Celtic Chicago

NEWSREADER: The decisive blow in an incredible piece of sporting theatre.

As First Minister, it's my pleasure to invite all golf fans

to share that feeling and come to the home of golf - Scotland.

Yeah! Let's get her on the phone.

"Amy, we just got you a million dollars in Scotland!"

# A' chlach a bha mo sheanmhair

# 'S mo sheanair oirre seanchas

# Air tilleadh mar a dh'fhalbh i

# Mo Ghalghad a' chlach. #

# Well, you can bury me in some deep valley

# For many years where I may lay. #

# Rain on the roof

# The pitstop paths and rustling stream. #

CELTIC VIOLIN MUSIC PLAYS

# Oganaich uir a rinn m' rhagail

# Hi ri-abh o hiuraibh o ho

# Hi ri-abh o ro hubhag

# Hi ri-abh o hiuraibh o ho. #

# There's no use any more for these cotton mills, it seems. #

LIVELY FIDDLE MUSIC PLAYS

Tell them what we want, rather than...

He might not need that amount of stuff if we won't do

that amount of stuff, so... OK.

It's not a sort of total global domination kind of idea,

it's more just little satellites of what Celtic Connections

is about in different parts of the world.

SLIDE GUITAR PLAYS

It's all about export, import, cultural tourism,

driving audiences back to Scotland.

Really, we're just looking to achieve a situation where

audiences have a great time and really connect with the music

and feel that it's a little bit of Scotland in Chicago.

BLUES HARMONICA MUSIC PLAYS

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen,

and welcome to the opening ceilidh of Celtic Connections.

When they created Celtic Connections,

there's a beautiful concert hall

and it's proper marketing, and proper ticket prices.

That's a major factor, that it's seen as a serious music form.

CLAPPING

SONG: "Coisich, a Ruin"

THEY SING: "Puirt A Beul"

What we wanted to do was to bring a breadth of musicians which

covered as much as we possibly could take of Celtic Connections

and the flavour of Celtic Connections

so by doing that, we do have a lot of people.

There's about 42 people travelling now with the party.

Why am I moving chairs around?

Well, I'm Dan Tyminski. Very, very happy to be here

getting to...wow, play with some of

the...best musicians on the planet.

I've had the pleasure of getting to play with the guys a couple of

times before, with Transatlantic Sessions,

and I'm so looking forward to...you know, it's nice to have to do it

without quite as much travel!

It's just really exciting being here on their turf for a change

and with the Ryder Cup, it's obviously going to be

going out to a big crowd here. We've never played

on the side of the Atlantic so it's just going to be good fun.

Here we are in a warehouse somewhere. I guess this could be in Glasgow!

But I think it'll be different when we get out there

on stage tomorrow night

cos it's apparently a spectacular venue, open air and...

It's not the Concert Hall in Glasgow.

It'll be quite a different sound as well, I think, on stage.

Well, we've been doing this since 1995.

We've gotten the hang of each other now.

What's great about it is you have all these great musicians

and they all have their own ideas.

Just listening to what they come up with is great.

Getting them over there was a great thing, but actually,

it's lovely to do it over here.

And it means that we get jetlagged, for a change!

Now I know what it's like, what they feel when they come over.

# Gur milis Morag

# Gur Laghach Morag

# Gur milis Morag

# Nighean Eoighainn Oig. #

You know, there's always an element of danger

with these events where you don't know anything about the logistics

but, you know, the good cause of music

usually wins through in the end.

Transatlantic Sessions itself has a kind of massive awareness

through the folk and roots community

so we're pretty confident we'll pull a crowd.

# Mo mhile marbhaisg

# Air an Fhrangach

# Nuair leig e nall thu

# Chuir anntlachd oirnn

# Gur milis Morag

# Gur Laghach Morag

# Gur milis Morag... #

I've never met anybody at a soundcheck before

-that I'm about to perform with.

-Bit weird!

-It's a new thing.

-Bit weird.

I'll just start singing

-and we can try a few things.

-Yeah, let's try a couple.

We'll try a few things and see if we like anything and then we'll do that.

Sounds grand.

