HO-RO TAKING ONE STEP FURTHER ON LADDER TO SUCCESS
Interview release
Hebridean Celtic Festival
Year of Homecoming 2014
• HebCelt talent contest winners ready to take the stage
• Ho-ro to play at festival which opens today
• Newly-formed band are double award winners this year
It is just over a year since Sean Cousins hastily put together a band for a one-off show in the hotel where he was working.
Since then, Hò-rò has hardly stopped playing, won two major awards, recorded an EP, been recognised overseas and seen its line-up as well as its fan base expand.
According to Cousins, the then trio was formed in March 2013 almost by accident: “I was working as a waiter and my boss needed entertainment for a dinner party night that the hotel was hosting.
“She knew I was a musician so asked me to get a few folk together. We never intended to take it further, but the feedback we received was amazing so we couldn't just leave it. We started arranging a few tune sets and songs and before we knew it we were playing full time as Hò-rò.”
Cousins, from Inverness, a self-taught pianist, drummer and guitarist who works as a full-time musician and producer, was originally joined by accordionist Calum Macphail, from Fort William, and singer Rachael Macdonald, from Inverness.
Macdonald subsequently left to concentrate on her university studies and Hò-rò became a four-piece with the addition of piper Crisdean Macdonald, from South Uist and vocalist and fiddler Lucy Doogan, from Ballachulish, who are both studying at Sabhal Mor Ostaig, the Gaelic college in Skye.
“We were amazed at how quickly the new line-up gelled together and how quickly we became friends”, said Cousins. “The band has a new vibe and we couldn't be happier.”
“We decided on the name Hò-rò because it seemed to fit what we were doing at the time. We wanted something short and catchy that also has relevance to our sound.
“You will often come across the word hò-rò in Gaelic song. It doesn’t really have any meaning; it’s more of a sound, a vocable. It’s used a lot in mouth music where the sound and rhythm have more importance than the depth and sense of the lyrics.”
In January the new line-up won a Danny Kyle Open Stage at Celtic Connections award and in May learned it had beat bands from all over the UK to win the Hebridean Celtic Festival’s One Step Further talent contest. The award comes with a coveted main stage slot at the award-winning HebCelt which opens today (Wednesday 16 July) and runs until Saturday.
It will see Hò-rò perform alongside headliners Levellers, Big Country and Donnie Munro at the festival that attracts an audience of around 16,000 – double the population of its host town.
At HebCelt the line-up will also include 15-year-old drummer Rory Grindlay, from West Calder, who has been making a name for himself on YouTube after posting drum covers from a range of different music styles.
“We are still shocked and over the moon that two festivals that we have all at some point dreamed of playing at have acknowledged us and chosen us as winners”, said Cousins.
“Winning the One Step Further competition is a huge deal for us because this festival has hosted so many amazing bands and musicians over the years, some of which are idols of ours.
“It gives us the opportunity to show what we are about to a large audience and we are so grateful that we are able to do this. HebCelt has always received amazing reviews and has always been at the top of our list of places we want to play.”
In the meantime, Hò-rò was invited to play the Triskell Celtic Festival in Trieste and Celtica in Valle D’Aosta: “We didn’t expect to have any kind of international recognition so early on, so it came as a shock when we saw the email (inviting the band to the festivals).
“The organisers had seen our Celtic Connections set online and said they loved our energy and enthusiasm.”
The immediate future will see the band play pubs and clubs around the country as they build up their fanbase further: “Our aim is to play as much as we can to really work on our material and get our sound as tight as possible”, said Cousins. “We believe that the best time to work on that is at a gig. It’s only at a gig that you can really judge what’s working for you and the audience and what’s not.
“We want to keep developing our style and really find out what this band is capable of. We don't really focus on the status of the band. We just love playing music and other people seem to enjoy what we are doing so that's a bonus.
“We are very lucky that we are able to do what we love and at the same time, meet so many great people. Traveling is something we all love to do and the fact that we can travel with our music is amazing.”
The One Step Further contest for young artists is now an annual feature of HebCelt which this year was selected as one of the Top 10 UK summer festivals by influential music publication Songlines for the third successive year.
The 19th festival will also include performances by Cara Dillon, Rachel Sermanni, Duncan Chisholm, Cajun band Magnolia Sisters, from the US, and Canadian outfit Gordie MacKeeman and His Rhythm Boys.
NOTES TO EDITORS
In 2013 a total of 16,000 people visited HebCelt, generating around £1 million for the local economy.
The event was selected for the third year in succession as one of the top ten UK summer festivals by music magazine Songlines and was shortlisted in the Best Independent Festival category in the AIM Independent Music Awards.
It 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.
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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