Celtic Connections at 20


Celtic Connections at 20

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This week, Celtic Connections celebrates its 20th festival.

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January may not be the most obvious month

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to host an annual international event,

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but launched in 1994, it was an instant hit,

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and is now one of the country's most important music festivals.

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January, to me, is Celtic Connections.

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It's a pure music festival,

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and the people who go really, really appreciate that.

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It's great music. We always believed that.

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Even in the beginning, when it looked almost impossible.

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It's about instilling pride amongst young people in their own music.

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Over the next hour, we'll be celebrating the festival,

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its impact on the Scottish and international music scenes

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and sharing once again some of the great musical performances

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that have made Celtic Connections such a unique and important event.

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With music from Capercaillie...

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# Cha teid Fionnlagh a dh'Eige Ged nach posda e feasda

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# Cha teid Fionnlagh a dh'Eige Dh'Eige cha teid Fionnlagh

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# Cha teid Fionnlagh a dh'Eige Ged nach posda e feasda

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# Cha teid Fionnlagh a dh'Eige Dh'Eige cha teid Fionnlagh. #

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..Nanci Griffith...

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# It's a hard life, it's a hard life

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# It's a very hard life

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# It's a hard life wherever you go. #

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..the Treacherous Orchestra...

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..Tom Jones...

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# Maybe there ain't no Heaven

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# Or no burning Hell

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# Maybe there ain't no Heaven

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# No burning Hell. #

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..Paul Brady, and many more.

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# He opens the door, he's got that look on his face

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# And he asks you where you've been

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# You tell him who you've seen

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# And you talk about anything. #

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The first festival ran across 15 nights

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and featured many big names from the Celtic music scene.

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It was on an ambitious scale for a new event.

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So, did Scotland's musicians predict the success?

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Well, it was so long ago now, I can hardly remember.

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I just remember thinking, "This thing is going to work."

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You know, "There is an audience here."

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Over 27,000 tickets were sold in that first year,

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a relief for the staff at Glasgow's Royal Concert Hall,

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who had come up with the idea.

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The main remit that I had was to fill our venue.

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Colin Hynd was part of the small events team

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whose job was to programme all the performances at the Concert Hall.

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He became the festival's first director.

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Right up front,

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it was basically just to bring music into our own spaces

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and use them to the best advantage.

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They spoke about the notion of starting this festival

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in Glasgow over the winter months, and I was like, "What?!"

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I really wasn't sure.

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There was a lot of scepticism about the first one,

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because people thought it was the wrong time of year,

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everyone was skint after Christmas and New Year,

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people thought it was the wrong venue,

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because, I mean, the Concert Hall was only a couple of...

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well, four years old, by that point,

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and it was still seen very much as a quite starchy,

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classical music venue.

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We all felt that our great Scottish traditional artists, our great Celtic musical artists,

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were treated, probably, in awe elsewhere in the world,

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but actually weren't given the best platforms in their home turf.

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My first reaction was, "Fantastic," because nothing happens in January.

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Traditionally, after New Year, nothing ever happened in January.

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And, immediately, there was possibilities of,

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not maybe one gig, but two or three gigs happening at the same time.

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Scottish folk rock band Wolfstone,

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fronted by fiddle player Duncan Chisholm,

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appeared at the opening concert for the first festival.

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Here they are at the seventh festival in 2000.

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CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

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My one thing that I remember was seeing the first line-up

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and thinking, you know,

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there was loads of musicians there that were my heroes.

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Another band who headlined at that first festival

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were the groundbreaking Capercaillie.

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Here they are, recorded in 2002.

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# Cha teid Fionnlagh a dh'Eige

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# Cha teid Fionnlagh a dh'Eige

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# Fionnlagh a dh'Eige

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# Cha teid Fionnlagh a dh'Eige

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# Fionnlagh a dh'Eige

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# Cha teid Fionnlagh a dh'Eige Ged nach posda e feasda

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# Cha teid Fionnlagh a dh'Eige Dh'Eige cha teid Fionnlagh

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# Cha teid Fionnlagh a dh'Eige Ged nach posda e feasda

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# Cha teid Fionnlagh a dh'Eige Dh'Eige cha teid Fionnlagh

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# Thoir a nall Ailean thugam Ailean thugam, Ailean thugam

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# Thoir a nall Ailean thugam Seatadh e'n t-urlar

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# Thoir a nall Ailean thugam Ailean thugam, Ailean thugam

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# Thoir a nall Ailean thugam Seatadh e'n t-urlar

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# Cha teid Fionnlagh a dh'Eige

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# Cha teid Fionnlagh a dh'Eige