SHE HUMS MELODY TO: "Fhir An Leadain Thlath"

# Fhir chul dualaich chleachdaigh

# 'S boidhche snuadh ri fhaicinn

# Tha do ghaol an tasgaich

# 'N seomar glaist nam fheoil

# Fhir an leadain thlath

# Dh'fhag thu mi fo bhron. #

So why don't I sound check? And once you've heard it a few times -

-and that was dead easy - then we can figure out another one after.

-Sure.

-OK.

-Sounds grand.

-All right?

# Fhir an leadain thlath

# Dh'fhag thu mi fo bhron. #

# Fhir an leadain thlath

# Dh'fhag thu mi fo bhron. #

HE CHUCKLES SHE CONTINUES SINGING

Having Celtic Connections here is fantastic.

As ambassadors for Scotland as a group, they're fantastic.

Representative of what's exciting and engaging about Scottish culture.

Particularly this year with it being the year of Creative Scotland,

it's great to have those guys out in Chicago with us,

engaging with the American audience, which is massive Scotland.

So, really, it's a nice fit for them to be here.

-That's grand.

-Nice.

-Yeah.

-That's great.

-Let's do that.

We'll do the same in the last verse.

Tonight, it's the media reception so it's all the media

that'll be at the Ryder Cup so you're talking worldwide media.

So this is a brilliant opportunity for us just to be...

Do you know, I feel really proud, actually. I really do.

That whole "Scotland's coming", and it's just really exciting, yeah.

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage, Rura.

SINGING IN GAELIC

SINGING IN GAELIC

I want to offer each and every one of you a warm welcome tonight.

It's good to see so many of you turn out to support Scotland,

whether it's our culture, our international business...

-Lovely. Could still do a tiny tag at the end.

-Yep.

-Um...

So your last line...

# Dah dun-dun daah

# Dun dun daah. #

SINGING IN GAELIC

APPLAUSE

Thank you very much for listening.

-Cynthia.

-Cynthia?

Moo!

# Weave and spin Weave and spin... #

There haven't been any problems. No, it's run seamlessly(!)

-All smoke and mirrors.

-It's all smoke and mirrors, exactly.

Um...I think with anything like this,

there'll always be things that you can never, ever plan for

and I think we've probably come across most of them, actually.

-But it's been cool, hasn't it?

-Yes.

-Everybody's jumped in.

Everybody here's been so friendly and helpful

-that it's really helped us out.

-Yeah, absolutely.

Nothing's a problem.

Right, Phil, you've been doing this for many, many years.

Yeah, about 36 years this year. I started when I was...

I joined a band when I was 16,

started coming out to America to tour in the early '80s,

1981 and it was just part of our regular life,

two or three tours of America a year, Chicago loads of times.

It's lovely to be here on such a lovely day

playing in this beautiful setting.

I never saw myself at this age being a musician at all.

I actually wanted to be a zoologist as a child, and/or a cameraman,

that was one of my biggest ambitions,

to get behind the camera rather than...

I've ended up on the lens side of it nowadays

but I've always wanted to get behind it.

-I think it'd be a fascinating job.

-Give it a go, then.

20p for a shot on your machine, big man!

Go on, give us a shot. Oooh!

THEY CHUCKLE

I'm liking this.

Dan, I think they've underestimated the size of the couch for us.

-This is mine, right?

-This is a two-butt couch!

All right, Danny?

Donald? Donald Shaw.

How would you say it's all going?

Well, till now, it's been going quite well.

I'm slightly concerned.

Are you supposed to stay looking at the person you're looking at?

Hold on, this is my first day.

Can you come around to your right, please?

-There's Aly Bain, Donald Shaw.

-Youth training scheme camerawork!

-You receiving me?

-Aly, I was talking to Donald there.

-Well, you WERE.

-Cut!

I think tonight when we see this with the backdrop of Chicago

and all lit up and everything, it's just going to be stunning.

# We're bound away for Americay Fall down, Billy O'... #

Let's do another verse before the break.

INDISTINCT SINGING

# ..Fall down, me Billy

# Fall down, Billy O'Shea

# Fall down, fall down Fall down, me Billy

-# We're bound away for Americay

-Fall down, Billy O'Shea

# He sent him up to the top mast yard

# Fall down, me Billy

# And when he hit the deck, well, he took it hard

# Fall down, Billy O'Shea. #

Here, you have blues, you have country music, jazz,

all that stuff is going on here in America. The influences...

