Guests performing at The Traditional Singing Weekend at Cullerlie, 22-24 July, include:
John Campbell As Ireland’s finest storyteller, John Campbell has been known ‘to make strong men weep with laughter’, but he is also a splendid singer. He comes from the Mullaghbawn district of South Armagh, where he was formerly a shepherd on Slieve Gullion. He is also an expert ‘lilter’ (lilting is ‘diddling’ or mouth music), and plays the jew’s harp or trump. John, in company with Len, has appeared at festivals all over the UK and Ireland, as well as in many other parts of the world.
Katherine Campbell, from Fochabers, is both a performer and a scholar, and comes from a musical family with a background in farming. Not only is she a fine interpreter of North-East songs and ballads, but also an accomplished cellist and keyboard player. She is currently a Project Manager at the RSAMD, having formerly been a research fellow at the Elphinstone Institute, where her project was to edit a performance edition of the Greig-Duncan Folk Song Collection.
Gordon Easton (b.1923) is from the Blackhills of Tyrie (near Fraserburgh), where his family has crofted for generations. He learned many of his songs from his mother and grandmother, and is well-known for his fiddle, jew’s harp and ‘moothie’ playing, not to mention his considerable skills as a ‘diddler’. He has competed and sung at TMSA festivals for over twenty years and has won regularly in many categories. Last year he was made an honorary life member of the TMSA.
Scott Gardiner is a favourite singer with roots in Forfar, where his family farm. He has been singing in public since he was eight and has a repertoire of traditional and contemporary material, including many bothy ballads. As a young singer, his formative influences were Jim Reid, Joe Aitken, and Tam Reid. He has been a guest at festivals in Scotland, England, and the USA.
Len Graham was born in County Armagh to a family steeped in traditional music, song, and dance. He has been cultivating the song tradition of his native Ulster all his life, and is recognised internationally as an outstanding traditional singer. He is also a collector of songs and a selection from his field recordings have been published in It’s of My Rambles (ACNI). Len has two albums available on Claddagh – Ye Lovers All and Do Me Justice – and has appeared with John at festivals all over the world.
Sarah Jane Grieve was brought up in a singing family at Harray in Orkney, where she learnt many of her songs singing alongside her mother Barbara and her sister Emma. In fact, she first sang in public at the age of five. She loves to perform songs from Orcadian tradition, especially those of George Corrigall and Ally Winick, as well as from further afield. Archaeology and heritage matter greatly to her and she currently works in the archives in Kirkwall Library.
Bob Lewis is part of a line of wonderful Sussex singers that includes George Belton and Bob Copper. He was born in 1935 in Heyshott near Midhurst in the west of the county. He learnt most of his songs from his parents or at work in agriculture and forestry. He has sung at many festivals over the years, especially Whitby, Sidmouth, the National at Sutton Bonington, and abroad.
Ian Pirie Although Ian has only been performing at Aberdeen TMSA events for the past six years, his singing and song writing skills go back to the early 1960s, when he was at school. During his time in Germany with the armed forces in the 1970s, his talents flourished and he was a regular performer at the folk club there. The themes of his songs are eclectic, ranging from a lament for the original Ferguson tractor and a song in praise of Aberdeen rolls, to ‘A Fine Contented Man’, which was written in memory of Tam Reid.
Kathleen Robertson ‘found’ folk singing in Aberdeen in her thirties as a result of a meeting with Lizzie Higgins. She grew up in Glasgow in a family of music-hall ‘pros’, with links on her mother’s side to Yorkshire song traditions. Kathleen has sung at festivals throughout Scotland, has been recorded for several radio stations, and is a tutor in traditional singing for SCaT, the community-based learning project for Scottish culture in Aberdeen.
Peta Webb, a Londoner with an Irish background, formed her exceptional individual vocal style through the influence of Irish traditional singers, especially Margaret Barry, Sarah Makem, and Sarah and Rita Keane. Peta believes firmly in the importance of learning directly from traditional singers wherever possible. With Ken Hall, she runs the successful Musical Traditions Club in London, which has a policy of presenting traditional singers. She sings regularly at festivals in Britain and Ireland and has been a guest at Pinewoods (USA).
Workshops include:
· ‘From Page to Performance: Bringing the Songs from the Greig-Duncan Collection Back to Life’ (Katherine Campbell)
· Making Mouth Music (Gordon Easton and John Campbell)
· Farmhouse Cooking (Anne Reid)
· Farm Museum Tour (Eric Walker)
Plus crafts, including:
· Crochet work (Tibbie Reid)
· Wood turning (Harry Whyte)
· Vintage tractor restoration (Geordie Murison)
Food will be available over the weekend. There will be no bar, but you can BYOB. Camping and caravanning can be booked free of charge. There are many B&Bs in the area – for a list, contact the Tourist Information at Banchory: 01330 822000 or Aberdeen: 01224 288828.
- Issued by
-
The Communications Team
Directorate of External Relations,
University of Aberdeen,
King's College,
Aberdeen
- Contact
- Jenni Massie
- Issued on
- 20 July 2005
