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2010 RURAL
HILL SCOTTISH FESTIVAL MUSIC INCLUDES INTERNATIONAL AND REGIONAL
TALENTS
February 23, 2010
HUNTERSVILLE, NC – The entertainment for the 17th
Annual Rural Hill Scottish Festival and Loch Norman Highland
Games is set for April 17 – 18, and features international as
well as regional music talents. Performances will be given
throughout the weekend with a highlighted concert on Saturday
evening. Admission begins as low as $10 per person and varies
based on the number of days and activities selected. Complete
schedules and tickets may be purchased securely online at
www.ruralhillscottishfestivals.net.
“One of the joys of the Festival and Games weekend is the
Scottish and Celtic music performances,” comments executive
director Ed McLean. “We are thrilled with the line-up for 2010
and are already filling ticket requests from fans that that see
tour schedules of their favorite artist and bands online.”
The 2010 music line-up includes Celtic rock groups Albannach and
Stirling Bridge, and traditional and contemporary Celtic music
from Brian McNeill, Ed Miller, Gary Innes, Jil Chambless,
Scooter Muse, John Taylor, and Thistledown Tinkers.
With professional Scottish heavy athletic competition, amateur
heavy athletics, piping and drumming, highland dancing, Scottish
country dancing, harp and fiddle competitions, children’s
activities including a kid’s zone, demonstrations and our famous
historic encampment, the weekend will be fun for the entire
family. Proceeds support the preservation of Rural Hill. For
complete information on the 17th Annual Rural Hill
Scottish Festival and Loch Norman Highland Games, please visit
our website at
www.ruralhillscottishfestivals.net.
The 2010 Rural Hill Scottish Festival music includes:
Albannach
Heart pounding drums and ancient
strains from Highland Pipes will stir your heart for the
Highlands and the smell of heather. Not just another Scottish
'Pipes & Drums' band, Albannach brings a new and exciting form
of percussion and Celtic music and includes a championship
winning piper, an extremely talented main drummer, bass drummers
and bodhran musicians.
In an Amazon.com review, M. Wolf
posts, “This band will have the blood rollicking through your
veins! The drumming will wake up something primitive you forgot
you had. Their music will grab you, enthrall you, excite you,
lull you, haunt you...get in touch with your wild side…”
Albannach is Scots-Gaelic for
"Scottish" or "Scotsman." The members of Albannach were all
born and bred in Scotland and says, “…our purpose in life is to
share our intriguing culture, history and heritage with you by
means of our music. It is exciting, energetic and enchanting
and we promise to leave you begging for more.”
Brian McNeill
Now in his 40th year
of a career that has established him as one of the most
acclaimed forces in Scottish music. Brian has been described as
“Scotland’s most meaningful contemporary songwriter” (The
Scotsman); add to that his work and influence as performer,
composer, producer, teacher, musical director, band leader,
novelist and interpreter of Scotland’s past, present and future
and you have a man who has never stood still. He has performed
around the globe, both as a soloist and with some of the era’s
most influential bands, including Battlefield Band and Clan
Alba.
Brian was born in 1950 in
Falkirk and began his musical training in his early teens with
violin lessons, but soon forsook that for the electric guitar.
There followed a comprehensive musical education and mildly
misspent youth - until his student years brought him to Celtic
music. As a direct consequence, in 1969 he formed the
Battlefield Band, which became one of Scotland's best known
ensembles. Brian plays fiddle, octave fiddle, guitar,
mandocello, bouzouki, viola, mandolin, cittern, concertina, bass
and hurdy gurdy.
Ed Miller
A native of Edinburgh, Scotland,
now living in Austin, Texas, Ed Miller is a product of the 1960s
folk revival in Scotland. He moved to the United States in 1968
to complete his graduate work in Geography, and later Folklore,
at the University of Texas at Austin. In addition to his
singing career, Ed is the host of a folk music program on
Austin’s NPR station, KUT-FM. Ed Miller is a performer who
has learned his craft in musical venues on both sides of the
Atlantic.... and a folklorist who brings his love of Scotland to
every performance.
