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, Fiddle 2010, on the site Northings

Tue, 16 Nov 2010 11:37:24 +0000

Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh, 12-14 November 2010 THE ANNUAL Scots Fiddle Festival’s 15th year was a good one in which to roll out an especially strong programme, as Edinburgh’s historic Assembly Rooms, which have housed the event since its inception, are soon to close for an 18-month refurbishment. With the festival having evolved to fill that…[Read more]

suewilson became a registered member

Fri, 12 Nov 2010 15:24:44 +0000

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, Fred Morrison, on the site Northings

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 14:25:05 +0000

Exploring the Bluegrass Connection SUE WILSON caught up with Uist piper Fred Morrison ahead of the launch of his third solo recording, Outlands THE GREAT Scottish piper Fred Morrison – a former member of Clan Alba and Capercaillie, and seven-times winner of the prized Macallan Trophy at Brittany’s Lorient Festival – has recently been exploring new…[Read more]

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, BIG TENT FESTIVAL 2009, on the site Northings

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 00:13:25 +0000

Falkland, Fife, 25-26 July 2009 ORIGINALLY conceived in response to the G8 summit at Gleneagles in 2005, the Big Tent Festival has since grown into a sizeable fixture on Scotland’s summer calendar, this year welcoming nearly 10,000 day and weekend visitors through the gates, despite the rain rendering conditions decidedly boggy on the Sunday. …[Read more]

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, Hebridean Celtic Festival 2009, on the site Northings

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 23:07:49 +0000

Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, 15-18 July 2009 IN ITS 14th year, the Hebridean Celtic Festival weathered something approaching a perfect storm of adversity. The clouds that gathered weren’t least of the literal variety, starting with those that dropped a prodigious four-hour downpour over Stornoway on Thursday afternoon – just as the massive blue…[Read more]

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, Orkney Folk Festival 2009, on the site Northings

Thu, 28 May 2009 20:51:40 +0000

Various venues, Orkney, 21-24 May 2009 IT CAN BE easy to forget, as a visiting audience member, the massive jigsaw of human resources and organisational logistics – slotted together entirely by volunteer effort – that underpins an event like the Orkney Folk Festival. This year’s programme comprised around 25 concerts over four days, featuring a…[Read more]

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, Shetland Folk Festival 2009, on the site Northings

Tue, 05 May 2009 22:31:27 +0000

Various venues, Shetland, 30 April-3 May 2009 WITH VIRTUALLY all of its 21 main programme concerts sold out – many within days of the box office opening – the 29th Shetland Folk Festival notched up yet another resounding success. Unusually, too, for a Scottish island festival, the vast bulk of those 5000-plus tickets were snapped up […]

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, Celtic Connections 2009: Transatlantic Sessions, on the site Northings

Sun, 01 Feb 2009 21:59:49 +0000

Main Auditorium, Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, 30 January, 2009 NOWADAYS extended over two swiftly sold-out nights, the Transatlantic Sessions concerts have been a mainstay of Celtic Connections’ programme since the festival’s earliest years, borrowing their name and concept from the BBC Scotland TV series, first broadcast in 1994. The ongoing…[Read more]

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, Celtic Connections 2009: The Burns Unit/Drever Mccusker Woomble, on the site Northings

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 21:51:44 +0000

ABC, Glasgow, 16 January 2009 THE conventional wisdom about concert audiences’ preference for familiar material was emphatically defied by a near-capacity turnout for this Celtic Connections show, a double bill of recently-formed Scottish outfits whose sole stock-in-trade is new original songs. Admittedly, both have something of the supergroup…[Read more]

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, Celtic Connections Opening Concert: The Cape Breton Connection, on the site Northings

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 21:45:59 +0000

Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, 15 January 2009 In keeping with this year’s Homecoming Scotland promotion, Celtic Connections 2009 kicked off with an extensive line-up of artists from Cape Breton island in Nova Scotia, where the musical traditions carried by thousands of mostly Gaelic-speaking Scottish emigrants during the 18th and 19th centuries…[Read more]

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, The Bevvy Sisters, on the site Northings

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 23:37:51 +0000

Leith Folk Club, The Village, Edinburgh, 16 December 2008 A NEWISH vocal trio co-founded by two émigré Highlanders, Lochaber-born Kaela Rowan and Lewis native Heather Macleod, with Edinburgh’s Lindsey Black, the Bevvy Sisters draw on a collective wealth of musical experience, having worked individually with outfits as diverse as the Andy Gunn Ba…[Read more]