-Our music might have influenced in the beginning.

-Definitely.

But your music has come back and influenced us a great deal.

-There's a little ricochet factor there.

-Certainly.

So maybe we should have you over to do Transatlantic Sessions here,

-maybe even in Nashville.

-Yeah, that'd be great...

That was brilliant(!) Did anybody know we were filming?

-LAUGHTER

-Keep running.

Describe yourselves to the audience that can't see you at home.

THEY LAUGH

-He's about eight foot six!

-Yeah!

-The big ears.

-And he can fly.

-He can fly!

The essence of this music is very important, that we

preserve it and look after it and it's fine to move it along

but always to make sure that that is at its very core.

I feel very proud to have this music as part of where I come from.

You can go pretty much anywhere and find yourself having a tune

with somebody and finding some kind of cultural link with them just

because the Celts have reached out so far over time.

Final warm-up, Danny?

Yeah, I get nervous and I used to have a guy with me

and we really used to get stuck into it

and he'd go, "Right, you're on now."

I can forget all about nerves because before I get on, I just...

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

ANNOUNCER: Aly Bain and Jerry Douglas.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Thank you.

# I bid farewell

# To old Kentucky

# The place where I was born and bred

# The place where he... #

# For these cotton mills, it seems

# But the sound of the loom still haunts my dreams

# Weave and spin

# Weave and spin

# Weave and spin

# Weave and spin. #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Merci, tout le monde.

Now we're going to have Kathleen MacInnes.

# Gur milis Morag

# Gur Laghach Morag

# Gur milis Morag

# Nighean Eoighainn Oig

# Gur milis Morag

# Gur Laghach Morag

# Gur milis Morag

# Nighean Eoighainn Oig. #

APPLAUSE

CROWD: More! More!

THEY CHATTER

We got away with it again!

-Well, we're on the stage together.

-You were playing.

-At Balmoral.

LAUGHTER

Music is a powerful, powerful instrument

for bringing peoples and countries together.

I think it creates a great amount - a fund of goodwill towards Scotland,

towards Ireland, and goodwill is an important asset to have as well.

It was great, great meeting the people.

It was a small but mighty crowd.

-Did you enjoy it?

-It was great. Fantastic.

What's the plural for sofas?

The idea was always to try and bring the show back here.

It's almost like a homecoming for the Americans, this show,

cos it's something that's only existed at Celtic Connections

as a live event.

# A cuid acraichean 's a siuil

# Biody and deoch seo 'n laimh no ruin

# Deoch slainge le fear an tuir

# Biodh an deoch seo 'n laigh mo ruin. #

To the A string.

And third finger on the D. So you're looking at...

PLAY SERIES OF NOTES

THEY REPEAT

What we thought we might do is have a go at learning this tune by ear

and try and break it down into phrases.

-Good.

-Yeah. Go again.

-Yeah, that's beautiful.

-Better, right? Good.

-OK?

Right, so you've learned that in five minutes

and it took me about 25 years to learn that tune.

25 years, that's what it took me to learn

and you learned it in five minutes. Well done. I hate you!

Every one of them managed the tune and I was amazed

because when they told me, "I've been playing for six to eight weeks,"

I thought, "Oh, this might be hard work!"

But it was fantastic, and what a nice bunch of people.

THEY CHUCKLE APPLAUSE

BLUES PIANO PLAYS

Yeah, you want it?

What key are you in?

I'll try something simple. E's not too bad.

HARMONICA PLAYS

Billy, you have an amazing pedigree

and legacy of playing blues in this area and in the States.

What is it that makes the Chicago blues?

How is that different to other blues, if you know what I mean?

Well, this is...

Chicago's where the blues really exploded,

where it really took root.

Of course, most of the greats are from the south

and the majority of the more well-known ones

-were from Mississippi.

-Sure.

And because of better opportunities, a lot of the musicians

ended up here in Chicago with Chess Records being kind of like Motown.

-Yeah.

-You know, but in regards to the blues.

