Fall Concerts in MA: Gaughan/McNeill/McCusker, etc

[Rhiannon_Gloaming]

Music for Robin Concerts
Information
(781)862-7837** bhockett@music-for-robin.org*** http://music-for-robin.org*


1) Thurs, 10/5/00* at 7:30 PM
DICK GAUGHAN AND BRIAN McNEILL
Regent Theatre, 7 Medford St, Arlington, MA

2) Thurs, 10/26/00* at 7:30 PM
Wrigley sisters, Pauline Cato & Tom McConville
Regent Theatre, 7 Medford St, Arlington, MA

3) Sunday* 11/19/00 at 8 PM
Kate Rusby accompanied by John McCusker
Museum of Our National Heritage, 33 Marrett Rd, Lexington, MA


MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THESE SHOWS


1) Dick Gaughan & Brian McNeill

*Dick Gaughan has been a pillar of Scottish* ballad singing and guitar playing for three decades, and is one of the most important voices in modern Celtic music. Though having grown up in a family of traditional singers and musicians, his commitment to traditional music has in no way kept him from being one of Britain's most innovative and contemporary voices. He may mix medieval ballads with original songs, at times he is laid back, singing gentle balladry from the tradition, other times he is a manic socialist crusader, all with rapid-fire banter interspersed.

He started out with the Boys of the Lough in the early 1970s, went on to form Five Hand Reel, and since then has generally pursued a solo career.

Brian McNeill founded Battlefield Band In 1969.* They have become and still are one of Scotland's best known ensembles. Brian plays fiddle, viola, mandolin, cittern, bouzouki, guitar, concertina, bass and hurdy-gurdy, and the importance of his song writing about both Scotland's history and its present-day circumstances-has long been recognized. The Yew Tree, The Lads O' The Fair, Montrose and The Snows of France and Holland were among the best-loved of the Battlefield Band's repertoire.
Brian left the Battlefield in 1990 to concentrate more on writing and solo projects. He has toured extensively with the eight-strong Scottish super group Clan Alba, as well as with his own audio-visual show about Scottish emigration to America, The Back O' The North Wind. 1997 saw him tour the USA with the highly successful second Celtic Fiddle Festival, with Ireland's Martin Hayes and Nova Scotia's Natalie MacMaster.
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2) Music from Northumberland and the Orkney Islands
Jennifer & Hazel Wrigley
Pauline Cato & Tom McConville

The Wrigley sisters, twins from the Orkney Islands (Scotland), have become established internationally, coming from the youthful traditional and roots music scene of Edinburgh. As a duo they personify what has been happening in Scotland's music over the last decade, as accompaniment has gained a more equal standing with melody, while cross-rhythms and syncopation are featured as much in the tune-playing as in the chords.

*Jennifer (fiddle) and Hazel (guitar / keyboard) are both intensely strong players. They cover the various styles of traditional Scottish fiddle and pipe music with ease along with the bittersweet moods of contemporary Irish music, and the fierce dance rhythms of Cape Breton. The Wrigleys' music is wide-ranging and constantly gaining in inventiveness, humor, and sheer damned swinginess.
*
Pauline Cato is one of the greatest Northumbrian pipers. Her style is traditional, influenced by the playing of Billy Pigg and Tom Clough. But she also expands the repertoire of the pipes in new projects such as The Shipley Set with Alistair Anderson. This led to her being appointed Piper to the Mayor of Gateshead. She has also performed with the Northern Sinfonia Orchestra. Pauline's playing has been described as 'beautiful', 'stunning', 'breath-taking' and even 'super-human!'.
Tom McConville was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne to an Irish father and a Scottish mother and has played the fiddle for most of his life. He has a lovely flowing style, beautiful tone, faultless technique and is regarded by many as one of the finest fiddle players in the British Isles. He's also a very fine singer, having a powerful yet mellow voice. His songs come from many sources: Scottish, Irish, Northumbrian and English. He founded his own band, Dab Hand, traveled the length and breadth of Great Britain (with occasional forays further afield to Ireland, the USA., Holland, Germany, Italy and Scandinavia) and has had a long-standing working relationship with guitarist Chris Newman and has worked with Alistair Anderson, Steve Tilston and Maggie Boyle.
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3) Kate Rusby*accompanied by John McCusker

Young, colorful, funny, outrageously talented and possessing a voice blessed with rare grace, style and purpose, Kate Rusby has made a sensational impact over the last couple of years. Though well known through her recordings, this is her first tour of the US. In April 1999, Kate and Kathryn Roberts released their first duo recording which was voted Album of the Year by Folk Roots Magazine. She received glowing reviews for her first solo CD, ' Hourglass' in Billboard, Performing Songwriter, Dirty Linen and USA Today, and won Irish Music Magazine's coveted award for Best Female Folk Artist in 1999.

Rusby a native of Yorkshire, England grew up immersed in the sort of singing traditions generally related to generations of old..* She was playing fiddle by the age of 5 and had taken her place in the family ceilidh band by the time she was ten.* Family, Yorkshire, and a dedication to the music she loves are crucial ingredients to the continuing rise of Kate Rusby.

John McKusker is well known for his work as
the fiddler in Battlefield Band.

--
Billie Hockett
bhockett@music-for-robin.org
Robin Blecher Celtic Arts, Inc.** 501(c)(3)
a.k.a. Music for Robin http://music-for-robin.org
(781) 862-7837