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# Thoir a nall Ailean thugam Ailean thugam, Ailean thugam

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# Thoir a nall Ailean thugam Seatadh e'n t-urlar

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# Thoir a nall Ailean thugam Ailean thugam, Ailean thugam

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# Thoir a nall Ailean thugam Seatadh e'n t-urlar

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# Cha teid Fionnlagh a dh'Eige Ged nach posda e feasda

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# Cha teid Fionnlagh a dh'Eige Dh'Eige cha teid Fionnlagh

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# Cha teid Fionnlagh a dh'Eige Ged nach posda e feasda

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# Cha teid Fionnlagh a dh'Eige Dh'Eige cha teid Fionnlagh

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# Thoir a nall Ailean thugam Ailean thugam, Ailean thugam

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# Thoir a nall Ailean thugam Seatadh e'n t-urlar

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# Thoir a nall Ailean thugam Ailean thugam, Ailean thugam

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# Thoir a nall Ailean thugam Seatadh e'n t-urlar

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# Cha teid Fionnlagh a dh'Eige

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I remember that year there was a compilation CD

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with maybe 20 tracks on it, some of whom I knew,

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and some which I'd never heard of,

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and I used it as a little bit of a programme guide

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for how to buy my tickets.

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I think the first band I went and saw was Cherish The Ladies,

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and they did a massive performance in the Royal Concert Hall.

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What a night!

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And the festival's just gone from strength to strength ever since.

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I remember calling the girls to tell them

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that we were going to Scotland in the middle of January.

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They were all like, "What?!"

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I said, "Yeah, there's this new festival taking place in January,"

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and they said, "January?!" But, by God, we went there,

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and we had one of the greatest times of our lives.

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Irish-American band Cherish The Ladies

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quickly established themselves as firm favourites

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after the first festival,

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and have been back at Celtic 14 times since.

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Here they are, performing in the main auditorium

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at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall in 1998.

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CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

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This was like having two weeks of just everybody that I might have wanted to see

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in one place, right on my doorstep...

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So, it was like a hefty dip into the student loan for a couple of weeks.

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That was the year I first saw Dick Gaughan.

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He was playing with Sileas, and I saw Dervish and Deanta,

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purely on the strength of the tracks

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that I heard on that compilation album.

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And I think I went to see Shooglenifty that year as well,

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and I totally loved it. It was just buzzing.

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Shooglenifty in 2007 at Glasgow's Old Fruitmarket,

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just one of the venues now used by the festival

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because, although it may have started at the Concert Hall,

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it quickly spread across the city,

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offering a greater range of concerts,

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from folk club style to night club style,

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seated, standing, or dancing.

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In just a few years, the audience had more than doubled.

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I don't think, in fairness,

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anyone realised how big the festival would become.

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I don't think anyone realised the potential of it,

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or, you know, it may have been seen that it was even a one-off,

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that there would be a few concerts and...

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So, then, as it grew over the next two or three years,

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I think that's when we realised the size of the festival.

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The growth hasn't surprised me in any way, on any level,

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because I genuinely believe that when you're putting together a festival

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with the integrity that Celtic Connections has,

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then that is going to draw people.

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La Bottine Souriante, from Quebec,

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were a sensation when they first made the trip to Glasgow.

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Performing in the Arches in 2002,

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we filmed them with special guest, dancer Sandy Silva.

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CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

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One of the fastest-selling concerts every year

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is the Transatlantic Sessions.

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First staged in 2004, it always features a stellar line-up

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from both sides of the Atlantic, and explores the musical links

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between the Celtic countries and North America.

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The more time I've spent in America,

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the more I've realised the connection...

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..between Scottish, Irish music and bluegrass, Americana...

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American roots music in general.

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In fact, the Irish and Scottish immigrants...

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the influence of their music and the culture they brought over

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is prevalent all the way down the eastern seaboard.

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So, there's the connection,

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and here's Scotland inviting back the new generation

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to come and be a part of this festival, and I think that that's...

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It just works. It really works.

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Transatlantic Sessions started life as a BBC television programme

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which features musicians performing in informal sessions.

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Celtic Connections then decided to transfer these collaborations

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to the Concert Hall stage.

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Here are the musicians from Transatlantic Sessions

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led, as ever, by musical directors Jerry Douglas and Aly Bain in 2009.

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Well, you only get two days run-up,

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so, if you're bringing maybe 20, 22 people or something, together

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from America, Scotland, Ireland, we're all getting together,

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making, you know, a two-and-a-half hour concert in two days,

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and it only happens because of the generosity, I think,

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of each individual musician.

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But when you're surrounded by people who know what they're doing

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and who are great musicians and singers...it works.

