Notable artists – Accordion
Jimmy Shand
Sir James Shand (Jimmy Shand) 1908-2000) played traditional Scottish dance music on the accordion. His signature tune was ‘The Bluebell’. James Shand was born in East Wemyss in Fife, son of a farm ploughman turned miner and one of nine children. His father was a skilled melodeon player. Jimmy started with the mouth organ and soon played the fiddle. At the age of 14, he had to leave school and go down the mines. He played at social events and competitions. Read more…
Claire Hastings
Claire Hastings is a Scottish folksinger, songwriter and ukulele player based in Glasgow. In 2015 she earned the prestigious title of BBC Radio Scotland's Young Traditional Musician of the Year, and has since delighted audiences at home and abroad with her 'natural, effortless Scots voice.' (FRUK) An honours graduate of the Scottish Music degree at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Claire specialized in Scots Song with expert tuition from Gordeanna McCulloch (The Clutha) and Rod Paterson (Jock Tamson’s Bairns). Since graduating, Claire has toured successfully in the UK, Europe and New Zealand as a solo artist and with The Claire Hastings Band, and has performed at international festivals including Festival Interceltique de Lorient and Celtic Connections. Standout performances also include BBC Proms in the Park with the Scottish Symphony Orchestra, singing alongside Lulu, Jamie Cullum and Deacon Blue at Glasgow's City Halls and collaborating with soul singer Joss Stone.
Kirsty Law
Kirsty Law is an innovative Scots songmaker and singer based in Edinburgh. From a background learning from some of Scotland and Ireland’s great tradition bearers such as Sheila Stewart, Cathal McConnell and Sheena Wellington, she has gone on to compose her own material in a style dubbed by Record Collector magazine as ‘folk art-pop’.
The mainstay of Law's musical education came from learning traditional ballads and Scots folk songs. Today she draws on this rich tradition in her own composition, often writing in a 'patchwork' style, layering and combining traditional and original melodies, poems and text with a highly contemporary result.
Her original songs have been played widely on national radio and even once mentioned in Scottish Parliament.
The Twa Sisters – Kirsty Law https://youtu.be/VTy1SflerXk
Ainsley Hamill
Ainsley is an experienced songwriter, singer and step dancer, and is one of the UK’s leading and most diverse folk singers, with various nominations at the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards, to representing Scotland at Eurovision Choir of the Year in Gothenburg. She has appeared at folk festivals such as The Festival Interceltique de Lorient, and Celtic Connections since 2010, along with many others in Britain and abroad with Barluath, The Unusual Suspects and Fourth Moon. Hailing from Cardross, she has been involved in singing, dancing and performance from a young age, and specialises in songwriting and songs in Scottish Gaelic and English.
Ainsley’s love of Gaelic song was nurtured whilst studying at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where she obtained a First-Class Honour’s Degree in Scottish Music, with Gaelic Song as her Principal Study, under the tuition of Kenna Campbell and Màiri MacInnes. There she met her fellow band mates, and Barluath was formed. In recent years, the band has recorded two studio albums, ‘Source’ and ‘At Dawn of Day’, along with touring extensively in Britain and abroad.
Ainsley has recently released EP ‘Belle of the Ball’, comprising of her own material inspired by her home in Scotland and Scottish Gaelic Songs. She is set to record a feature album with BBC composer Malcolm Lindsay in early 2020 after a successful commission where the two worked to create new music inspired by the surroundings and people of Glasgow / Govan, Scotland.
Away From The Pits – Barluath https://youtu.be/zR_AR1YRkxU
Claire is particularly passionate about her work with Live Music Now Scotland and Music in Hospitals; charity based organisations that bring live music to a range of audiences. Since 2013 she has been involved in various projects with LMNS alongside singer Robyn Stapleton and group Aonach Mòr, and has worked with the elderly, teenagers in care and young children.
Let Ramensky Go – Claire Hastings https://youtu.be/IfteGPIrd6k
Amy Lord
In 2007 Amy graduated from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (Formally the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama) with a BA Honours Degree in Scottish Music. Whilst there, she studied under some of Scotland’s finest Scots singers and traditional musicians, including Gordeanna McCulloch, Alison McMorland, Rod Paterson and Brian McNeill. Shortly after graduating, she was a finalist in the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year Competition in 2008.
She has taught singing groups across Scotland since 2007, when she started women’s singing group The Liltin’ Lassies. This group was started as coursework for the honours year of her degree, but is still going strong and has grown in size from 25 to 60 members. In 2010 the group was nominated for Community Project of the Year in the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards. She now is the regular and sought- after tutor for several singing groups and choirs around the country.
