0:00:15 > 0:00:19This week, Celtic Connections celebrates its 20th festival.
0:00:19 > 0:00:21January may not be the most obvious month
0:00:21 > 0:00:24to host an annual international event,
0:00:24 > 0:00:27but launched in 1994, it was an instant hit,
0:00:27 > 0:00:30and is now one of the country's most important music festivals.
0:00:33 > 0:00:36January, to me, is Celtic Connections.
0:00:38 > 0:00:40It's a pure music festival,
0:00:40 > 0:00:43and the people who go really, really appreciate that.
0:00:45 > 0:00:47It's great music. We always believed that.
0:00:47 > 0:00:50Even in the beginning, when it looked almost impossible.
0:00:52 > 0:00:57It's about instilling pride amongst young people in their own music.
0:00:57 > 0:01:00Over the next hour, we'll be celebrating the festival,
0:01:00 > 0:01:03its impact on the Scottish and international music scenes
0:01:03 > 0:01:06and sharing once again some of the great musical performances
0:01:06 > 0:01:11that have made Celtic Connections such a unique and important event.
0:01:11 > 0:01:13With music from Capercaillie...
0:01:13 > 0:01:14# Cha teid Fionnlagh a dh'Eige Ged nach posda e feasda
0:01:14 > 0:01:17# Cha teid Fionnlagh a dh'Eige Dh'Eige cha teid Fionnlagh
0:01:17 > 0:01:18# Cha teid Fionnlagh a dh'Eige Ged nach posda e feasda
0:01:18 > 0:01:21# Cha teid Fionnlagh a dh'Eige Dh'Eige cha teid Fionnlagh. #
0:01:21 > 0:01:23..Nanci Griffith...
0:01:23 > 0:01:26# It's a hard life, it's a hard life
0:01:26 > 0:01:28# It's a very hard life
0:01:28 > 0:01:32# It's a hard life wherever you go. #
0:01:33 > 0:01:35..the Treacherous Orchestra...
0:01:42 > 0:01:44..Tom Jones...
0:01:44 > 0:01:46# Maybe there ain't no Heaven
0:01:46 > 0:01:49# Or no burning Hell
0:01:49 > 0:01:52# Maybe there ain't no Heaven
0:01:52 > 0:01:54# No burning Hell. #
0:01:56 > 0:01:58..Paul Brady, and many more.
0:01:58 > 0:02:02# He opens the door, he's got that look on his face
0:02:02 > 0:02:05# And he asks you where you've been
0:02:05 > 0:02:07# You tell him who you've seen
0:02:07 > 0:02:08# And you talk about anything. #
0:02:08 > 0:02:11The first festival ran across 15 nights
0:02:11 > 0:02:14and featured many big names from the Celtic music scene.
0:02:14 > 0:02:16It was on an ambitious scale for a new event.
0:02:16 > 0:02:20So, did Scotland's musicians predict the success?
0:02:20 > 0:02:24Well, it was so long ago now, I can hardly remember.
0:02:24 > 0:02:28I just remember thinking, "This thing is going to work."
0:02:28 > 0:02:32You know, "There is an audience here."
0:02:32 > 0:02:35Over 27,000 tickets were sold in that first year,
0:02:35 > 0:02:38a relief for the staff at Glasgow's Royal Concert Hall,
0:02:38 > 0:02:40who had come up with the idea.
0:02:40 > 0:02:44The main remit that I had was to fill our venue.
0:02:44 > 0:02:47Colin Hynd was part of the small events team
0:02:47 > 0:02:51whose job was to programme all the performances at the Concert Hall.
0:02:51 > 0:02:54He became the festival's first director.
0:02:54 > 0:02:55Right up front,
0:02:55 > 0:02:58it was basically just to bring music into our own spaces
0:02:58 > 0:03:00and use them to the best advantage.
0:03:00 > 0:03:02They spoke about the notion of starting this festival
0:03:02 > 0:03:05in Glasgow over the winter months, and I was like, "What?!"
0:03:07 > 0:03:09I really wasn't sure.
0:03:09 > 0:03:11There was a lot of scepticism about the first one,
0:03:11 > 0:03:14because people thought it was the wrong time of year,
0:03:14 > 0:03:17everyone was skint after Christmas and New Year,
0:03:17 > 0:03:19people thought it was the wrong venue,
0:03:19 > 0:03:21because, I mean, the Concert Hall was only a couple of...
0:03:21 > 0:03:23well, four years old, by that point,
0:03:23 > 0:03:26and it was still seen very much as a quite starchy,
0:03:26 > 0:03:28classical music venue.
0:03:28 > 0:03:33We all felt that our great Scottish traditional artists, our great Celtic musical artists,
0:03:33 > 0:03:36were treated, probably, in awe elsewhere in the world,
0:03:36 > 0:03:40but actually weren't given the best platforms in their home turf.
0:03:40 > 0:03:45My first reaction was, "Fantastic," because nothing happens in January.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48Traditionally, after New Year, nothing ever happened in January.
0:03:48 > 0:03:52And, immediately, there was possibilities of,
0:03:52 > 0:03:55not maybe one gig, but two or three gigs happening at the same time.
0:03:57 > 0:03:59Scottish folk rock band Wolfstone,
0:03:59 > 0:04:01fronted by fiddle player Duncan Chisholm,
0:04:01 > 0:04:04appeared at the opening concert for the first festival.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07Here they are at the seventh festival in 2000.
0:05:35 > 0:05:38CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:05:38 > 0:05:42My one thing that I remember was seeing the first line-up
0:05:42 > 0:05:43and thinking, you know,
0:05:43 > 0:05:46there was loads of musicians there that were my heroes.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50Another band who headlined at that first festival
0:05:50 > 0:05:52were the groundbreaking Capercaillie.