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It can be kind of rocky at times, but it works.

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CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

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Transatlantic Sessions has become

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the jewel in the crown of the festival, I think.

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It encapsulates in one show what the festival is about.

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It's a festival within a festival, if you like.

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And I think that...it throws up spontaneity on the night,

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professionalism, great singers, great music,

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traditional music, crossover, bluegrass, Americana...

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I think it has all the elements

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of what the festival tries to achieve every year.

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Obviously, Jerry Douglas and Aly Bain have been musical directors pretty much from the start

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and a lot of the house band are regulars...

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So, there's that relaxed side to it,

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but then, each year, the line-up of guests...

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I mean, obviously, it's primarily guest singers...

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That's carefully chosen each year.

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So special to be back for Transatlantic Sessions

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and with all these wonderful players from the States,

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Tim O'Brien and of course Jerry Douglas, and from over here,

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to work with Aly again is just great...

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CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

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# I am a back-seat driver from America

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# They drive to the left on Falls Road

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# And the man at the wheel's name is Seamus

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# We pass a child on the corner he knows

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# And Seamus says, Now, what chance has that kid got?

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# And I say from the back, I don't know

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# He says, There's barbed wire at all of these exits

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# There was no place in Belfast for that child to go

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# Cos it's a hard life It's a hard life

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# It's a very hard life

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# It's a hard life wherever you go

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# If we poison our children with hatred

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# Then a hard life is all that they'll know

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# There was no place in Belfast for that child to go

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# A cafeteria line in Chicago

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# A fat man in front of me

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# Is calling black people trash to his children

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# He's the only trash here I see

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# And I'm thinking this man wears a white hood

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# In the night when his children should sleep

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# But they'd slip to their windows and they'd see him

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# And they'd think a white hood's all they'd need in this life

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# But it's a hard life It's a hard life

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# It's a very hard life

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# It's a hard life wherever you go

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# And if we poison our children with hatred

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# Then a hard life is all that they'll know

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# There ain't no place in Chicago where a child can go alone now

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# It's a hard life

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# I was a child in the sixties

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# Dreams could be held through TV

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# We had Disney and Cronkite and Martin Luther

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# I believed, I believed, I believed

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# I will always believe

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# I am a back-seat driver from America

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# I am not at the wheel of control

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# I've been guilty, I've been war and I have been roots of all evil

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# Finally, I will drive on the left side of the road

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# Cos it's a hard life It's a hard life

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# It's a very hard life

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# It's a hard life wherever you go

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# And if we poison our children with hatred

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# Then a hard life is all that they'll know

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# There'll be no place on this Earth where a child can grow

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# If we've made it a hard life wherever they go

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# Hard life! #

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CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

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Thank you!

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I think there's a magic about Transatlantic Sessions.

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It's hard to define, but it's really centred around that spontaneity

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and that feeling of, "It's a one-off."

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You're never going to see all these people

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on the one stage together again. It's just this one-off selection.

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Essentially, it's an ego-free arena, and it works best...

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And we've all got egos, but it works best

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if you acknowledge that you have to leave it at the door.

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# Is tu as fhearr don tig osan

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# Is brog shocrach nam barrall

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# Cota Lunnainneach dubh-ghorm

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# Is bidh na cruintean ga cheannach

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# O hi o o hu o

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# O hi o o hu o

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# Hi ri ri o hu eile

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# O hi ri ri ri o gheallaibh o

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# Thig mo chrios a Dun Eideann

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# Is mo bhreid a Dun Chailleann

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# Gheibh sinn crodh as a' Mhaorainn

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# Agus caoraich a Gallaibh

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# O hi o o hu o

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# O hi o o hu o

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# Hi ri ri o hu eile

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# O hi ri ri ri o gheallaibh o. #

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CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

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My impression is that...the process of opening that door

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to bring all these musicians from other cultures,

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Celtic and non-Celtic, into Scottish music, into Irish music,

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to stimulate collaboration, has been very healthy for Celtic music.

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The impact Celtic Connections has had on the Scottish music scene is considerable.

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It's helped to change people's idea of traditional music

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as well as developing the music itself.

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In 2006, Capercaillie founding member Donald Shaw

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became the festival's artistic director.

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Most people in this country,

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their perception 25, 30 years ago of traditional music

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would be Andy Stewart, wearing a kilt on the Hogmanay show,

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singing A Scottish Soldier.

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That's changed so much.

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I think that folk music has come to the fore

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and...kind of the real music of this country, the heart and soul,

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and as that's happened, and more and more musicians have taken up the music,

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that's when you have bands totally at home with their own music,

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comfortable with their instruments

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and looking for another place to take the music,

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a new way to express how traditional music can be performed.

