1970 – 2020 POEM FOR THE CEILIDH PLACE AT 50 House Of Stories/Taigh nan Sgeulachdan We swim in on ancient stories along the sea-loch of our dreams down the streaming roadways of the ocean to touch the land we call our own to build the welcoming place where dreams can live & view the loch as an open door through which the future breenges in to walk on ceiling & on floor to put her arms across the wreckage & make the garden green once more from which the story grows born in the hill fort & the circling stones & the hidden places no-one knows for in this house of stories beneath the Assynt mountains among herring streets & the democratic rain we eat & drink & laugh & sing & put before the people the marvels that sparkling joy can bring under the high roof of promise to see the life that the first ones saw we know that this is what we are for to follow the hearts law & its pain history shows us what we have lost our stories in this place tell us of what we have yet to gain George Gunn 2019 1 Dear Friends, Welcome to The Ceilidh Place programme of music and art for 2020. As we celebrate 50 years of welcoming folk to our corner of Wester-Ross, we’ve put together a programme jam-packed with great artists and musicians to help mark our half-century. From old pals to hot new talent, there is a rich and varied mix that helps to highlight the strength and depth of the contemporary Scottish scene. It has been a privilege and a pleasure to host so much fantastic creativity at The Ceilidh Place over the years – and above all it is a great joy to share it with you, our audience. The intimacy of our venue coupled with the calibre of our guests means that each concert is a rich experience, a night (or nights!) not to be forgotten. We hope you’ll be able to join us for one or more of these upcoming concerts and exhibitions, and to enjoy the array of fabulous entertainment this country has to offer. Come and be welcome. Jean, Jock and Rebecca Urquhart The Ceilidh Place And to kick us off this year… 1st JANUARY 2020 – NE-ER DAY GIG with The Poozies, Snuffbox and Mairearad & Anna. 2 MUSIC PROGRAMME JANUARY 2020 1st NE’ER DAY GIG with The Poozies, Snuffbox and Mairearad & Anna. Tickets £35 FEBRUARY 2020 14th VALENTINA CEILIDH CANTINA Celebrate St Valentine’s cantina style! A slightly different cantina this time, kicking off our 50th year with ceilidh dance music from CP favourites Duncan, Dagger & Iain. We’ve dug out the menus from 1970 and re-invented them with a sprinkling of 2020. Come and share the love! Duncan MacGillivray, Dagger Gordon and Iain MacBeath have been performing at The Ceilidh Place with various Highland line-ups since the mid 1970s, including the Hogmanay party for about the last 25 years. They play for dancing, with a lively mixture of bagpipes, fiddle, banjo, mandolin, guitar, whistle and mouth organ. Tickets £28 3 MARCH 2020 21st ROSS AISLIE AND ALI HUTTON Skilfully performed instrumental music deeply rooted in the Scottish tradition. Ross and Ali, two of Scotland’s most prominent musicians, bring together original compositions, ranging from high octane jigs and reels to beautifully melodic slow airs. The music is a masterful blend of the old and the new – modern Scottish folk music at its mightiest! They will be joined by one of Scotland’s finest musicians, Jenn Butterworth, winner of the Musician of the Year at the 2019 Scots Trad Awards. Tickets £12 APRIL 2020 10th AIR IOMALL – CHARLIE GREY AND JOSEPH PEACH Air Iomall is a film and suite of new music by Charlie Grey (fiddle) and Joseph Peach (piano), inspired by a voyage aboard the Wylde Swan to some now uninhabited islands deep in the North Atlantic: The Shiants, North Rona, The Flannans, Sula Sgeir and St Kilda. The film is centred around the first performance of this new music on St Kilda on the 88th anniversary of the evacuation. Tickets £10 4 11th RANT RANT is the meeting of four of Scotland’s finest fiddle players, two from the Shetland Islands and two from the Highlands. Bethany Reid, Jenna Reid, Lauren MacColl and Anna Massie join forces to create a sound which is both rich and lush, yet retaining all the bite and spark synonymous with a Scottish fiddle player. Tickets £12 18th OLD BLIND DOGS Old Blind Dogs are legendary – a multi award winning band with a line-up from the world of Scottish folk music that is approaching superstar status. Founder member Jonny Hardie (fiddle/vocals) is joined by Aaron Jones (guitar/bouzouki/vocals), Ali Hutton (pipes) and Donald Hay (percussion). Together they create a sound that stands at the forefront of the Scottish roots music revival! Tickets £12 25th EILIDH SHAW AND ROSS MARTIN Eilidh Shaw and Ross Martin are probably best known for their work with two top traditional