POSTPONED: The Ledger
Every week in the late 50s and early 60s The Scotsman published a traditional Scottish folk song: lyrics and melody alongside an explanatory article. Findlay Napier’s grandfather, Findlay Cumming, cut them out and pasted them into an old ledger. These articles, by folklorist Norman Buchan, were later published as 101 Scottish Songs and as The Scottish Folksinger. These books have become two of the most influential books on the Scottish folk scene past and present. Featuring songs that became the core material for artists such as Dick Gaughan and Barbara Dickson and bands like The Battlefield Band and The Tannahill Weavers, The Ledger is a time capsule of the fledgling Scottish and UK folk scene and is brought to life by Findlay Napier, Gillian Frame and composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist Mike Vass.
Findlay Napier is a singer songwriter based in Glasgow. His album VIP: Very Interesting Persons, a collection of songs sharing the stories of real people including actress/inventor Hedy Lamarr and baseball legend Mickey Mantle, was #2 in The Telegraph’s top folk albums of 2014. His album Glasgow is a love letter to the city he’s called home for over twenty years. Folk Radio UK described him as, "one of the finest songwriters and storytellers of the contemporary Scottish folk scene".
Findlay and Gillian met at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland while studying traditional music and formed the band Back of the Moon. They toured across Europe and North America, released three albums winning a number of music awards including Folk Band of the Year at The Trad Music Awards and Band of the Year at Lorient Festival Interceltique.
Gillian Frame is a fiddle player, singer and educator from the Isle of Arran. Her album Pendulum is a collection of her favourite fiddle tunes and folk songs. Gillian was the inaugural winner of the Young Traditional Musician of the Year and is in great demand as a session musician. She has featured on more than a dozen albums and worked as a session musician with acts such as The Unusual Supsects, Breabach, Treacherous Orchestra, Rachel Sermani, Deaf Shepherd, Mairearad and Anna and Duncan Lyall’s Infinite Reflections.
Mike Vass is one of the most creative forces on the Scottish music scene. As a musician, composer, producer and arranger Mike has amassed a body of work that encompasses early appearances as a livewire young fiddler, collaborations with many of the leading voices among today’s Scots and Gaelic tradition bearers, delivering multi-media performances, overseeing critically acclaimed recordings, and scoring for prestigious ensembles.
The Ledger album is due for release in April 2020.
Friday 29 May 2020 – 7.30pm
Tickets : £13.50
Approximately 110 minutes including an interval
Part of, supported by, the Dumfries and Galloway Arts Festival.
Venue
The Swallow Theatre
Moss Park, Ravenstone
Whithorn
Newton Stewart
Dumfries & Galloway
DG8 8DR
Moss Park, Ravenstone
Whithorn
Newton Stewart
Dumfries & Galloway
DG8 8DR