You have a really lyrical kind of tone when you're playing

and I wondered whether it's like us. A lot of traditional

music back home in Scotland, where people play the fiddle or the pipes,

they try and emulate singers so it's like they're being like singers.

Would it be like that for you when you learned to play?

That's interesting that you noticed that because when I picked up

the harmonica at about age 11 or so, I didn't know anything about blues.

When I first started out, I would play melodies, like...

PLAYS MELODIC TUNE

You know, or...

PLAYS: "Pop Goes The Weasel"

You know, but this, in doing that,

-that allowed me learn my way around the instrument.

-OK.

Basically if I heard something,

-it was easy for me to know where to go.

-Sure

So then I...

PLAYS BLUES HARMONICA

-Something like that.

-Yeah, amazing. It's so soulful.

-It's the soul that counts when you're playing.

-Thank you.

You know, some people have this stereotypical notion that

the blues brings you down. It's completely the opposite.

The blues lifts you up, even if it is...

even if it is singing about sad or bad things.

It makes you feel better because you've got somebody

-that you can relate to.

-Yeah.

-It's an uplifting process.

-Yeah, man.

-Yeah!

We're going to check out this guy, Ron Kaplan.

He's a bit of a dude when it comes to booking acts.

He works for Monterey International, one of the big agents.

I guess he looks after everyone from kind of Norah Jones to

Van Morrison internationally so, for me,

it's interesting because if I'm trying to make connections

in the States with artists for Celtic Connections,

he's a good guy to know.

This was actually taken by Dennis Hopper,

he was a great photographer

and this is a shot of Phil Spector with Ike and Tina Turner

at Gold Star Studios when they recorded River Deep - Mountain High.

Amazing. Who do you reckon that is in the distance?

This is a shot of Muddy Waters at Chess Studio recording.

And this was The Bluesbreakers with John Mayall, Clapton, Willie Dixon,

Big Joe Williams and I forgot who the middle guy is.

Albert Grossman talking about Dylan right after

he did the electric show at Newport Folk Festival.

Everyone came out of the club.

That's Phil Guy, his brother, and that is Lefty Dizz.

The thing that so amazes me just meeting you today,

I didn't realise the kind of connection we had because a lot

of European festivals and buyers are not

-so connected with Americana music.

-Yeah.

You are SO connected with it that it's refreshing to be able to say,

"Look at our roster," and you go, "I know that,

"I want that, this and this."

So we unfortunately couldn't bring Levon Helm last year

but Amy has a record coming out next year -

his daughter - and it's a wonderful record and we really feel that

if we could bring it to Celtic Connections and have her do

her own show and then maybe do some kind of collaborative event...

That's ideal in the sense that what we ask artists to do is not...

Sure, come in and do your own show but as much as possible,

get together with other people and create unique situations on stage.

That'd be really appreciated, yeah.

Great, well, now that it's on telly, we'll have to make it happen!

There you go. THEY LAUGH

Yeah! Let's get her on the phone.

"Amy, we just got you a million dollars in Scotland!"

BBC Alba in Chicago with Kathleen MacInnes.

Doesn't get any better than that.

MINIMAL DRUM BEAT

One, two, three. One, two, three.

Wah, wah, let's do it faster.

FASTER RHYTHM

All right.

-And it's...

-Oh, come on! You're having a laugh!

THEY LAUGH

From the shores of Scotland,

to the streets of Chicago here at Polk Street,

we present Rura!

A minor.

APPLAUSE

All right, ladies and gentlemen of the Polk Street Pub,

they came all the way here from Scotland for you today.

Their name is Rura, give it up!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

'Live from NBC5, this is the NBC5 News At Noon.'

PIPES PLAY

'Ah, the sound of Scotland.

'Bagpiper Steven Blake is here to give Studio 5 a little taste

'of Scotland and he'll also be playing at the opening

'and closing ceremonies of the Ryder Cup.

'He'll perform tonight as part of the Celtic Connections Festival

'and is part of the award-winning folk band, Rura.

'Thank you, Steven. Appreciate it.

'We'll hear more from him in just a minute.'

This is just for us, like, I don't know what you guys are doing!

Don't ask me about today.