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For me, that's really what the ethos of the festival is about:

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the old tradition and the new tradition.

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The music that is at the heart of Celtic Connections

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is Scottish traditional and folk music.

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That is, and always will be, the heart of this festival,

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and there's something about this festival

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that helps to just make that seem...worthy.

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You know, worthy of people's attention

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as much as any mainstream or other genre of music.

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So, I think that's the most important thing for me.

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An international gathering of musicians on this scale

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is bound to involve a good dose of fun

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and some great informal musical sessions.

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And some of the connections which happen every year

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are the social ones, which take place in the Festival Club.

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In its best setting and in its heyday,

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it took place in the old Railway Hotel at Glasgow Central.

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The club combines a late-night performance venue

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as well as space for informal music-making.

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Often housed in the same hotel where the musicians stay,

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it's the place where festival-goers and musicians rub shoulders,

0:26:450:26:49

a place where young musicians get to meet their heroes

0:26:490:26:52

and learn their craft.

0:26:520:26:53

You had sessions and long-lost reunions

0:26:540:26:59

and fights and, you name it,

0:26:590:27:01

going on there until three, four, five in the morning.

0:27:010:27:05

You'd suddenly hear this beautiful song starting and the whole place would fall quiet,

0:27:050:27:09

because it was mainly an audience of musicians.

0:27:090:27:12

That's where I used to sit with Ishbel MacAskill

0:27:120:27:15

and sing spiritual hymns mixed with Judy Garland songs, mixed with Gaelic song

0:27:150:27:20

or Phil Cunningham, trying to drag him back to his bed at night,

0:27:200:27:24

you know, when he'd had a bit too much to drink,

0:27:240:27:27

or me and Eleanor Shanley or Sinead O'Connor, you know,

0:27:270:27:29

we'd all just sit and shoot the breeze

0:27:290:27:32

about what guitarist broke our hearts, you know.

0:27:320:27:34

There would be Shane MacGowan in one of the little corners,

0:27:360:27:39

having a deep and meaningful chat at two in the morning.

0:27:390:27:43

Go down there for breakfast at 7:30 in the morning,

0:27:430:27:46

again, there he still was, still carrying on.

0:27:460:27:49

It's tough going, though.

0:27:490:27:51

I remember two years in a row, I was there every night.

0:27:510:27:55

Every night.

0:27:550:27:56

Student loan out the window!

0:27:560:27:58

More than the concerts, I remember the sessions,

0:27:580:28:01

because it was such a big thing for me,

0:28:010:28:03

meeting these people and playing with these people,

0:28:030:28:06

and that was the big thing for me.

0:28:060:28:07

It was there that people met.

0:28:070:28:09

It was there that you felt that the music and the collaborations

0:28:090:28:12

and how everything came together, audience and artists alike,

0:28:120:28:15

it was real.

0:28:150:28:17

The Festival Club in the Central Hotel

0:28:490:28:52

was our first ever performance as the Treacherous Orchestra.

0:28:520:28:56

Filmed here in the Old Fruitmarket in 2012,

0:29:000:29:03

Treacherous Orchestra have gone from strength to strength,

0:29:030:29:06

following a late-night chance encounter in the club.

0:29:060:29:09

I was literally about to go home.

0:29:100:29:12

It was about three in the morning at the Festival Club on Sunday night,

0:29:120:29:16

I suppose it would be about four years ago...

0:29:160:29:19

and this crowd of guys were kind of getting all their stuff on stage,

0:29:190:29:23

looked completely chaotic...

0:29:230:29:25

We didn't have an official gig that year.

0:29:250:29:28

We'd made our way onto the stage at the very end of the night.

0:29:280:29:31

-The last night, was it?

-Yeah.

0:29:310:29:33

The first two or three minutes was pretty chaotic, musically,

0:29:330:29:36

and then it just blossomed into this amazing kind of juggernaut of sound.

0:29:360:29:40

If it wasn't for Celtic Connections,

0:29:400:29:42

we wouldn't have bothered...to take it so seriously.

0:29:420:29:46

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

0:30:470:30:50

I think Celtic Connections has really made a point of

0:30:500:30:53

supporting up-and-coming talent, always.

0:30:530:30:56

Musician and broadcaster Danny Kyle

0:30:570:31:00

hosted an open stage at the festival.

0:31:000:31:02

He died in 1998, and the Danny Awards were established in his name.

0:31:020:31:07

Many artists, including Karine Polwart,

0:31:090:31:11

got a helping hand through winning a Danny.

0:31:110:31:15

Here she is at the 2004 Festival.