0:05:52 > 0:05:55Here they are, recorded in 2002.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59# Cha teid Fionnlagh a dh'Eige
0:06:04 > 0:06:06# Cha teid Fionnlagh a dh'Eige
0:06:06 > 0:06:07# Fionnlagh a dh'Eige
0:06:11 > 0:06:13# Cha teid Fionnlagh a dh'Eige
0:06:13 > 0:06:15# Fionnlagh a dh'Eige
0:06:19 > 0:06:21# Cha teid Fionnlagh a dh'Eige Ged nach posda e feasda
0:06:21 > 0:06:23# Cha teid Fionnlagh a dh'Eige Dh'Eige cha teid Fionnlagh
0:06:23 > 0:06:24# Cha teid Fionnlagh a dh'Eige Ged nach posda e feasda
0:06:24 > 0:06:26# Cha teid Fionnlagh a dh'Eige Dh'Eige cha teid Fionnlagh
0:06:26 > 0:06:28# Thoir a nall Ailean thugam Ailean thugam, Ailean thugam
0:06:28 > 0:06:30# Thoir a nall Ailean thugam Seatadh e'n t-urlar
0:06:30 > 0:06:32# Thoir a nall Ailean thugam Ailean thugam, Ailean thugam
0:06:32 > 0:06:34# Thoir a nall Ailean thugam Seatadh e'n t-urlar
0:06:34 > 0:06:36# Cha teid Fionnlagh a dh'Eige
0:06:42 > 0:06:43# Cha teid Fionnlagh a dh'Eige
0:06:49 > 0:06:51# Thoir a nall Ailean thugam Ailean thugam, Ailean thugam
0:06:51 > 0:06:53# Thoir a nall Ailean thugam Seatadh e'n t-urlar
0:06:53 > 0:06:55# Thoir a nall Ailean thugam Ailean thugam, Ailean thugam
0:06:55 > 0:06:57# Thoir a nall Ailean thugam Seatadh e'n t-urlar
0:06:57 > 0:06:59# Cha teid Fionnlagh a dh'Eige Ged nach posda e feasda
0:06:59 > 0:07:00# Cha teid Fionnlagh a dh'Eige Dh'Eige cha teid Fionnlagh
0:07:00 > 0:07:02# Cha teid Fionnlagh a dh'Eige Ged nach posda e feasda
0:07:02 > 0:07:04# Cha teid Fionnlagh a dh'Eige Dh'Eige cha teid Fionnlagh
0:07:04 > 0:07:06# Thoir a nall Ailean thugam Ailean thugam, Ailean thugam
0:07:06 > 0:07:08# Thoir a nall Ailean thugam Seatadh e'n t-urlar
0:07:08 > 0:07:10# Thoir a nall Ailean thugam Ailean thugam, Ailean thugam
0:07:10 > 0:07:13# Thoir a nall Ailean thugam Seatadh e'n t-urlar
0:07:13 > 0:07:15# Cha teid Fionnlagh a dh'Eige
0:07:32 > 0:07:36I remember that year there was a compilation CD
0:07:36 > 0:07:39with maybe 20 tracks on it, some of whom I knew,
0:07:39 > 0:07:40and some which I'd never heard of,
0:07:40 > 0:07:43and I used it as a little bit of a programme guide
0:07:43 > 0:07:45for how to buy my tickets.
0:07:45 > 0:07:49I think the first band I went and saw was Cherish The Ladies,
0:07:49 > 0:07:52and they did a massive performance in the Royal Concert Hall.
0:07:52 > 0:07:54What a night!
0:07:54 > 0:07:58And the festival's just gone from strength to strength ever since.
0:07:58 > 0:08:00I remember calling the girls to tell them
0:08:00 > 0:08:03that we were going to Scotland in the middle of January.
0:08:03 > 0:08:04They were all like, "What?!"
0:08:04 > 0:08:07I said, "Yeah, there's this new festival taking place in January,"
0:08:07 > 0:08:10and they said, "January?!" But, by God, we went there,
0:08:10 > 0:08:13and we had one of the greatest times of our lives.
0:08:13 > 0:08:15Irish-American band Cherish The Ladies
0:08:15 > 0:08:18quickly established themselves as firm favourites
0:08:18 > 0:08:19after the first festival,
0:08:19 > 0:08:22and have been back at Celtic 14 times since.
0:08:22 > 0:08:25Here they are, performing in the main auditorium
0:08:25 > 0:08:28at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall in 1998.
0:09:13 > 0:09:15CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:09:15 > 0:09:20This was like having two weeks of just everybody that I might have wanted to see
0:09:20 > 0:09:23in one place, right on my doorstep...
0:09:23 > 0:09:27So, it was like a hefty dip into the student loan for a couple of weeks.
0:09:33 > 0:09:35That was the year I first saw Dick Gaughan.
0:09:35 > 0:09:39He was playing with Sileas, and I saw Dervish and Deanta,
0:09:39 > 0:09:41purely on the strength of the tracks
0:09:41 > 0:09:43that I heard on that compilation album.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46And I think I went to see Shooglenifty that year as well,
0:09:46 > 0:09:49and I totally loved it. It was just buzzing.
0:10:01 > 0:10:05Shooglenifty in 2007 at Glasgow's Old Fruitmarket,
0:10:05 > 0:10:08just one of the venues now used by the festival
0:10:08 > 0:10:11because, although it may have started at the Concert Hall,
0:10:11 > 0:10:13it quickly spread across the city,
0:10:13 > 0:10:15offering a greater range of concerts,
0:10:15 > 0:10:18from folk club style to night club style,
0:10:18 > 0:10:21seated, standing, or dancing.
0:10:21 > 0:10:24In just a few years, the audience had more than doubled.
0:10:24 > 0:10:25I don't think, in fairness,
0:10:25 > 0:10:28anyone realised how big the festival would become.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31I don't think anyone realised the potential of it,
0:10:31 > 0:10:35or, you know, it may have been seen that it was even a one-off,
0:10:35 > 0:10:38that there would be a few concerts and...
0:10:38 > 0:10:41So, then, as it grew over the next two or three years,
0:10:41 > 0:10:44I think that's when we realised the size of the festival.
0:10:52 > 0:10:55The growth hasn't surprised me in any way, on any level,
0:10:55 > 0:11:01because I genuinely believe that when you're putting together a festival
0:11:01 > 0:11:04with the integrity that Celtic Connections has,
0:11:04 > 0:11:08then that is going to draw people.