Tam I’ the Kirk – Amy Lord https://youtu.be/0nE-ap6KyK0
Gillian Frame
Gillian is a professional Scottish fiddle player and educator based in Glasgow, Scotland. As a performer she has worked with many acts and was a founding member of the band Back of the Moon with whom she toured for seven years, seeing them win various accolades including Best Up and Coming Act then Best Folk Band at the Scots Trad Music Awards. During this time she also graduated with a BA (Hons) in Scottish Music from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and was the MG BBC Alba Young Scottish Traditional Musician of the Year in 2001.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.
The list of other freelance work is extensive including working for the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Celtic Connections, Fèis Rois, Aberdeen Interntional Youth Festival and most traditional music organisations in Scotland and numerous music camps and festivals throughout North America and Europe including Vancouver, Philadelphia, Calgary, and Lorient .
Rothes Colliery- Gillian Frame and Mike Vass https://youtu.be/ocBOJkl_1Mw
Katie Macfarlane
Katie is a Gaelic and Scots singer from Airdrie who is greatly influenced by her connections to North Uist in the Outer Hebrides. She has had a passion for Gaelic and Scots song all her life and has been a semi-finalist in both BBC Radio Scotland's Young Traditional Musician and BBC Radio 2's Young Folk Award competitions. Accompanied by Chris Gray on piano, Katie's performance ranges from folk and traditional to self-penned songs.
Bha Mi'n Raoir san Taigh-Òsta – Katie Macfarlane https://youtu.be/EYm_OBGYoQk
Lori Watson
Lori Watson is the first Doctor of Artistic Research in Scottish Music, and an authority on contemporary traditional music practice in Scotland. Drawing on her strong roots in the rich creative tradition of the Scottish Borders, she has become a leading interpreter of Scottish folk music and Scots song and her skills as a performer, composer, researcher and educator are widely recognised. Her performance, composition and songwriting can be heard with award-winning groups Boreas, Watson/Black, Rule of Three and Fireside Music Company (with Dr Margaret Bennett). Lori Watson combines groundbreaking research and creative and composition work with a busy performance and teaching schedule to fulfil her expansive interest in music.
Scots Singer of the Year 2016-17, Lori Watson is a fiddle player, singer and composer. She has drawn on the rich folk traditions of the Scottish Borders throughout her artistic life, including experimental works and a PhD thesis/creative folio exploring innovation and contemporary traditional music practice. A folk musician with considerable pedigree, Lori is also touring and recording with Boreas, Iain Morrison and a range of other solo and collaborative projects. Lori has six albums in circulation including two critically acclaimed albums with members of her trio Rule of Three.
Yarrow – A Charm – Lori Watson https://youtu.be/CYUIIRVfNso
Karine Polwart
BBC Radio 2 Folk Singer Of The Year 2018, Karine Polwart is a multi-award-winning Scottish songwriter and musician, as well as a theatre maker, storyteller, spoken-word performer and published essayist. Her songs combine folk influences and myth with themes as diverse as Donald Trump’s corporate megalomania, Charles Darwin’s family life and the complexities of modern parenthood. She sings traditional songs too and writes to commission for theatre, animation and thematic collaborative projects. Karine is six-times winner at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, including twice for Best Original Song. Additionally, Karine has composed for two Scottish BAFTA animation shorts.
The Death of Queen Jane - Karine Polwart https://youtu.be/JT2uqT3am1M
Maeve Mackinnon
Even amid the wealth of gifted musicians thronging today’s Scottish folk scene, singer Maeve Mackinnon stands out as an exceptional young talent. With a repertoire spanning Gaelic and English-language material, both traditional and contemporary, she’s won acclaim equally for the eloquent emotional connection she forges with every song, communicated in a bewitchingly honeyed, husky yet vibrantly earthy voice, and for her music’s dynamic interplay of boldness and
Ailean Duinn – Maeve Mackinnon https://youtu.be/NvL5yqZ88uc
Fiona Hunter
Fiona Hunter is one of Scotland’s foremost traditional singers and is fast garnering a reputation as a highly gifted song interpreter. Fiona began her singing career while completing her degree at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (now Royal Conservatoire of Scotland), where she studied under the tutelage of highly revered singers Andy Hunter, Alison McMorland and Brian MacNeill. Fiona has been singing as part of renowned folk song group Malinky for the best part of a decade. Her time with the group has seen them win many accolades including the prestigious Folk Band of the year award at the 2010 MG Alba Scots Trad Music Awards. Fiona has won the Scots Singer of the Year category at the awards.
Further acclaim came when Fiona sang with the large-scale Grit Orchestra, formed to celebrate the music of maverick techno-folk musician Martyn Bennett, at Celtic Connections on the tenth anniversary of Bennett’s death in 2015. The orchestra, with Fiona ably taking on the daunting role of singing Move, as sung by Sheila Stewart on Bennett’s Grit album, has gone on to appear at the prestigious WOMAD festival and at Edinburgh International Festival.