0:31:150:31:18

# Caught between the air

0:31:200:31:23

# And the windless deep

0:31:230:31:27

# You float like a lily flower

0:31:270:31:33

# And you look just like you fell

0:31:330:31:37

# To Earth to sleep

0:31:370:31:41

# And you're waiting for your waking hour

0:31:410:31:48

# And I swear to God

0:31:480:31:51

# I saw an angel hand attend you

0:31:510:31:56

# But that was just the dancing of the light

0:31:560:32:02

# No mortal or immortal

0:32:020:32:06

# Did deliver or defend you

0:32:060:32:10

# All hands have forsaken you tonight

0:32:100:32:15

# Are you dreaming of a lover

0:32:170:32:20

# Who will carry you away

0:32:200:32:24

# And keep you from the crying of the crowd?

0:32:240:32:31

# No cradle in the rushes

0:32:310:32:35

# You are broken like the day

0:32:350:32:39

# And darkness all around you like a shroud

0:32:390:32:45

# And I swear to God

0:32:450:32:48

# I saw an angel hand attend you

0:32:480:32:53

# But that was just the dancing of the light

0:32:530:33:00

# No mortal or immortal

0:33:000:33:04

# Did deliver or defend you

0:33:040:33:08

# All hands have forsaken you tonight

0:33:080:33:13

# When they finally surrounded you

0:33:400:33:44

# Did any of them face you?

0:33:440:33:48

# And did you curse the moon and stars above?

0:33:480:33:55

# Those cruel arms abandoned you

0:33:550:33:59

# For water to embrace you

0:33:590:34:03

# Won't you lay your head, my waterlily love?

0:34:030:34:09

# And I swear to God

0:34:090:34:13

# I saw an angel hand attend you

0:34:130:34:18

# But that was just the dancing of the light

0:34:180:34:25

# No mortal or immortal

0:34:250:34:28

# Did deliver or defend you

0:34:280:34:32

# All hands have forsaken you tonight

0:34:320:34:37

# Caught between the air

0:34:400:34:43

# And the windless deep

0:34:430:34:47

# You float like a lily flower

0:34:470:34:54

# And you look just like you fell

0:34:540:34:58

# To Earth to sleep

0:34:580:35:01

# And you're waiting for your waking hour

0:35:010:35:08

# And you're waiting for your waking hour. #

0:35:080:35:14

APPLAUSE

0:35:180:35:21

Each year, Celtic Connections plays host to the BBC Radio Scotland

0:35:280:35:32

Young Traditional Musician of the Year awards.

0:35:320:35:35

The winner in 2011 was a fiddle player from Orkney, Kristan Harvey.

0:35:350:35:40

Winning the award,

0:35:430:35:45

it sort of changed everything for me and my career.

0:35:450:35:48

Up until that point, I was taking part in the sessions

0:35:480:35:51

and getting to know people on the scene and it was all great,

0:35:510:35:54

but I wasn't really getting a chance to go out and perform

0:35:540:35:58

as much as I would have liked to.

0:35:580:36:01

So, winning the award sort of changed everything

0:36:010:36:03

from that point onwards.

0:36:030:36:05

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

0:37:190:37:21

The festival has played an important part in creating new music.

0:37:270:37:31

The New Voices commissions every year

0:37:310:37:34

are offered to a range of artists,

0:37:340:37:36

allowing them to compose and experiment musically.

0:37:360:37:39

Rachel Sermanni from Carrbridge benefited from a commission in 2011.

0:37:390:37:44

I'm so thankful that I was given that opportunity.

0:37:460:37:49

It made me really excited.

0:37:490:37:50

I'd never had a concert that lasted that long,

0:37:500:37:54

with so much pressure, but...

0:37:540:37:57

but, em...

0:37:570:37:59

it fills you with belief, as well.

0:37:590:38:01

New Voices at the festival helped to raise Rachel's profile.

0:38:030:38:06

Here she is at the Old Fruitmarket.

0:38:060:38:09

# Don't cheat, says the soul

0:38:090:38:11

# It's just meat on his bones

0:38:110:38:12

# It smells sweet but your conscience

0:38:120:38:14

# Will eat at your inners

0:38:140:38:16

# I'm calling from my cage

0:38:160:38:21

# You'll regret that you locked me away

0:38:210:38:24

# I had told you

0:38:320:38:34

# Hold tight to my hands

0:38:340:38:36

# I speak truth, why did you not

0:38:360:38:38

# Hold your ground?

0:38:380:38:40

# You let go to run with his soul

0:38:400:38:43

# And now that he let go

0:38:430:38:45

# You're falling down

0:38:450:38:50

# Well, if I've been hiding

0:39:010:39:03

# While you've been deciding

0:39:030:39:05

# To throw all I have for you out on the floor

0:39:050:39:09

# I've been calling, calling

0:39:090:39:11

# Calling your name

0:39:110:39:13

# And now that you're falling

0:39:130:39:15

# I'm hoping again

0:39:150:39:17

# That you'll listen to me

0:39:170:39:19

# You'll listen to me

0:39:190:39:22

# You will

0:39:280:39:30

# Not give in. #

0:39:300:39:32

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

0:39:430:39:46

From the beginning, Celtic Connections has proactively combined traditional and classical music.