0:11:08 > 0:11:10La Bottine Souriante, from Quebec,
0:11:10 > 0:11:13were a sensation when they first made the trip to Glasgow.
0:11:13 > 0:11:15Performing in the Arches in 2002,
0:11:15 > 0:11:19we filmed them with special guest, dancer Sandy Silva.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:12:56 > 0:12:59One of the fastest-selling concerts every year
0:12:59 > 0:13:01is the Transatlantic Sessions.
0:13:01 > 0:13:05First staged in 2004, it always features a stellar line-up
0:13:05 > 0:13:08from both sides of the Atlantic, and explores the musical links
0:13:08 > 0:13:11between the Celtic countries and North America.
0:13:13 > 0:13:15The more time I've spent in America,
0:13:15 > 0:13:18the more I've realised the connection...
0:13:20 > 0:13:25..between Scottish, Irish music and bluegrass, Americana...
0:13:25 > 0:13:27American roots music in general.
0:13:27 > 0:13:31In fact, the Irish and Scottish immigrants...
0:13:31 > 0:13:35the influence of their music and the culture they brought over
0:13:35 > 0:13:39is prevalent all the way down the eastern seaboard.
0:13:39 > 0:13:40So, there's the connection,
0:13:40 > 0:13:44and here's Scotland inviting back the new generation
0:13:44 > 0:13:47to come and be a part of this festival, and I think that that's...
0:13:47 > 0:13:50It just works. It really works.
0:13:57 > 0:14:01Transatlantic Sessions started life as a BBC television programme
0:14:01 > 0:14:05which features musicians performing in informal sessions.
0:14:05 > 0:14:08Celtic Connections then decided to transfer these collaborations
0:14:08 > 0:14:10to the Concert Hall stage.
0:14:10 > 0:14:12Here are the musicians from Transatlantic Sessions
0:14:12 > 0:14:17led, as ever, by musical directors Jerry Douglas and Aly Bain in 2009.
0:14:50 > 0:14:52Well, you only get two days run-up,
0:14:52 > 0:14:57so, if you're bringing maybe 20, 22 people or something, together
0:14:57 > 0:15:00from America, Scotland, Ireland, we're all getting together,
0:15:00 > 0:15:04making, you know, a two-and-a-half hour concert in two days,
0:15:04 > 0:15:08and it only happens because of the generosity, I think,
0:15:08 > 0:15:10of each individual musician.
0:15:10 > 0:15:13But when you're surrounded by people who know what they're doing
0:15:13 > 0:15:18and who are great musicians and singers...it works.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21It can be kind of rocky at times, but it works.
0:15:21 > 0:15:23CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:15:26 > 0:15:28Transatlantic Sessions has become
0:15:28 > 0:15:31the jewel in the crown of the festival, I think.
0:15:31 > 0:15:35It encapsulates in one show what the festival is about.
0:15:35 > 0:15:37It's a festival within a festival, if you like.
0:15:37 > 0:15:44And I think that...it throws up spontaneity on the night,
0:15:44 > 0:15:48professionalism, great singers, great music,
0:15:48 > 0:15:52traditional music, crossover, bluegrass, Americana...
0:15:52 > 0:15:54I think it has all the elements
0:15:54 > 0:15:57of what the festival tries to achieve every year.
0:15:57 > 0:16:02Obviously, Jerry Douglas and Aly Bain have been musical directors pretty much from the start
0:16:02 > 0:16:04and a lot of the house band are regulars...
0:16:05 > 0:16:08So, there's that relaxed side to it,
0:16:08 > 0:16:11but then, each year, the line-up of guests...
0:16:11 > 0:16:15I mean, obviously, it's primarily guest singers...
0:16:15 > 0:16:18That's carefully chosen each year.
0:16:18 > 0:16:21So special to be back for Transatlantic Sessions
0:16:21 > 0:16:26and with all these wonderful players from the States,
0:16:26 > 0:16:30Tim O'Brien and of course Jerry Douglas, and from over here,
0:16:30 > 0:16:33to work with Aly again is just great...
0:16:33 > 0:16:35CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:16:42 > 0:16:47# I am a back-seat driver from America
0:16:47 > 0:16:52# They drive to the left on Falls Road
0:16:52 > 0:16:56# And the man at the wheel's name is Seamus
0:16:56 > 0:17:02# We pass a child on the corner he knows
0:17:02 > 0:17:06# And Seamus says, Now, what chance has that kid got?
0:17:06 > 0:17:11# And I say from the back, I don't know
0:17:11 > 0:17:16# He says, There's barbed wire at all of these exits
0:17:16 > 0:17:21# There was no place in Belfast for that child to go
0:17:21 > 0:17:23# Cos it's a hard life It's a hard life
0:17:23 > 0:17:26# It's a very hard life
0:17:26 > 0:17:31# It's a hard life wherever you go
0:17:31 > 0:17:36# If we poison our children with hatred
0:17:36 > 0:17:40# Then a hard life is all that they'll know
0:17:40 > 0:17:45# There was no place in Belfast for that child to go
0:17:50 > 0:17:55# A cafeteria line in Chicago
0:17:55 > 0:17:59# A fat man in front of me
0:17:59 > 0:18:05# Is calling black people trash to his children
0:18:05 > 0:18:09# He's the only trash here I see
0:18:09 > 0:18:14# And I'm thinking this man wears a white hood
0:18:14 > 0:18:19# In the night when his children should sleep
0:18:19 > 0:18:24# But they'd slip to their windows and they'd see him
0:18:24 > 0:18:28# And they'd think a white hood's all they'd need in this life
0:18:28 > 0:18:31# But it's a hard life It's a hard life
0:18:31 > 0:18:33# It's a very hard life
0:18:33 > 0:18:38# It's a hard life wherever you go
0:18:38 > 0:18:43# And if we poison our children with hatred
0:18:43 > 0:18:48# Then a hard life is all that they'll know
0:18:48 > 0:18:53# There ain't no place in Chicago where a child can go alone now
0:19:06 > 0:19:10# It's a hard life
0:19:12 > 0:19:16# I was a child in the sixties
0:19:16 > 0:19:21# Dreams could be held through TV
0:19:21 > 0:19:26# We had Disney and Cronkite and Martin Luther
0:19:26 > 0:19:29# I believed, I believed, I believed
0:19:29 > 0:19:31# I will always believe
0:19:31 > 0:19:36# I am a back-seat driver from America
0:19:36 > 0:19:41# I am not at the wheel of control
0:19:41 > 0:19:46# I've been guilty, I've been war and I have been roots of all evil
0:19:46 > 0:19:50# Finally, I will drive on the left side of the road
0:19:50 > 0:19:53# Cos it's a hard life It's a hard life
0:19:53 > 0:19:55# It's a very hard life
0:19:55 > 0:20:00# It's a hard life wherever you go
0:20:00 > 0:20:05# And if we poison our children with hatred
0:20:05 > 0:20:09# Then a hard life is all that they'll know
0:20:09 > 0:20:14# There'll be no place on this Earth where a child can grow
0:20:14 > 0:20:18# If we've made it a hard life wherever they go
0:20:34 > 0:20:39# Hard life! #
0:20:39 > 0:20:42CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:20:43 > 0:20:45Thank you!