bands; Eilidh with The Poozies and Ross with Daimh, although some may recall the early 2000s when they made up 2 fifths of the cult folk explosion that was Harem Scarem. Tickets £10 5 MAY 2020 16th JENNY STURGEON – THE LIVING MOUNTAIN This marks the release of Jenny’s new album ‘The Living Mountain’ – a collection of songs inspired by the celebrated book of Aberdonian Nan Shepherd. The 12 tracks, which make up the album, take inspiration from each chapter of Nan’s book together with Jenny’s own experience exploring the Cairngorm mountain range which is very close to where she was brought up. The performance will also include specially commissioned imagery. Tickets £10 20th ROSS AINSLIE AND TIM EDEY Two of the best musicians of their generation come together for this all too rare appearance. Tim (guitar, melodeon), is brilliant in every way. Ross (pipes, whistles, cittern) is one of Scotland’s finest traditional musicians and composers with a long list of high profile awards and nominations. Tickets £10 23rd BENEDICT MORRIS TRIO Fiddler Benedict won BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year 2019. Also in the trio are fellow BBC award winners Ryan Murphy (uilleann pipes) and Pablo Lafuente (guitar). Their music stems from Irish traditional music and they produce instrumental music steeped in emotion, drive and vivacity. Tickets £10 6 29th WESTWARD THE LIGHT Westward The Light are: Charlie Grey, Sally Simpson, Owen Sinclair and Joseph Peach. They bring together an expansive knowledge of Scottish folk music and culture, creating a new expression of an age-old sound. On fiddle, viola, vocals, piano, and guitar, the quartet’s music is reflective of upbringings immersed in the nature and landscapes of Scotland. Tickets £10 JUNE 2020 5th GNOSS Gnoss is a dynamic four-piece of fiddle, flute, guitar and percussion, Gnoss tackle energetic tune sets and driving folk song with a ‘maturity of ability many of a greater age will envy’ (The Living Tradition). Graham Rorie, Aidan Moodie, Connor Sinclair and Craig Baxter have been tipped as ‘ones to watch’ by Songlines magazine for their lively, engaging and honest performances. Tickets £10 11th KAREN MARSHALSAY Karen Marshalsay has mastered all three Scottish harps – the warm-sounding modern gut-strung clarsach, its wire-strung Gaelic predecessor and the distinctive Bray – and her love of pipe music gives her playing deft richness. Music and stories from her acclaimed album, The Road to Kennacraig, and beyond feature in an intimate concert. Tickets £8 7 13th TANNARA Bold, creative, and original; Tannara have established themselves as one of the UK’s most interesting and unique contemporary folk groups. Since the band’s formation in 2014 they’ve covered considerable (photo by Elly Lucas) musical ground. With a background in Scotland’s native traditions, their ceaseless musical development is a melting pot of ideas, genres and sounds. Tickets £10 16th BUDAPEST CAFÉ ORCHESTRA Budapest Café Orchestra – hugely entertaining, immense skill and profound musicianship. Led by jazz violin superstar Christian Garrick The Budapest Café Orchestra play traditional folk and gypsy flavoured music from across the Balkans and Russia. Klezmer, Romanian Doinas, Hungarian Czadas and beautiful ballads are all encountered. Tickets £12 18th TIM KLIPHUIS TRIO Award-winning violinist Tim Kliphuis (NL) is a legend in the gypsy world. His Trio with Nigel Clark (guitar) and Roy Percy (bass) re-defines the music of J.S. Bach, Django and the Chieftains to create an intensely moving concert experience. Tickets £10 8 JULY 2020 8th HANNAH RARITY Hannah Rarity’s sublime voice imbues the music she performs with a depth of emotion that is inimitable. It’s this ability that has seen her become one of Scotland’s foremost young singers. She was the winner of BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year 2018. Accompanied by John Lowrie (piano). Tickets £10 11th FERGUS MCCREADIE TRIO Pianist Fergus McCreadie’s trio with bassist David Bowden and drummer Stephen Henderson is the leading group from the new, young wave of Scottish jazz. Their concerts, highlighting their thrilling virtuosity and exciting dynamism and their music’s huge emotional charge, have earned five-star reviews and wowed audiences across Northern Europe. Tickets £10 14th ALISTAIR MCCULLOCH TRIO The Alistair McCulloch Trio is celebrating 20 years of touring this year and is delighted to be returning to the Ceilidh Place, the only ever-present venue! Featuring champion fiddler McCulloch, Aaron Jones (bouzouki, guitar, vocals) and Marc Duff (whistles). An evening of driving tunes, tender songs and poignant airs. Tickets £10 9 16th ERISKA Eriska create organic, free-range folk-fusion jams.