0:39:470:39:53

Each year, new orchestral music is commissioned,

0:39:530:39:55

with Celtic music at its heart.

0:39:550:39:57

I think of all cross-fertilisations and crossovers,

0:39:590:40:02

the one between traditional music, in Scotland, certainly,

0:40:020:40:06

and classical music is the most challenging.

0:40:060:40:09

The musicians, on the face of it, are speaking the same language,

0:40:090:40:13

but maybe vastly different dialects.

0:40:130:40:15

Traditional musicians are terrified by the technical ability,

0:40:170:40:20

if you like, of orchestral musicians.

0:40:200:40:23

And then the musicians of the great orchestras

0:40:230:40:26

are intimidated and terrified by the fact that traditional musicians

0:40:260:40:30

walk onto a stage without any sheets of music and do what they do.

0:40:300:40:34

So, there has been this kind of mutual feeling of terror,

0:40:340:40:38

and I think those collaborations have slowly melted that fear.

0:40:380:40:44

Shetland fiddle player Chris Stout

0:40:480:40:50

combined his traditional music upbringing

0:40:500:40:52

with his classical music training

0:40:520:40:54

to write this three-movement piece for the festival in 2007.

0:40:540:40:58

The overwhelming feeling on the first rehearsal

0:41:380:41:41

was sort of the magnitude of the situation,

0:41:410:41:43

to be surrounded by such incredible musicians playing your music.

0:41:430:41:47

It's kind of a lifelong journey

0:42:030:42:05

to understand and bring these musics together, because...

0:42:050:42:08

even socially, they come from very different places

0:42:080:42:11

and musically, they can be very different,

0:42:110:42:14

but there are so many similarities as well,

0:42:140:42:16

and getting that opportunity to compose without the pressure

0:42:160:42:20

of how I was representing the traditional music of the past

0:42:200:42:24

or how I was doing this, that or the next thing,

0:42:240:42:27

just to compose music

0:42:270:42:29

and bring these two giant worlds of music together in some way,

0:42:290:42:33

was great.

0:42:330:42:34

Dynrost is the old name for a stretch of water

0:42:400:42:42

known as the Rost,

0:42:420:42:44

which is a stretch of water which lies between Sumburgh in Shetland,

0:42:440:42:48

the south end of Shetland, and Fair Isle,

0:42:480:42:50

and it's where the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean meet.

0:42:500:42:53

The Dynrost tune is a very, very slow, calm tune.

0:42:560:43:00

It's about the rare moments when the water does go calm

0:43:000:43:03

and it's an easy passage.

0:43:030:43:05

Celtic Connections has been the premier, you know, place

0:43:490:43:52

for those kind of collaborations to happen,

0:43:520:43:55

and not just collaborations with orchestras and classical musicians,

0:43:550:43:59

but collaborations of all kinds.

0:43:590:44:01

The way that it's brought together

0:44:010:44:02

musicians from the traditional music world

0:44:020:44:04

and the independent music scene,

0:44:040:44:06

and traditional musicians with jazz musicians,

0:44:060:44:09

it's always been about encouraging experimentation and innovation

0:44:090:44:12

as much as it is about supporting, you know,

0:44:120:44:15

old style and kind of traditional heartland stuff.

0:44:150:44:19

I think those two things sit really comfortably alongside each other

0:44:190:44:22

in the Celtic Connections programme, and no-one bats an eyelid any more,

0:44:220:44:26

to have those things as part of one programme,

0:44:260:44:28

and I think that's a sign of how healthy the scene is overall.

0:44:280:44:31

THEY SING IN HAITIAN CREOLE

0:44:310:44:34

The music featured at the festival has often included performances

0:44:480:44:52

that leave some people searching for the Celtic connection.

0:44:520:44:55

It used to be that every interviewer said,

0:44:570:45:00

"What has that band got to do with Celtic music?"

0:45:000:45:03

I think a lot of folk you hear every year

0:45:030:45:05

arguing about whether something is Celtic enough to be in it,

0:45:050:45:08

-but I always think, "Why can't you make new connections?"