We drove close to Medinah, picked up Julie

and we then had a two-hour drive down here for the soundcheck here

and now we're going to have a two-hour drive back to Medinah

to soundcheck for tomorrow night for the closing ceremony

of the Ryder Cup and then we've a two-hour journey

back down to do the gig here after that, so it's all go.

Alison, is it Chicago World Pipe Bands?

-Chicago Scots Pipe Bands?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

The lovely Lesley.

Poor Lesley's been running around

doing all the behind-the-scenes work,

while the rest of us all sit in the sun, visit art galleries.

And a face to the name.

We've got five performers currently en route to the course right now

to rehearse and they're are also performing here.

So we've got Julie Fowlis,

Eamonn, John Doyle, Duncan Chisholm and Donald Shaw

currently driving across Chicago at speed to get to do

the closing ceremony soundcheck and then coming back here,

hopefully by half eight and then they're on stage.

It just means...

-Why don't we start the second - that end bit off with that?

-Yeah.

-Are you singing two songs or one song?

-I'm just singing one, I think.

But we can finish with One For The Road.

The musical diversity and musical styles that...

Even though we are playing Scottish tunes, they might be new

Scottish tunes or old Scottish tunes

but within the arrangements,

there's something for just about everybody to latch onto,

-I would say.

-Yeah.

-Especially the American audience.

We're destined for American domination. I mean, we...

I can see our name on one of those big towers up there.

-It's amazing what jetlag can do!

-The Session A9 Tower.

-That big!

-It'll only be about that big, yeah!

APPLAUSE BUILDS

Hello.

Welcome to the Harris Theater and welcome to Celtic Connections

in Chicago and we're all here to celebrate the Ryder Cup...

Well, Ryder Cup celebrations because Scotland will be hosting

it in a couple of years and we're very proud to be here.

And we have some lovely music, and singers, and pipers

and fiddlers for you here tonight, so I hope you enjoy it.

# I don't mind the winter

# The cold helps heal my head

# I don't mind who's kissing

# When I'm with you in bed. #

Cheers.

Tapadh leibh.

SINGING IN GAELIC

-So how far away is Donald away?

-They're 10 minutes away right now.

-Likely to make it?

-Absolutely, yes.

So it's good. We just had to change a few things around but it's good.

# We suffer in silent mothballed fury

# Trees that have long since shed their rings

# As if to rub out the ballpoint memory

# Of a thousand sins

# Holy Moses and holy cow

# My varicose roots are coming out

# And my sinew fingers throw them away

# A ring passing A ring passing. #

How was the carnage out there, time-wise?

Well, we're here, we're in time to play, that's the main thing.

Never a good thing being in a traffic jam when you're supposed to

be on stage so it was close to that, but we got it.

We're here so we're fine.

# In stony grey soil through hardship and toil

# Roscommon's rough lands, they own me. #

SINGING IN GAELIC

# Ae fond kiss and then we sever

# Ae fareweel, alas, for ever

# Deep in heart-wrung tears I'll pledge thee

# Warring sighs and groans I'll wage thee. #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

GOLF CLUB SWINGS PRE-RECORDED APPLAUSE

It's been brilliant being here this week

and just being part of the whole Ryder Cup and taking the festival

out of Glasgow and bringing it over to the States,

-it's been pretty amazing.

-Yeah.

I think we've learned so much from it, working with different people.

It's just all gone really well.

-Any final words?

-Yeah, just looking forward to doing it again.

-And bringing it up to Scotland in 2014.

-Next new adventure.

-Yeah.

-It's been brilliant, hasn't it?

-Yeah.

And lots of good stories we've got to take home with us.

Just fantastic. Really, really good.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

CROWD CHANTS # Ole, ole, ole, ole! #

-ANNOUNCER:

-'Ladies and gentlemen, please silence all electronic

'devices as the closing ceremony is about to begin.'

MARCHING MUSIC PLAYS

It is with great pleasure to present to you,

Captain Jose Maria Olazabal, the Ryder Cup.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

CELEBRATORY MUSIC PLAYS

-ANNOUNCER:

-'This is Scotland.'

CELTIC MUSIC PLAYS

SINGS IN GAELIC: "Puirt A Beul"

INSTRUMENTAL BREAK AUDIENCE WHOOP AND CLAP

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd