BOYS READY TO HELP HEBCELT GET IN THE RHYTHM
Interview release
Hebridean Celtic Festival
Year of Homecoming 2014
- Canadian favourites heading for HebCelt
- Island festival date for award-winning band
- Visit will celebrate international cultural ties
With their energetic style and feel-good, old time roots music, Gordie MacKeeman and His Rhythm Boys are the ideal festival crowd pleasers.
Throw in the Scottish-Canadian cultural connection and the award-winning four-piece from Prince Edward Island have all the credentials to be a big hit at the Hebridean Celtic Festival this summer.
The hard-working band have toured in Scotland, England, Australia, Tasmania, Isle of Man, Belgium, and the US in the last year, with shows in Canada, Malaysia and Ireland lined up before HebCelt, which runs from 16-19 July in Stornoway.
According to the band’s frontman, famous for his jelly-legged dancing style and trademark headwear, there is a real affinity with the Scottish audiences.
“Our travels so far in Scotland have been great. The people are so welcoming and it is amazing how they make us feel at home. The good whisky doesn't hurt either!
“Coming from a small island in eastern Canada, we feel a strong kinship with the HebCelt festival. Although we do not consider ourselves a Celtic group, we can't help but have those influences in our music from our strong Celtic heritage on Prince Edward Island. We are really looking forward to being a part of this festival.”
The Rhythm Boys - Gordie MacKeeman (vocals,fiddle), Peter Cann (vocals, lead guitar), Thomas Webb (vocals, bass, banjo) and Mark Geddes (vocals, snare drum) – were presented with the Galaxie Supernova Award at the 2012 Ottawa Folk Festival for their outstanding performance and MacKeeman feels festivals are an important part of their year.
“Being in a genre that is not mainstream on radio or TV today, festivals are a great way to get our music to a varied audience”, he said. “We also love to play for a live audience, and there is no better audience than a festival audience.
“But to travel the world with your best friends and get to do a job that you all love - there is no better feeling than that.”
The 2014 HebCelt will be headlined by Levellers, Big Country and Donnie Munro. Other renowned acts, including Cara Dillon, Duncan Chisholm and Rachel Sermanni will also feature in the festival’s biggest ever programme.
This year it was selected as one of the top 10 UK summer festivals for the fourth year in succession by the influential music magazine Songlines.
NOTES TO EDITORS
The 2013 HebCelt was the most successful in its history with ticket sales showing an increase of over 30 per cent on 2012. Just over half the 16,000 festival-goers came from outside the Hebrides and the huge influx of visitors from across Europe, the US, Australia and New Zealand, 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.
For more information contact
John Ross
Lucid PR
01463 724593; 07730 099617
johnross@lucidmessages.com
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