Jock Hawk’s Adventures in Glasgow - https://youtu.be/ZcsovkY33bc
Steve Byrne
From Arbroath in Scotland’s eastern lowlands, Steve has been immersed in traditional music since early childhood, and continues to write and arrange songs in his native Scots tongue. He is one of Scotland’s most sought after accompanists, especially for traditional song.
Best known as a founder member of innovative Scots folksong group Malinky, he's worked with Scots songstress Emily Smith (2002 Young Traditional Musician of the Year), rising Gaelic singing star Julie Fowlis, and is an occasional accompanist for stellar piper Fred Morrison.
A trained ethnologist - as a graduate of Edinburgh University's School of Scottish Studies - Steve applies his deep knowledge and love of Scottish traditions to all aspects of his musical career, whether as a performer, teacher or workshop leader.
Steve was a finalist in 2001's inaugural Young Traditional Musician of the Year competition. In recent years he has also guested on bouzouki with top Scottish folk outfit Deaf Shepherd. His recording credits include four volumes of the acclaimed Complete Songs of Robert Burns series as both featured singer and accompanist, as well as solo albums by Scots singers Jim Malcolm and John Morran. And of course, four Malinky albums, two of which featuring fellow founder member Karine Polwart, now pursuing a successful solo career.
A graduate of the School of Scottish Studies, he has worked on the Kist o' Riches sound archive project and on the papers of Hamish Henderson. With 'Local Voices' he runs workshops in schools, has recently produced a CD of ballads from Walter Scott's Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border for an academic project, and worked as singing coach for Netflix's Robert the Bruce epic, Outlaw King.
Johnnie o’ Braidiesley – Steve Byrne https://youtu.be/y-EuYrnnVrI
Christine Kydd
A veteran of the folk world, Christine grew up musically in the vibrant Edinburgh scene. Her career has offered her great variety, where she has not only worked solo, with the finest of players (musicians who now feature in top groups including Jock Tamson’s Bairns, Blazin’ Fiddles, Shooglenifty) but also in highly-acclaimed groundbreaking projects- her extensive touring and recording work with Janet Russell; in Chantan with Elspeth Cowie and Corinna Hewat and in Calluna with Charlotte Peterson, Rebecca Knorr and Anna Wendy Stevenson. With Barbara Dymock in Sinsheen, the duo’s debut album “Lift” was produced in 2009 by the late great Michael Marra, to great critical acclaim.
Christine has shared the stage with fellow singers such as Sheena Wellington, Karen Matheson, Jean Redpath and in various combinations has supported many artistes such as Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Richard Thompson, while as soloist, artistes she has supported include Capercaille, Guy Clark, Christy Moore and Altan. Now, with many touring recording and performance credits under her belt, she is a singer as respected and loved by fellow musicians as she is by her audiences.
Hey Donald – Christine Kydd https://youtu.be/AVOIyBkLpF4
John Dickson
John Dickson's roots are in the coal mining community of Midlothian where he was born and grew up. He then moved to the Scottish Borders in 1970 and took part in the local folk scene until he moved to Aberdeenshire in the early nineties. There he discovered a love of bothy and traditional singing and competed in various competitions. He has made several appearances at the Bothy Ballad Champion of Champions in Elgin and won the title in 2011.
Bonnie Woodhall – John Dickson https://youtu.be/HZV5V2U0oPQ
Robyn Stapelton
Scottish singer Robyn Stapleton was awarded BBC Radio Scotland’s Young Traditional Musician of the Year in 2014 and has quickly become one of Scotland’s most sought-after folk singers. With a uniquely pure tone, wonderful control and an empathy and sensitivity for traditional song, she is described as having one of the fines voices in Scottish music. Robyn sings the songs of her Scottish and Irish heritage, in the Scots, English and Gaelic language. She has performed with many prestigious ensembles, including the RSNO, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Scottish Ensemble.
Brought up in the South West of Scotland, Robyn was first introduced to singing through the poetry of Robert Burns and has fast become one of the most respected singers of Burns’ song. She has been invited to perform his most famous works on BBC television and radio, alongside Oscar-winning actors, and on legendary radio programme, Desert Island Discs.
Robyn brings diverse groups of people together to connect with their community, their own musical heritage and experience a shared joy of music and song that is both empowering and fulfilling. As a song leader, teacher and arranger, she has worked extensively with a range of community groups and has many years of experience as a music facilitator within health and care settings. She is currently based in Edinburgh where she is Musical Director of folk choir, Sangstream and Harmonise choir. Her work with charities such as Live Music Now and Parkinson’s UK brings musical engagement to vulnerable groups who need it most.
Freedom Come All Ye – Robyn Stapleton https://youtu.be/V4HLpNybgss
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