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards 2008, on the site Northings

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 12:29:38 +0000

Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow, 6 December 2008 WHILE A lively debate continues as to the pros and cons of the Scots Trad Music Awards – supporters applauding the organisers’ aim of media-friendly profile-raising; opponents deploring the very concept of competitive prizes for musical endeavour – there’s no disputing that the event provides the…[Read more]

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, Blas 2008, on the site Northings

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 20:26:44 +0000

Various venues, 5-13 September 2008 Launched in 2005, the Blas festival is still a youngster by folk-scene standards, but the success of this year’s fourth programme clearly attests to its impressive strategic maturity. Even the barest logistical sketch of that programme would send most event planners running for the hills – or maybe away from…[Read more]

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, Cambridge Folk Festival 2008, on the site Northings

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 20:56:40 +0000

Cherry Hinton Hall, Cambridge, 31 July – 3 August 2008 THE 44TH wasn’t the sunniest of Cambridge Folk Festivals, but the intermittent rain never threatened any serious mud, and the prevailing mood remained as benignly clement as ever. Underpinning this celebrated mellow atmosphere, which unites a crowd of all ages – literally from tiny babies to […]

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, Hebridean Celtic Festival 2008, on the site Northings

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 18:19:07 +0000

Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, 16-19 July 2008 ANY ADVANCE superstitious anxieties among the organisers of the 13th Heb Celt festival were comprehensively laid to rest by another mightily successful weekend – even if it was immediately preceded by storm-force gales midweek, resulting in a somewhat frantic scramble to get the big tent up and rigged in […]

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, Ron McMillan, on the site Northings

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 14:22:52 +0000

Shaped By Extremity SUE WILSON meets the author of the first full-length travelogue of Shetland since the Victorian era IT’S ALMOST 140 years since someone last wrote a book-length travelogue about Shetland, a fact which, to present-day author Ron McMillan, suggested “either a niche in the market waiting to be filled – or no market at all. Obv…[Read more]

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, Mareel, Lerwick, on the site Northings

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 09:51:41 +0000

The Fight for Mareel SUE WILSON looks at the increasingly fractious – and perhaps not yet fully resolved – debate over the proposed Mareel development in Lerwick AFTER a dozen years of campaigning, planning and sometimes acrimonious debate, Shetland at last looks set to get its new cinema and music venue, Mareel. A tightly-contested vote at June…[Read more]

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, Isle Of Eigg 11th Anniversary Ceilidh, on the site Northings

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:07:20 +0000

Eigg, 13-15 June 2008 IN AMONGST the 300-400 celebrants who annually descend on Eigg for the anniversary of its 1997 community buyout, there’s always a bemused sprinkling of bird-watchers and day-trippers, wondering what on earth happened to their promised haven of Hebridean tranquility. Anyone seeking to escape the madding crowd on Eigg that…[Read more]

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, Queen Anne's Revenge, on the site Northings

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 09:12:52 +0000

Pirates, Tortoises and Nuclear Explosions SUE WILSON catches up with a songwriting alliance forged in Ardgour WHAT DO Blackbeard, Charles Darwin and nuclear testing on Christmas Island have in common? All three feature among the myriad, magpie-minded inspirations at work in the songwriting partnership of Findlay Napier and Nick Turner. The…[Read more]

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, Peatbog Faeries, on the site Northings

Tue, 27 May 2008 15:19:33 +0000

Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, 23 May 2008 FORMED WAY back in 1994, Skye’s Peatbog Faeries now rank among the veterans of contemporary Celtic fusion, but far from slackening off or falling behind their younger contenders, they’re sounding mightier than ever. A typically thin Queen’s Hall turnout once again highlighted the venue’s woeful marketing of…[Read more]

Sue Wilson wrote a new post, Shetland Folk Festival 2008, on the site Northings

Fri, 09 May 2008 19:59:59 +0000

Various venues, Shetland, 1-4 May 2008 A FEW YEARS ago, before she went solo, Karine Polwart came to the Shetland Folk Festival as lead singer with Malinky, an experience that directly inspired her song ‘Follow the Heron Home’, whose chorus – “By night and day, we’ll sport and we’ll play/And delight as the dawn dances over […]