“Ed is a wonderful example of
the vocal tradition that means so much to the Celtic heritage
and history. His wonderful voice as well as his treatment of the
old and new folksongs (many of which he has authored himself) is
inspiring to those who love the music. And while he takes the
music very seriously, his humor and wit make his performances
all the more inviting.” – Don Hutchison, as posted on
cdbaby.com.
Gary Innes
Born in 1980, Gary Innes is from
Spean Bridge in the Highlands of Scotland and has been playing
music professionally since 2003. He released his first album
"How's the Craic" in 2005 under the Skipinnish label and has
since has started his own record label PDP (Purple Dougal
Production) with best friend and co-owner Ewan Robertson. The
boys released their own album" Shouts" in April 2009 which has
been featured on radio stations worldwide and was BBC Radio nan
Gaidheal's album of the month in May ‘09.
Gary has traveled the world with
some amazing tales of tours and travel. He is recognized as one
of Scotland’s finest young accordion players and has appeared in
America, China, Kazakhstan and Europe. A highlight was his
performance at a World Peace concert in Amman, Jordan for the
Royal Family. Gary has been a part of Scots legendary “Runrig”
and appears on the cover of their 2007 album “Everything You
See.” He currently plays in Scotland’s widely demanded super
group “Box Club.”
Outside of music Gary is a
Scottish Internationalist at Shinty and plays for Camanachd Cup
champions Fort William. He holds every senior medal in Shinty
and when not competing, does live match commentary for the BBC.
Gary is also a Firefighter with Highlands and Islands Fire and
Rescue and a First Responder with the Scottish Ambulance
Service. At anytime you could be enjoying his music onstage or
happy he’s come to help you out of trouble.
"Gary Innes is the latest in a
line of young box players hailing from the Lochaber area. His
'locomotive' style has been wooing audiences up and down the
country and he…will blow your socks off!" - Dougie Hunter, as
posted on musicscotland.com.
Jil Chambless
Jil Chambless is without a doubt one of America's top Celtic
music vocalist and musicians. A native of Montgomery, Alabama,
Jil was first introduced to Celtic music in the 1980's when she
met the Tuscaloosa-based band, Henri's Notions. The rest is
history.
As the vocalist with Henri’s
Notions, Jil has completed four recording projects and performed
nationally at concerts and festivals. Jil has just released her
long awaited solo CD,
"The Ladies Go Dancing," produced by the legendary Brian
McNeill.
"Little did I ever think that
one of the best singers of Scots and Irish songs I know would
hail from Tuscaloosa, Alabama., but that is the case with Jil
Chambless.” - Ed Miller
Scooter
Muse
With roots in
Bluegrass Music, Scooter has been privileged to win eight State
of Alabama & Tennessee Valley Championship titles for 5 String
and Old Time Banjo. Scooter began to tap into the incredible
world of Celtic Music about 25 years ago. After learning a flood
of traditional jigs and reels on the banjo he began to explore
the Celtic domain of open tunings for the guitar, and from was
founder and leader of one of the country's finest Celtic bands,
The Full Moon Ensemble. After the FME went their separate
ways in 2002, Scooter was proud to join Henri's Notions after
being a big fan of the band for many years!
Scooter has released his first
solo guitar CD
"Saddell Abbey." The CD includes 12 original compositions
for acoustic guitar including music set to the poetry of Robert
Burns, and three songs by the Full Moon Ensemble's Allison King
and Jil Chambless of Henri's Notions.
”His talents as musician and
composer/arranger have been an important part of the success
both bands have enjoyed to date. But now, with the release of
his first solo recording, Muse's own music shares much of his
journey on the Celtic music road. Saddell Abbey has all the
earmarks of a project that has been a long time coming.” -
Paige Smith, Celtic Alabama News
John Taylor
Originally from North-East
Scotland, John has lived in San Jose, California for over 30
years, and during that time has become one of the most popular
Scottish fiddlers in the US. In addition to solo work, he has
played with various bands over the years and currently leads a
band called “Hamewith” (which means “homewards” in the Scots
dialect). He also plays regularly for Scottish Country Dancing
and has recorded albums with Andy Imbrie and with the dance band
“Fiddlesticks and Ivory.” He has played for dance tours in
Scotland and New Zealand, and regularly plays for dances and
dance workshops throughout the US and Canada. He can also often
be seen and heard accompanying singer Ed Miller or the
Scots/Irish duo "Men of Worth."
In 2001, he released his first
solo album "After the Dance," produced by Scottish folk music
icon Brian McNeill and featuring John with backup from Brian,
Ed, Rich Brotherton, Lawrence Drummond and John’s son Stuart and
daughter Lesley. It includes a wide variety of airs, marches,
jigs, reels and strathspeys, both old and new, and is topped off
by a couple of fiddle-related songs from Ed. John’s latest album
“The Road Ahead” was again produced by Brian and features an
exciting mix of material - including John’s first recorded vocal
– and backup by Brian, along with members of Hamewith and John’s
family.
John says of his musical
beginnings, “I was born in Aberdeen. The milk was delivered
every morning by horse and cart. The vegetable man came later in
the day with HIS horse and cart and we got to feed sugar lumps
to the horse. The “scaffie” had a little maroon and cream hand
cart that he walked around with, sweeping the streets. I used to
get a ride to and from school on the handlebars of my father’s
bike. The beach was freezing, but we went anyway. There were
“allotments” at the end of the street and we used to pinch red
gooseberries through the fence. I can’t remember the last time I
had a gooseberry. We had an attic in our house, and Auntie
Dorothy and Uncle George lived there for a while. I learned to
ride Neilly Anderson’s bike and dreamed about getting a “Palm
Beach Tourer” with butterfly handlebars. What I got was my Uncle
Charlie’s old bike with wood blocks on the pedals so I could
reach them. When I was 7 or 8 years old, my Mum and Dad asked me
if I would like to play a musical instrument. I was really
excited – this was great. I said ‘Yes, a trombone!!!!’ They
bought me a fiddle.”
Stirling Bridge
Rockin’ the Celts – Carolina
Style! Stirling Bridge blends classic bagpipe sounds with
hard-driving Carolina rock 'n' roll. These four seasoned,
professional musicians bring the party with a good-time, foot-stompin'
Celtic rock show.
Stirling Bridge is comprised of
musicians known individually or from other combined efforts such
as Thistledown Tinkers and Cattletruck - Trip Rogers (Guitar,
Vocals), Tom Eure (Bass, Vocals), Andrea Jones (Highland
Bagpipes, Small Pipes) and Gene Mackall (Drums).
Thistledown Tinkers
Thistledown Tinkers, the
powerful Celtic music duo featuring Trip Rogers and Tom Eure,
make music that forces folks to stand up and take notice. This
is not the fragile, romanticized Celtic music you hear in movie
soundtracks, but the kind that makes you sing along and stomp
your feet.
These seasoned music veterans
from NC weave traditional Scottish and Irish music with original
creations while adding a southern swagger that sets the stage on
fire. With an impressive arsenal of instruments including
guitar, fiddle, mandolin, banjo, dulcimer, and concertina,
musicianship is at the core of Thistledown Tinkers. Their stage
presence creates a rebel rousing party that not only draws fans
in, but makes them feel like a part of the show.
Thistledown Tinkers deliver the
beauty and tradition of Celtic music, new and old, with the
guts, showmanship, and attitude of an arena rock band. You will
find them wherever kinsmen are gathered and the craic is
lively!
Rural Hill is located at 4431
Neck Road (off Beatties Ford Road) in Huntersville, 28078. The
former homestead of Major John and Violet Davidson, the 265 acre
site is maintained and promoted by The Catawba Valley Scottish
Society (CVSS). Rural Hill features annual events such as the
Rural Hill Scottish Festival and Loch Norman Highland Games, the
Rural Hill Amazing Maize Maze and the Rural Hill Sheep Dog
Trials. CVSS is a non-profit organization supported through
membership and donations, and with proceeds from its events
utilized for the preservation of historic Rural Hill and its
education efforts. For more information on events or for
financial support accepted securely online, please visit
www.ruralhill.net. |