-Yeah.

0:45:080:45:11

The eternal question, "Where's the Celtic connection in that?"

0:45:110:45:15

And that wasn't really the point.

0:45:150:45:17

The point was that our musical world

0:45:170:45:19

could MAKE a connection with these other musics.

0:45:190:45:22

The best way I could explain it would be that the festival

0:45:220:45:26

has now evolved into one that's more about connections than Celtic.

0:45:260:45:30

But, you know, we definitely have...guidelines, you know.

0:45:320:45:36

I mean, there is...

0:45:360:45:38

I can usually explain why every single artist is playing,

0:45:380:45:41

in terms of that act's relevance to folk music, or roots music.

0:45:410:45:48

In 2011, Tom Jones made his Celtic Connections debut.

0:45:530:45:57

There's much talk about,

0:45:590:46:00

"What's Tom got to do with Celtic music, apart from being Welsh?"

0:46:000:46:04

Well, the relevance was clearly about the fact

0:46:040:46:07

that he'd just recorded an album of great, old-time blues songs.

0:46:070:46:12

Once you start getting into old-time American blues, R&B, soul,

0:46:140:46:19

you're going to find folk music right at the heart of it,

0:46:190:46:22

if you look deep enough.

0:46:220:46:24

# I'm going down

0:46:290:46:32

# To the crossroads

0:46:320:46:35

# With no devil

0:46:350:46:37

# Well, I'll make a deal

0:46:370:46:40

# I'm going down

0:46:400:46:43

# To the crossroads

0:46:430:46:46

# With no devil

0:46:460:46:48

# Well, I'll make a deal

0:46:480:46:51

# Maybe there ain't no Heaven

0:46:510:46:54

# No burning Hell

0:46:540:46:57

# Maybe there ain't no Heaven

0:46:570:47:00

# No burning Hell

0:47:000:47:03

# No

0:47:030:47:04

# Hey, hey

0:47:110:47:13

# Ooh

0:47:290:47:35

# When I die

0:47:400:47:42

# Where will I go?

0:47:420:47:45

# When I die

0:47:450:47:48

# Where will I go?

0:47:480:47:50

# Will somebody tell me

0:47:500:47:53

# Will somebody tell me

0:47:530:47:56

# Will somebody please tell me

0:47:560:47:59

# Where will I go?

0:47:590:48:02

# Maybe there ain't no Heaven

0:48:020:48:04

# Or no burning Hell

0:48:040:48:07

# Maybe there ain't no Heaven

0:48:070:48:10

# No burning Hell

0:48:100:48:13

# Maybe there ain't no Heaven

0:48:130:48:16

# Maybe there ain't no Hell

0:48:160:48:18

# Maybe there ain't no Heaven

0:48:180:48:21

# No burning Hell

0:48:210:48:24

# No

0:48:240:48:26

# Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey

0:48:310:48:35

# Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. #

0:48:420:48:46

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

0:48:500:48:53

I'm all for broadening the festival, because I think it...

0:48:530:48:57

I think it's gone beyond our music now.

0:48:570:49:01

It's an international festival, and we can always find links

0:49:010:49:04

wherever we look, even if they're quite remote links,

0:49:040:49:07

but I think it's good to expose our young musicians to...

0:49:070:49:12

you know, to music from different countries. It gives them ideas.

0:49:120:49:16

I think it's great.

0:49:160:49:18

Scotland, like Ireland, is a small country,

0:49:180:49:20

and very fiercely proud of its music, which is great.

0:49:200:49:25

But it can also lead to kind of a hothouse atmosphere,

0:49:250:49:29

in which things are very self-referential and very,

0:49:290:49:33

you know, a closed world,

0:49:330:49:35

and I think Celtic Connections has helped bring in new ideas

0:49:350:49:40

and new collaborations and new influences into that world

0:49:400:49:46

in a way that can't be unhealthy.

0:49:460:49:49

World music star Marta Sebestyen from Hungary.

0:49:490:49:53

SHE SINGS IN HUNGARIAN

0:49:530:49:56

As well as music from all over the world,

0:51:050:51:07

Celtic Connections always recognises world-class home-grown talent.

0:51:070:51:12

And one of the standout concerts from the festival in 2012

0:51:120:51:16

was a tribute to Paisley-born singer-songwriter Gerry Rafferty.

0:51:160:51:21

Here's his old friend and musical collaborator, Rab Noakes.

0:51:210:51:25

Around the time of Gerry Rafferty's death, Martha, his daughter, and I,

0:51:250:51:29

talked about what the legacy would be,

0:51:290:51:32

and a concert celebrating his life and his recorded work

0:51:320:51:36

and songwriting work, with a number of artists performing his songs

0:51:360:51:41

was obviously high on the list.

0:51:410:51:42

I mean, I knew that he was hugely respected as a songwriter,

0:51:420:51:46

but I think I was amazed at the reaction worldwide.

0:51:460:51:52

We could have actually done a week

0:51:520:51:54

with different performers every night from around the world.

0:51:540:51:58

So many people said,

0:51:580:51:59

"This guy has been a massive influence on what I do musically."

0:51:590:52:04

A lot of us loved Paul Brady as a traditional singer,

0:52:040:52:07

so to hear him do that big song of Rafferty's was amazing.

0:52:070:52:10

# Winding your way down on Baker Street

0:52:100:52:14

# Light in your head and dead on your feet

0:52:140:52:18

# Well, another crazy day

0:52:180:52:20

# You'll drink the night away

0:52:200:52:22

# And forget about everything

0:52:220:52:25

# This city desert makes you feel so cold

0:52:270:52:31

# It's got so many people but it's got no soul

0:52:310:52:35

# And it's taken you so long

0:52:350:52:37

# To find that you were wrong

0:52:370:52:39

# When you thought it held everything

0:52:390:52:42

# You used to think that it was so easy

0:52:440:52:48

# You used to say that it was so easy

0:52:480:52:52

# But you're trying

0:52:520:52:55

# You're trying now

0:52:550:52:58

# Another year and then you'd be happy

0:53:010:53:05

# Just one more year and then you'd be happy

0:53:050:53:09

# But you're crying

0:53:090:53:11

# You're crying now

0:53:110:53:15

# Way down the street, there's a light on in his place

0:53:350:53:39

# He opens the door, he's got that look on his face

0:53:390:53:43

# And he asks you where you've been

0:53:430:53:45

# You tell him who you've seen

0:53:450:53:47

# And you talk about anything

0:53:470:53:50

# He's got this dream about buying some land

0:53:520:53:56

# He's gonna give up the booze and the one night stands

0:53:560:54:01

# And then he'll settle down

0:54:010:54:02

# In some quiet little town

0:54:020:54:05

# And forget about everything

0:54:050:54:08

# But you know he's going to keep moving

0:54:100:54:14

# You know he's never going to stop moving

0:54:140:54:17

# Cos he's rolling

0:54:170:54:20

# He's a rolling stone

0:54:200:54:23

# And when you wake up it's a new morning

0:54:260:54:31

# The sun is shining, it's a new morning

0:54:310:54:35

# And you're going

0:54:350:54:37

# You're going home. #

0:54:370:54:40

So, with the festival selling four times as many tickets

0:56:270:56:30

as it did in the first year,

0:56:300:56:32

and with seven times as many musicians

0:56:320:56:34

coming to Glasgow to perform at over 300 events,

0:56:340:56:37

it's a very happy birthday for Celtic Connections.

0:56:370:56:40

Here's to the next 20.

0:56:400:56:42

The festival will be here in 20 years, yeah. I won't!

0:56:420:56:45

The festival will definitely be here in 20 years, I think, yeah.

0:56:450:56:48

Commerciality gets its teeth into everything, almost,

0:56:510:56:56

and does quite a lot of damage by its demands and expectations.

0:56:560:57:02

And what's impressive about Celtic Connections

0:57:020:57:05

is that it seems to have resisted all of that.

0:57:050:57:09

So, what you're left with, then,

0:57:090:57:11

is something with a massive core credibility.

0:57:110:57:14

I mean, we never had anything like that when we started.

0:57:180:57:20

I mean, imagine...

0:57:200:57:22

I could never imagine a thing like Celtic Connections.

0:57:220:57:25

What a platform!

0:57:250:57:26

Celtic Connections is just a place where I can return to,

0:57:320:57:36

like, for a little bit.

0:57:360:57:37

It's like those video games where you have to go home

0:57:370:57:40

to get energised again and then you go back into the year.

0:57:400:57:43

Very often, you can have a young, up-and-coming,

0:57:490:57:52

very promising, exciting band from our own doorstep

0:57:520:57:56

opening for some of the world's great superstars.

0:57:560:58:01

That means that audiences and artists alike

0:58:010:58:04

are being exposed to what is great about our own music.

0:58:040:58:07

It's been more than just a festival for the scene, I think.

0:58:130:58:16

It's been...a kind of vehicle to realise musical dreams.

0:58:160:58:20

If you'd like to see more Celtic Connections music,

0:58:280:58:31

visit the website...

0:58:310:58:34

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0:58:480:58:50

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