0:20:45 > 0:20:47I think there's a magic about Transatlantic Sessions.
0:20:47 > 0:20:52It's hard to define, but it's really centred around that spontaneity
0:20:52 > 0:20:55and that feeling of, "It's a one-off."
0:20:55 > 0:20:57You're never going to see all these people
0:20:57 > 0:21:02on the one stage together again. It's just this one-off selection.
0:21:02 > 0:21:06Essentially, it's an ego-free arena, and it works best...
0:21:06 > 0:21:08And we've all got egos, but it works best
0:21:08 > 0:21:10if you acknowledge that you have to leave it at the door.
0:21:10 > 0:21:14# Is tu as fhearr don tig osan
0:21:14 > 0:21:18# Is brog shocrach nam barrall
0:21:18 > 0:21:22# Cota Lunnainneach dubh-ghorm
0:21:22 > 0:21:26# Is bidh na cruintean ga cheannach
0:21:26 > 0:21:30# O hi o o hu o
0:21:30 > 0:21:34# O hi o o hu o
0:21:34 > 0:21:38# Hi ri ri o hu eile
0:21:38 > 0:21:43# O hi ri ri ri o gheallaibh o
0:22:15 > 0:22:18# Thig mo chrios a Dun Eideann
0:22:18 > 0:22:22# Is mo bhreid a Dun Chailleann
0:22:22 > 0:22:26# Gheibh sinn crodh as a' Mhaorainn
0:22:26 > 0:22:29# Agus caoraich a Gallaibh
0:22:29 > 0:22:33# O hi o o hu o
0:22:33 > 0:22:37# O hi o o hu o
0:22:37 > 0:22:41# Hi ri ri o hu eile
0:22:41 > 0:22:46# O hi ri ri ri o gheallaibh o. #
0:23:25 > 0:23:28CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:23:28 > 0:23:32My impression is that...the process of opening that door
0:23:32 > 0:23:36to bring all these musicians from other cultures,
0:23:36 > 0:23:41Celtic and non-Celtic, into Scottish music, into Irish music,
0:23:41 > 0:23:47to stimulate collaboration, has been very healthy for Celtic music.
0:23:47 > 0:23:52The impact Celtic Connections has had on the Scottish music scene is considerable.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55It's helped to change people's idea of traditional music
0:23:55 > 0:23:57as well as developing the music itself.
0:23:57 > 0:24:01In 2006, Capercaillie founding member Donald Shaw
0:24:01 > 0:24:04became the festival's artistic director.
0:24:04 > 0:24:05Most people in this country,
0:24:05 > 0:24:08their perception 25, 30 years ago of traditional music
0:24:08 > 0:24:11would be Andy Stewart, wearing a kilt on the Hogmanay show,
0:24:11 > 0:24:13singing A Scottish Soldier.
0:24:15 > 0:24:16That's changed so much.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19I think that folk music has come to the fore
0:24:19 > 0:24:23and...kind of the real music of this country, the heart and soul,
0:24:23 > 0:24:28and as that's happened, and more and more musicians have taken up the music,
0:24:28 > 0:24:31that's when you have bands totally at home with their own music,
0:24:31 > 0:24:33comfortable with their instruments
0:24:33 > 0:24:36and looking for another place to take the music,
0:24:36 > 0:24:39a new way to express how traditional music can be performed.
0:24:39 > 0:24:43For me, that's really what the ethos of the festival is about:
0:24:43 > 0:24:45the old tradition and the new tradition.
0:25:52 > 0:25:54The music that is at the heart of Celtic Connections
0:25:54 > 0:25:56is Scottish traditional and folk music.
0:25:56 > 0:25:59That is, and always will be, the heart of this festival,
0:25:59 > 0:26:01and there's something about this festival
0:26:01 > 0:26:04that helps to just make that seem...worthy.
0:26:04 > 0:26:07You know, worthy of people's attention
0:26:07 > 0:26:10as much as any mainstream or other genre of music.
0:26:10 > 0:26:13So, I think that's the most important thing for me.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16An international gathering of musicians on this scale
0:26:16 > 0:26:19is bound to involve a good dose of fun
0:26:19 > 0:26:22and some great informal musical sessions.
0:26:22 > 0:26:24And some of the connections which happen every year
0:26:24 > 0:26:28are the social ones, which take place in the Festival Club.
0:26:28 > 0:26:31In its best setting and in its heyday,
0:26:31 > 0:26:35it took place in the old Railway Hotel at Glasgow Central.
0:26:37 > 0:26:40The club combines a late-night performance venue
0:26:40 > 0:26:42as well as space for informal music-making.
0:26:42 > 0:26:45Often housed in the same hotel where the musicians stay,
0:26:45 > 0:26:49it's the place where festival-goers and musicians rub shoulders,
0:26:49 > 0:26:52a place where young musicians get to meet their heroes
0:26:52 > 0:26:53and learn their craft.
0:26:54 > 0:26:59You had sessions and long-lost reunions
0:26:59 > 0:27:01and fights and, you name it,
0:27:01 > 0:27:05going on there until three, four, five in the morning.
0:27:05 > 0:27:09You'd suddenly hear this beautiful song starting and the whole place would fall quiet,
0:27:09 > 0:27:12because it was mainly an audience of musicians.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15That's where I used to sit with Ishbel MacAskill
0:27:15 > 0:27:20and sing spiritual hymns mixed with Judy Garland songs, mixed with Gaelic song
0:27:20 > 0:27:24or Phil Cunningham, trying to drag him back to his bed at night,
0:27:24 > 0:27:27you know, when he'd had a bit too much to drink,
0:27:27 > 0:27:29or me and Eleanor Shanley or Sinead O'Connor, you know,
0:27:29 > 0:27:32we'd all just sit and shoot the breeze
0:27:32 > 0:27:34about what guitarist broke our hearts, you know.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39There would be Shane MacGowan in one of the little corners,
0:27:39 > 0:27:43having a deep and meaningful chat at two in the morning.
0:27:43 > 0:27:46Go down there for breakfast at 7:30 in the morning,
0:27:46 > 0:27:49again, there he still was, still carrying on.
0:27:49 > 0:27:51It's tough going, though.
0:27:51 > 0:27:55I remember two years in a row, I was there every night.
0:27:55 > 0:27:56Every night.
0:27:56 > 0:27:58Student loan out the window!
0:27:58 > 0:28:01More than the concerts, I remember the sessions,
0:28:01 > 0:28:03because it was such a big thing for me,
0:28:03 > 0:28:06meeting these people and playing with these people,
0:28:06 > 0:28:07and that was the big thing for me.
0:28:07 > 0:28:09It was there that people met.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12It was there that you felt that the music and the collaborations
0:28:12 > 0:28:15and how everything came together, audience and artists alike,
0:28:15 > 0:28:17it was real.
0:28:49 > 0:28:52The Festival Club in the Central Hotel
0:28:52 > 0:28:56was our first ever performance as the Treacherous Orchestra.
0:29:00 > 0:29:03Filmed here in the Old Fruitmarket in 2012,
0:29:03 > 0:29:06Treacherous Orchestra have gone from strength to strength,
0:29:06 > 0:29:09following a late-night chance encounter in the club.
0:29:10 > 0:29:12I was literally about to go home.
0:29:12 > 0:29:16It was about three in the morning at the Festival Club on Sunday night,
0:29:16 > 0:29:19I suppose it would be about four years ago...
0:29:19 > 0:29:23and this crowd of guys were kind of getting all their stuff on stage,
0:29:23 > 0:29:25looked completely chaotic...
0:29:25 > 0:29:28We didn't have an official gig that year.
0:29:28 > 0:29:31We'd made our way onto the stage at the very end of the night.
0:29:31 > 0:29:33- The last night, was it?- Yeah.
0:29:33 > 0:29:36The first two or three minutes was pretty chaotic, musically,
0:29:36 > 0:29:40and then it just blossomed into this amazing kind of juggernaut of sound.
0:29:40 > 0:29:42If it wasn't for Celtic Connections,
0:29:42 > 0:29:46we wouldn't have bothered...to take it so seriously.
0:30:47 > 0:30:50CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:30:50 > 0:30:53I think Celtic Connections has really made a point of
0:30:53 > 0:30:56supporting up-and-coming talent, always.
0:30:57 > 0:31:00Musician and broadcaster Danny Kyle
0:31:00 > 0:31:02hosted an open stage at the festival.
0:31:02 > 0:31:07He died in 1998, and the Danny Awards were established in his name.
0:31:09 > 0:31:11Many artists, including Karine Polwart,
0:31:11 > 0:31:15got a helping hand through winning a Danny.
0:31:15 > 0:31:18Here she is at the 2004 Festival.
0:31:20 > 0:31:23# Caught between the air
0:31:23 > 0:31:27# And the windless deep
0:31:27 > 0:31:33# You float like a lily flower
0:31:33 > 0:31:37# And you look just like you fell
0:31:37 > 0:31:41# To Earth to sleep
0:31:41 > 0:31:48# And you're waiting for your waking hour
0:31:48 > 0:31:51# And I swear to God
0:31:51 > 0:31:56# I saw an angel hand attend you
0:31:56 > 0:32:02# But that was just the dancing of the light
0:32:02 > 0:32:06# No mortal or immortal
0:32:06 > 0:32:10# Did deliver or defend you
0:32:10 > 0:32:15# All hands have forsaken you tonight
0:32:17 > 0:32:20# Are you dreaming of a lover
0:32:20 > 0:32:24# Who will carry you away
0:32:24 > 0:32:31# And keep you from the crying of the crowd?
0:32:31 > 0:32:35# No cradle in the rushes
0:32:35 > 0:32:39# You are broken like the day
0:32:39 > 0:32:45# And darkness all around you like a shroud
0:32:45 > 0:32:48# And I swear to God
0:32:48 > 0:32:53# I saw an angel hand attend you
0:32:53 > 0:33:00# But that was just the dancing of the light
0:33:00 > 0:33:04# No mortal or immortal
0:33:04 > 0:33:08# Did deliver or defend you
0:33:08 > 0:33:13# All hands have forsaken you tonight
0:33:40 > 0:33:44# When they finally surrounded you
0:33:44 > 0:33:48# Did any of them face you?
0:33:48 > 0:33:55# And did you curse the moon and stars above?
0:33:55 > 0:33:59# Those cruel arms abandoned you
0:33:59 > 0:34:03# For water to embrace you
0:34:03 > 0:34:09# Won't you lay your head, my waterlily love?
0:34:09 > 0:34:13# And I swear to God
0:34:13 > 0:34:18# I saw an angel hand attend you
0:34:18 > 0:34:25# But that was just the dancing of the light
0:34:25 > 0:34:28# No mortal or immortal
0:34:28 > 0:34:32# Did deliver or defend you
0:34:32 > 0:34:37# All hands have forsaken you tonight
0:34:40 > 0:34:43# Caught between the air
0:34:43 > 0:34:47# And the windless deep
0:34:47 > 0:34:54# You float like a lily flower
0:34:54 > 0:34:58# And you look just like you fell
0:34:58 > 0:35:01# To Earth to sleep
0:35:01 > 0:35:08# And you're waiting for your waking hour
0:35:08 > 0:35:14# And you're waiting for your waking hour. #
0:35:18 > 0:35:21APPLAUSE
0:35:28 > 0:35:32Each year, Celtic Connections plays host to the BBC Radio Scotland
0:35:32 > 0:35:35Young Traditional Musician of the Year awards.
0:35:35 > 0:35:40The winner in 2011 was a fiddle player from Orkney, Kristan Harvey.
0:35:43 > 0:35:45Winning the award,
0:35:45 > 0:35:48it sort of changed everything for me and my career.
0:35:48 > 0:35:51Up until that point, I was taking part in the sessions
0:35:51 > 0:35:54and getting to know people on the scene and it was all great,
0:35:54 > 0:35:58but I wasn't really getting a chance to go out and perform
0:35:58 > 0:36:01as much as I would have liked to.
0:36:01 > 0:36:03So, winning the award sort of changed everything
0:36:03 > 0:36:05from that point onwards.
0:37:19 > 0:37:21CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:37:27 > 0:37:31The festival has played an important part in creating new music.
0:37:31 > 0:37:34The New Voices commissions every year
0:37:34 > 0:37:36are offered to a range of artists,
0:37:36 > 0:37:39allowing them to compose and experiment musically.
0:37:39 > 0:37:44Rachel Sermanni from Carrbridge benefited from a commission in 2011.
0:37:46 > 0:37:49I'm so thankful that I was given that opportunity.
0:37:49 > 0:37:50It made me really excited.
0:37:50 > 0:37:54I'd never had a concert that lasted that long,
0:37:54 > 0:37:57with so much pressure, but...
0:37:57 > 0:37:59but, em...
0:37:59 > 0:38:01it fills you with belief, as well.
0:38:03 > 0:38:06New Voices at the festival helped to raise Rachel's profile.
0:38:06 > 0:38:09Here she is at the Old Fruitmarket.
0:38:09 > 0:38:11# Don't cheat, says the soul
0:38:11 > 0:38:12# It's just meat on his bones
0:38:12 > 0:38:14# It smells sweet but your conscience
0:38:14 > 0:38:16# Will eat at your inners
0:38:16 > 0:38:21# I'm calling from my cage
0:38:21 > 0:38:24# You'll regret that you locked me away
0:38:32 > 0:38:34# I had told you
0:38:34 > 0:38:36# Hold tight to my hands
0:38:36 > 0:38:38# I speak truth, why did you not
0:38:38 > 0:38:40# Hold your ground?
0:38:40 > 0:38:43# You let go to run with his soul
0:38:43 > 0:38:45# And now that he let go
0:38:45 > 0:38:50# You're falling down
0:39:01 > 0:39:03# Well, if I've been hiding
0:39:03 > 0:39:05# While you've been deciding
0:39:05 > 0:39:09# To throw all I have for you out on the floor
0:39:09 > 0:39:11# I've been calling, calling
0:39:11 > 0:39:13# Calling your name
0:39:13 > 0:39:15# And now that you're falling
0:39:15 > 0:39:17# I'm hoping again
0:39:17 > 0:39:19# That you'll listen to me
0:39:19 > 0:39:22# You'll listen to me
0:39:28 > 0:39:30# You will
0:39:30 > 0:39:32# Not give in. #
0:39:43 > 0:39:46CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:39:47 > 0:39:53From the beginning, Celtic Connections has proactively combined traditional and classical music.
0:39:53 > 0:39:55Each year, new orchestral music is commissioned,
0:39:55 > 0:39:57with Celtic music at its heart.
0:39:59 > 0:40:02I think of all cross-fertilisations and crossovers,
0:40:02 > 0:40:06the one between traditional music, in Scotland, certainly,
0:40:06 > 0:40:09and classical music is the most challenging.
0:40:09 > 0:40:13The musicians, on the face of it, are speaking the same language,
0:40:13 > 0:40:15but maybe vastly different dialects.
0:40:17 > 0:40:20Traditional musicians are terrified by the technical ability,
0:40:20 > 0:40:23if you like, of orchestral musicians.
0:40:23 > 0:40:26And then the musicians of the great orchestras
0:40:26 > 0:40:30are intimidated and terrified by the fact that traditional musicians
0:40:30 > 0:40:34walk onto a stage without any sheets of music and do what they do.
0:40:34 > 0:40:38So, there has been this kind of mutual feeling of terror,
0:40:38 > 0:40:44and I think those collaborations have slowly melted that fear.
0:40:48 > 0:40:50Shetland fiddle player Chris Stout
0:40:50 > 0:40:52combined his traditional music upbringing
0:40:52 > 0:40:54with his classical music training
0:40:54 > 0:40:58to write this three-movement piece for the festival in 2007.
0:41:38 > 0:41:41The overwhelming feeling on the first rehearsal
0:41:41 > 0:41:43was sort of the magnitude of the situation,
0:41:43 > 0:41:47to be surrounded by such incredible musicians playing your music.
0:42:03 > 0:42:05It's kind of a lifelong journey
0:42:05 > 0:42:08to understand and bring these musics together, because...
0:42:08 > 0:42:11even socially, they come from very different places
0:42:11 > 0:42:14and musically, they can be very different,
0:42:14 > 0:42:16but there are so many similarities as well,
0:42:16 > 0:42:20and getting that opportunity to compose without the pressure
0:42:20 > 0:42:24of how I was representing the traditional music of the past
0:42:24 > 0:42:27or how I was doing this, that or the next thing,
0:42:27 > 0:42:29just to compose music
0:42:29 > 0:42:33and bring these two giant worlds of music together in some way,
0:42:33 > 0:42:34was great.
0:42:40 > 0:42:42Dynrost is the old name for a stretch of water
0:42:42 > 0:42:44known as the Rost,
0:42:44 > 0:42:48which is a stretch of water which lies between Sumburgh in Shetland,
0:42:48 > 0:42:50the south end of Shetland, and Fair Isle,
0:42:50 > 0:42:53and it's where the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean meet.
0:42:56 > 0:43:00The Dynrost tune is a very, very slow, calm tune.
0:43:00 > 0:43:03It's about the rare moments when the water does go calm
0:43:03 > 0:43:05and it's an easy passage.
0:43:49 > 0:43:52Celtic Connections has been the premier, you know, place
0:43:52 > 0:43:55for those kind of collaborations to happen,
0:43:55 > 0:43:59and not just collaborations with orchestras and classical musicians,
0:43:59 > 0:44:01but collaborations of all kinds.
0:44:01 > 0:44:02The way that it's brought together
0:44:02 > 0:44:04musicians from the traditional music world
0:44:04 > 0:44:06and the independent music scene,
0:44:06 > 0:44:09and traditional musicians with jazz musicians,
0:44:09 > 0:44:12it's always been about encouraging experimentation and innovation
0:44:12 > 0:44:15as much as it is about supporting, you know,
0:44:15 > 0:44:19old style and kind of traditional heartland stuff.
0:44:19 > 0:44:22I think those two things sit really comfortably alongside each other
0:44:22 > 0:44:26in the Celtic Connections programme, and no-one bats an eyelid any more,
0:44:26 > 0:44:28to have those things as part of one programme,
0:44:28 > 0:44:31and I think that's a sign of how healthy the scene is overall.
0:44:31 > 0:44:34THEY SING IN HAITIAN CREOLE
0:44:48 > 0:44:52The music featured at the festival has often included performances
0:44:52 > 0:44:55that leave some people searching for the Celtic connection.
0:44:57 > 0:45:00It used to be that every interviewer said,
0:45:00 > 0:45:03"What has that band got to do with Celtic music?"
0:45:03 > 0:45:05I think a lot of folk you hear every year
0:45:05 > 0:45:08arguing about whether something is Celtic enough to be in it,
0:45:08 > 0:45:11- but I always think, "Why can't you make new connections?"- Yeah.
0:45:11 > 0:45:15The eternal question, "Where's the Celtic connection in that?"
0:45:15 > 0:45:17And that wasn't really the point.
0:45:17 > 0:45:19The point was that our musical world
0:45:19 > 0:45:22could MAKE a connection with these other musics.
0:45:22 > 0:45:26The best way I could explain it would be that the festival
0:45:26 > 0:45:30has now evolved into one that's more about connections than Celtic.
0:45:32 > 0:45:36But, you know, we definitely have...guidelines, you know.
0:45:36 > 0:45:38I mean, there is...
0:45:38 > 0:45:41I can usually explain why every single artist is playing,
0:45:41 > 0:45:48in terms of that act's relevance to folk music, or roots music.
0:45:53 > 0:45:57In 2011, Tom Jones made his Celtic Connections debut.
0:45:59 > 0:46:00There's much talk about,
0:46:00 > 0:46:04"What's Tom got to do with Celtic music, apart from being Welsh?"
0:46:04 > 0:46:07Well, the relevance was clearly about the fact
0:46:07 > 0:46:12that he'd just recorded an album of great, old-time blues songs.
0:46:14 > 0:46:19Once you start getting into old-time American blues, R&B, soul,
0:46:19 > 0:46:22you're going to find folk music right at the heart of it,
0:46:22 > 0:46:24if you look deep enough.
0:46:29 > 0:46:32# I'm going down
0:46:32 > 0:46:35# To the crossroads
0:46:35 > 0:46:37# With no devil
0:46:37 > 0:46:40# Well, I'll make a deal
0:46:40 > 0:46:43# I'm going down
0:46:43 > 0:46:46# To the crossroads
0:46:46 > 0:46:48# With no devil
0:46:48 > 0:46:51# Well, I'll make a deal
0:46:51 > 0:46:54# Maybe there ain't no Heaven
0:46:54 > 0:46:57# No burning Hell
0:46:57 > 0:47:00# Maybe there ain't no Heaven
0:47:00 > 0:47:03# No burning Hell
0:47:03 > 0:47:04# No
0:47:11 > 0:47:13# Hey, hey
0:47:29 > 0:47:35# Ooh
0:47:40 > 0:47:42# When I die
0:47:42 > 0:47:45# Where will I go?
0:47:45 > 0:47:48# When I die
0:47:48 > 0:47:50# Where will I go?
0:47:50 > 0:47:53# Will somebody tell me
0:47:53 > 0:47:56# Will somebody tell me
0:47:56 > 0:47:59# Will somebody please tell me
0:47:59 > 0:48:02# Where will I go?
0:48:02 > 0:48:04# Maybe there ain't no Heaven
0:48:04 > 0:48:07# Or no burning Hell
0:48:07 > 0:48:10# Maybe there ain't no Heaven
0:48:10 > 0:48:13# No burning Hell
0:48:13 > 0:48:16# Maybe there ain't no Heaven
0:48:16 > 0:48:18# Maybe there ain't no Hell
0:48:18 > 0:48:21# Maybe there ain't no Heaven
0:48:21 > 0:48:24# No burning Hell
0:48:24 > 0:48:26# No
0:48:31 > 0:48:35# Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey
0:48:42 > 0:48:46# Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. #
0:48:50 > 0:48:53CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:48:53 > 0:48:57I'm all for broadening the festival, because I think it...
0:48:57 > 0:49:01I think it's gone beyond our music now.
0:49:01 > 0:49:04It's an international festival, and we can always find links
0:49:04 > 0:49:07wherever we look, even if they're quite remote links,
0:49:07 > 0:49:12but I think it's good to expose our young musicians to...
0:49:12 > 0:49:16you know, to music from different countries. It gives them ideas.
0:49:16 > 0:49:18I think it's great.
0:49:18 > 0:49:20Scotland, like Ireland, is a small country,
0:49:20 > 0:49:25and very fiercely proud of its music, which is great.
0:49:25 > 0:49:29But it can also lead to kind of a hothouse atmosphere,
0:49:29 > 0:49:33in which things are very self-referential and very,
0:49:33 > 0:49:35you know, a closed world,
0:49:35 > 0:49:40and I think Celtic Connections has helped bring in new ideas
0:49:40 > 0:49:46and new collaborations and new influences into that world
0:49:46 > 0:49:49in a way that can't be unhealthy.
0:49:49 > 0:49:53World music star Marta Sebestyen from Hungary.
0:49:53 > 0:49:56SHE SINGS IN HUNGARIAN
0:51:05 > 0:51:07As well as music from all over the world,
0:51:07 > 0:51:12Celtic Connections always recognises world-class home-grown talent.
0:51:12 > 0:51:16And one of the standout concerts from the festival in 2012
0:51:16 > 0:51:21was a tribute to Paisley-born singer-songwriter Gerry Rafferty.
0:51:21 > 0:51:25Here's his old friend and musical collaborator, Rab Noakes.
0:51:25 > 0:51:29Around the time of Gerry Rafferty's death, Martha, his daughter, and I,
0:51:29 > 0:51:32talked about what the legacy would be,
0:51:32 > 0:51:36and a concert celebrating his life and his recorded work
0:51:36 > 0:51:41and songwriting work, with a number of artists performing his songs
0:51:41 > 0:51:42was obviously high on the list.
0:51:42 > 0:51:46I mean, I knew that he was hugely respected as a songwriter,
0:51:46 > 0:51:52but I think I was amazed at the reaction worldwide.
0:51:52 > 0:51:54We could have actually done a week
0:51:54 > 0:51:58with different performers every night from around the world.
0:51:58 > 0:51:59So many people said,
0:51:59 > 0:52:04"This guy has been a massive influence on what I do musically."
0:52:04 > 0:52:07A lot of us loved Paul Brady as a traditional singer,
0:52:07 > 0:52:10so to hear him do that big song of Rafferty's was amazing.
0:52:10 > 0:52:14# Winding your way down on Baker Street
0:52:14 > 0:52:18# Light in your head and dead on your feet
0:52:18 > 0:52:20# Well, another crazy day
0:52:20 > 0:52:22# You'll drink the night away
0:52:22 > 0:52:25# And forget about everything
0:52:27 > 0:52:31# This city desert makes you feel so cold
0:52:31 > 0:52:35# It's got so many people but it's got no soul
0:52:35 > 0:52:37# And it's taken you so long
0:52:37 > 0:52:39# To find that you were wrong
0:52:39 > 0:52:42# When you thought it held everything
0:52:44 > 0:52:48# You used to think that it was so easy
0:52:48 > 0:52:52# You used to say that it was so easy
0:52:52 > 0:52:55# But you're trying
0:52:55 > 0:52:58# You're trying now
0:53:01 > 0:53:05# Another year and then you'd be happy
0:53:05 > 0:53:09# Just one more year and then you'd be happy
0:53:09 > 0:53:11# But you're crying
0:53:11 > 0:53:15# You're crying now
0:53:35 > 0:53:39# Way down the street, there's a light on in his place
0:53:39 > 0:53:43# He opens the door, he's got that look on his face
0:53:43 > 0:53:45# And he asks you where you've been
0:53:45 > 0:53:47# You tell him who you've seen
0:53:47 > 0:53:50# And you talk about anything
0:53:52 > 0:53:56# He's got this dream about buying some land
0:53:56 > 0:54:01# He's gonna give up the booze and the one night stands
0:54:01 > 0:54:02# And then he'll settle down
0:54:02 > 0:54:05# In some quiet little town
0:54:05 > 0:54:08# And forget about everything
0:54:10 > 0:54:14# But you know he's going to keep moving
0:54:14 > 0:54:17# You know he's never going to stop moving
0:54:17 > 0:54:20# Cos he's rolling
0:54:20 > 0:54:23# He's a rolling stone
0:54:26 > 0:54:31# And when you wake up it's a new morning
0:54:31 > 0:54:35# The sun is shining, it's a new morning
0:54:35 > 0:54:37# And you're going
0:54:37 > 0:54:40# You're going home. #
0:56:27 > 0:56:30So, with the festival selling four times as many tickets
0:56:30 > 0:56:32as it did in the first year,
0:56:32 > 0:56:34and with seven times as many musicians
0:56:34 > 0:56:37coming to Glasgow to perform at over 300 events,
0:56:37 > 0:56:40it's a very happy birthday for Celtic Connections.
0:56:40 > 0:56:42Here's to the next 20.
0:56:42 > 0:56:45The festival will be here in 20 years, yeah. I won't!
0:56:45 > 0:56:48The festival will definitely be here in 20 years, I think, yeah.
0:56:51 > 0:56:56Commerciality gets its teeth into everything, almost,
0:56:56 > 0:57:02and does quite a lot of damage by its demands and expectations.
0:57:02 > 0:57:05And what's impressive about Celtic Connections
0:57:05 > 0:57:09is that it seems to have resisted all of that.
0:57:09 > 0:57:11So, what you're left with, then,
0:57:11 > 0:57:14is something with a massive core credibility.
0:57:18 > 0:57:20I mean, we never had anything like that when we started.
0:57:20 > 0:57:22I mean, imagine...
0:57:22 > 0:57:25I could never imagine a thing like Celtic Connections.
0:57:25 > 0:57:26What a platform!
0:57:32 > 0:57:36Celtic Connections is just a place where I can return to,
0:57:36 > 0:57:37like, for a little bit.
0:57:37 > 0:57:40It's like those video games where you have to go home
0:57:40 > 0:57:43to get energised again and then you go back into the year.
0:57:49 > 0:57:52Very often, you can have a young, up-and-coming,
0:57:52 > 0:57:56very promising, exciting band from our own doorstep
0:57:56 > 0:58:01opening for some of the world's great superstars.
0:58:01 > 0:58:04That means that audiences and artists alike
0:58:04 > 0:58:07are being exposed to what is great about our own music.
0:58:13 > 0:58:16It's been more than just a festival for the scene, I think.
0:58:16 > 0:58:20It's been...a kind of vehicle to realise musical dreams.
0:58:28 > 0:58:31If you'd like to see more Celtic Connections music,
0:58:31 > 0:58:34visit the website...
0:58:48 > 0:58:50Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd