HEBCELT: GIRLS BRINGING A RAY OF SUNSHINE TO THE HEBRIDES
Interview release
Hebridean Celtic Festival
Year of Natural Scotland
- Talent contest winners Gria head for HebCelt
- Festival main stage beckons for female quartet
- Group enjoying award-winning debut year
Pic caption - Gria are (left to right) Gemma Tlefer, Lana Elaine, Ceitlin LR Smith and Louise Bichan
They may be only half way through their debut year but it’s already a memorable one for female quartet Gria.
Their first gig together was at Celtic Connections in February when they walked off with the Danny Kyle Open Stage award and the following month they played for the Scottish Government at Edinburgh Castle.
In April they were voted the best of 17 high quality entries to win the Hebridean Celtic Festival’s One Step Further talent contest to secure a sought-after main stage slot at this summer’s event.
Gria will now find themselves sharing the stage with headliners Van Morrison, Dougie MacLean, Capercaillie, The Battlefield Band and the Red Hot Chilli Pipers when HebCelt is held from 17-20 July in Stornoway in the island of Lewis.
The Glasgow-based group – singer Ceitlin LR Smith, from Lewis; fiddler Louise Bichan, from Orkney; pianist Lana Elaine, from Shetland and accordionist Gemma Telfer, from Northumberland – have embarked on their first tour and have also been recording, with plans to release an EP in the summer and their first album by the end of this year or early 2014.
They see the 18th HebCelt, which will attract an international audience of over 14,000, as a major opportunity to showcase their mix of traditional and contemporary music.
Ceitlin, 20, from Ness in Lewis, said: “I’ve been to HebCelt a few times and I love it. I can't quite believe I will be attending as an artist this year, but I am very excited. To perform at such a great venue in my home town really is an honour.
“We were shocked to hear we had won, being such a newly formed band, but we were over the moon about it. There was a lot of screaming down the phone when we found out; just like there was when we found out we'd be playing at Heb Celt this year.
“It gave us some instant recognition and our experience will act as a stepping stone for future gigs and festivals.”
Gria first got together at the end of last year. Ceitlin, Gemma and Lana attend the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (formally known as the Royal Academy of Music and Drama) together. Louise, a graduate of the Glasgow School of Art, also played with Lana in a band called Dalamist.
Ceitlin said: “Originally we thought of calling ourselves 'Grian' which means 'sun' in Gaelic, but there is already a Grian recording company so we got rid of the last letter and quite liked the sound of 'Gria'. So we like to think of ourselves as a little ray of sunshine.”
Ceitlin, who is fluent in both Gaelic and English, has been singing competitively since the age of six and has won numerous medals in both local and National Mods. Last year she competed for the first time in the adult traditional song competition, coming third overall.
Gemma will celebrate her 19th birthday at HebCelt and said the gig can’t come quick enough: “I couldn’t ask for a better present than getting to perform with Gria at such a fabulous event. It will be my first time visiting HebCelt and the Isle of Lewis... I can't wait.”
Lana Elaine, 20, believes the festival can be a stepping stone to future success for the girls: “The opportunity to perform at HebCelt is fantastic. I'm hoping that Gria will go on to play at more festivals and events here in the UK and further afield.
“I am really looking forward to our tour this summer and just hope that we can keep the ball rolling. There's nothing better than performing for people, and with the lasses it is always a great laugh. Fingers crossed we will be recording an album soon too. It's all go at Gria HQ.”
Louise, 24, has fond memories of the island festival: “I've been to HebCelt before and loved it; the first time I stayed with friends I'd met on a National Youth Orchestra of Scotland course after we discovered our mutual love of folk/trad music and they invited me to come to the festival.
“I attended Taransay Fiddle Camp after the festival as well, which was absolutely fantastic. I also played at Heb Celt in 2011 with Rachel Sermanni and I'm really excited to be going back this year with Gria.”
HebCelt attracts interest from across the world and was recently selected as one of the Top 10 UK summer festivals by influential music publication Songlines for the third successive year.
Tickets have already been snapped up by fans across the UK and Ireland, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and America.
The line-up also includes Karine Polwart, Darrell Scott, Pete Roe, Paddy Callaghan, and local artists Iain Morrison, The Boy who Trapped the Sun and Face the West, as well as Dundee’s Anderson, McGinty, Webster, Ward & Fisher; Lau, voted ‘Best Group’ at this year’s Radio Two Folk Awards; Orcadian eight-piece The Chair; The Hot Seats, from Virginia; Manchester outfit The Travelling Band; Welsh band Rusty Shackle; Fatherson and The Dirty Beggars and Donald MacDonald & The Islands, from Glasgow, Rose Parade, a four-piece from Ayr and Gria, winners of this year’s One Step Further competition.
For further information contact
John Ross
Lucid PR
01463 724593; 07730 099617
johnross@lucidmessages.com
NOTES TO EDITORS
The 18th HebCelt takes place from 17-20 July, 2013 and will have two main stages on the Castle Green in front of the Lews Castle in Stornoway, as well as performances in An Lanntair and throughout the rural community.
This year the festival has been selected for the third year in succession as one of the top ten UK summer festivals by music magazine Songlines. It emerged victorious as Best Large Festival at the industry-sponsored Scottish Event Awards 2011, in a three-way final with Edinburgh’s Hogmanay and Glasgow’s Celtic Connections.
Visitors from Algeria, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Romania, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand and the US made the journey to Lewis last year, as well as many from across the UK.
The overseas contingent helped swell the ranks of a 120-strong volunteer army that contributed over 3,500 unpaid man hours over the course of the four days.
HebCelt is supported by Creative Scotland, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar and Highlands & Islands Enterprise and injects more than £1.5 million annually into the local economy.
It is regarded by critics, performers and festival-goers as one of the top Celtic music festivals in Europe and has twice won the Best Event of the Year award at the MG Alba Scots Trad Music Awards, which is voted for by the public.
HebCelt has been hailed as one of the UK’s top 50 festivals by the Daily Telegraph and one of the top five by The Scotsman.
Visit the festival website at www.hebceltfest.com
The festival has its own YouTube channel, Facebook and Twitter outlets.
http://www.youtube.com/user/hebceltfest
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hebridean-Celtic-Festival/70400006768?ref=ts
http://twitter.com/#!/hebcelt/
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