BIGGER STAGE BECKONS FOR AWARD-WINNING TRIO
News release
Hebridean Celtic Festival
Year of Homecoming 2014
- HebCelt date awaits Mischa MacPherson Trio
- Double award winners will be big attraction at island festival
- International dates and CD plans for group
Success for Mischa MacPherson is being able to combine her twin passions of music and travel, and sharing the experience with two of her closest friends makes it even more special.
If there was a masterplan, it’s been surpassed already. This year Mischa and band mates Innes White and Conal McDonagh became a major force in the traditional music world, winning a Danny Kyle Award at Celtic Connections, followed by a BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award a few weeks later.
“We’re still a little shocked and have to pinch ourselves every now and again”, said Mischa. “We entered both the Danny Kyle and the Radio 2 Folk Awards with very low expectations – actually both applications were made on a whim.
“We’ve been over the moon since winning them. And, yes, the phone has been ringing more now. When we were short-listed for the Radio 2 award, I’d never had a more exciting email in all my life, and then I got to phone the boys to let them know too.”
The trio are all products of the National Centre of Excellence in Traditional Music in Plockton and got together at the Gaelic arts event Feis Ross. Since then singer and clarsach player Mischa, 20, from Sandwick in Lewis; guitarist and composer Innes, 19, from Dingwall; and Conal, 19, who was brought up in Poolewe, Wester Ross, and plays whistles and pipes, have performed on the International Ceilidh Trail in 2011 and toured top UK folk festivals as well as international venues.
With the awards increasing demand for their services, the trio have a series of dates lined up this year across Scotland and in England, Norway and Canada, with hopes of fitting in recording of a CD in between.
“We would really like to travel more and get to see the world together as a band. Staying good friends and continuing to enjoy what we do is also really important for us. We enjoy each other’s company and making music together – and right now we are making the most of the brilliant opportunities coming our way”, said Mischa.
“We absolutely love the travelling part. My two loves in life are music and travelling and it’s the most incredible feeling to sit in a new country knowing that it’s music that has brought you to experience another little corner of the world.
“It’s even more amazing when your band mates are, or become, your closest friends. What is technically ‘work’ transforms into an exciting adventure.
“However, we definitely don’t change the music depending on the location. We like to keep our material true to how we would play it at home and I think people around the world often appreciate that more, especially with Gaelic songs.”
One of Mischa’s earliest musical memories is sitting on her father’s shoulders while he danced into the night to the bands performing at the Hebridean Celtic Festival.
This week she is back at the festival when the trio will be one of the leading acts at the festival’s Gaelic Showcase.
“HebCelt is a really special time of year for me”, she said. “I think I’ve only ever missed one or two festivals since they began.
“My dad has taken me dutifully every year and I still always catch a concert or two with him. It was there that I was introduced to a large and diverse range of inspirational musicians and probably where my love for Scottish music was reinforced.
“It’s incredible to have the world’s greatest folk musicians stop by this bonnie little island every year and I hope that it will long continue.
“Last year I was really lucky to sing with Lewis Women in An Lanntair and it’s just so exciting to be going up again this year with the trio.
“They’ll be plenty of songs from home and the Western Isles in our set as well as tunes and songs that we have picked up along the road.
“Audiences seem to really enjoy folk music at festivals now, and it’s great to be a part of that.”
The award-winning HebCelt is being held until Saturday in Stornoway and is headlined by Levellers, Big Country and Donnie Munro. Rachel Sermanni, Cara Dillon, Duncan Chisholm, Cajun band Magnolia Sisters, from the US, and Canadian outfit Gordie MacKeeman and His Rhythm Boys will also be among nearly 40 acts featuring in the event’s biggest ever programme.
NOTES TO EDITORS
This year HebCelt was selected as one of the top 10 UK summer festivals for the fourth year in succession by the influential music magazine Songlines.
The 2013 event was the most successful in its history with ticket sales showing an increase of over 30 per cent on the previous year 2012. The 16,000-strong crowd – double the population of Stornoway - helped generate around £1 million for the local economy
Last year HebCelt was also hailed as one of the greenest festivals in the world after being the only Scottish event to receive an Outstanding award from environmental campaign group A Greener Festival. In addition, it was shortlisted in the Greener Festival category in the UK Festival Awards and in the Best Independent Festival category in the AIM Independent Music Awards.
In 2011 it was ranked Best Large Festival at the industry-sponsored Scottish Event Awards and it won Best Event of the Year award at the MG Alba Scots Trad Music Awards in 2004 and 2009.
See - http://www.hebceltfest.com
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/HebCelt
Twitter https://twitter.com/HebCelt
Cision News Room - http://news.cision.com/hebridean-celtic-festival
For more information contact
John Ross
Lucid PR
01463 724593; 07730 099617
johnross@lucidmessages.com
Tags:
