A World of Folk at Carnegie Hall

There's a "world" of Folk at Carnegie Hall, Dunfermline, inc. SAC Tune-Up sponsored...

A World of Folk at Carnegie Hall
• Catriona McKay & Nils Okland, Sun 8 March, 7.30 pm. £12, Fifestyle £11/£10, Concession £11
• Barbara Dickson, Fri 13 March, 7.30 pm. £23
• Going Across The Sea, Wed 22 April, 7.30 pm. £12, Fifestyle £11/£10, Concession £11
• Eddi Reader, Wed 29 April, 7.30 pm. £17.50 plus £1.50 booking fee
• The Chris Stout Theory, Sun 10 May, 7.30 pm. £12, Fifestyle £11/£10, Concession £11
• James Yorkston and Lisa Knapp, Wed 13 May, 7.30 pm. £10
• The Stairwell Sisters, Wed 20 May. £12, Fifestyle £11/£10, Concession £11
• Annie Keating, Thu 21 May (In Tiffany's lounge). £10 or £5 with Stairwell Sisters ticket
• Nuala Kennedy, Voyage De Nuit Night Music, Wed 3 June. £12, Fifestyle £11/£10, Concession £11

An appropriate collective noun for the forthcoming traditional music season at Carnegie Hall would be a "world" of folk, as the theatre offers no less than nine folk music events between mid-March and early June, much of it sponsored by the Scottish Arts Council through its Tune Up brand. There's a strong Scottish flavour to the line up, but it lacks neither global sophistication nor exotic glamour, with artists' provenance zig-zagging the Atlantic the North Sea and the English Channel.

A Norwegian/Scottish duo, Catriona McKay and Nils Økland, have the honour of kicking off the cornucopia of seven gigs on Sun 8 March. Harpist Catriona and hardanger fiddler Nils have established themselves as two of the leading lights of the contemporary folk scene in the UK and Scandinavia.

Barbara Dickson, whose style is folk/pop crossover, follows, with her gig on Friday 13th March. This date might actually be unlucky for some, as it is almost sold out.

Truly transatlantic, Going Across The Sea (Wed 22 April) brings together some of the finest traditional musicians from Scotland and Ireland with top exponents of Hillbilly, Country and Bluegrass from Missouri and Oregon. They'll play tunes which went from here to the States - and back again! Line up includes Kris Drever from Lau (Orkney), Salsa Celtica (Ireland), Betse Ellis from The Wilders (Missouri), members of the Foghorn String Band (Oregon) among many more.

Eddi Reader's gig on the 29th April doesn't feature in the theatre's current brochure as the manager snapped up the chance to have her play after going to print. Eddi is a giant of the Folk world, and sold out Carnegie Hall the last time she played here. Glasgow-born Eddi is touring to promote Love Is The Way, her, seventh solo album, released in March 2009.

The Chris Stout Theory, described by the Irish Times as "The stuff of genius in the making", play on Sunday, 10 May. Their genre crosses from traditional folk to jazz, and the group features the eponymous Chris on fiddle/viola, Catriona McKay, making a return trip to the Dunfermline theatre to play harp and piano, Neil Harland on double bass, Ian Stephenson on guitar and and a special guest from Brazil, Thomas Rorher. Thomas brings with him a Rebeca: an original form of violin, hewn from a single piece of wood!

Hot on the heels of the Chris Stout gig are James Yorkston and Lisa Knapp, who take to the stage 3 days later, on Wed 13 May in a gig sponsored by The Scottish Arts Council, via its Tune Up branding. Fifer James Yorkston, from Kingsbarns, is a long time Fence Collective associate, has toured with Folk legend John Martyn, and, curiously, started his musical career in punk band Huckleberry. Lisa burst onto the folk scene in 2007 with her debut album Wild and Undaunted, going on to win multiple awards. The Observer described her vocals as "...strange and stirring as a spring day".

The Stairwell Sisters are "an all-gal urban old-time teardown" quintet from San Francisco. There's clogging, dobro (an acoustic guitar with a metal resonator built in), tiples (like a 10 string ukulele) as well as fiddles, a bass and a guitar, all serving to back the five girls' vocals.

The very next day, May 21st, in Carnegie Hall's café bar, Tiffany's, plays a fellow American, Annie Keating, all the way from Brooklyn, New York. Tickets to hear Annie play her unique brand of acoustic indie folk are available at a special offer price if bought with Stairwell Sisters tickets.

The end of the "world" of music comes with much Gallic panache, as Nuala Kennedy drops in on her tour with Voyage de Nuit. Nuala, a respected solo traditional singer and flautist from Ireland, teams up for this occasion with Philippe Guidat, world-class French flamenco-jazz guitar player and composer; Mario Caribe on double bass, from Brazil; Diego Landivar from Bolivia on cajón (a traditional Afro-Peruvian drum) and Luke Daniels from England on accordion


Related Links
http://www.fifedirect.org.uk/news/index.cfm?fuseaction=news.display&objectid=89860358-A61D-833E-8A3317ECF823A594

http://www.attfife.org.uk/attFife/index.cfm?fuseaction=org.EventDisplay&objectid=3CB432A3-B1C6-6C9B-0E6E9C79B1A158CA&contentID=

http://www.fifedirect.org.uk/news/index.cfm?fuseaction=news.display&objectid=FEF59CEF-092A-A7D0-1F85BC7442670426