GOOD NEWS COMES IN THREES FOR CELTIC FESTIVAL
News Release
Hebridean Celtic Festival
- First bands announced for HebCelt’s 18th birthday
- Island event to feature on festive TV schedule
- International interest in advance tickets for summer spectacular
Two of Scotland’s top live acts and a livewire American band who have become one of the most popular on the UK roots circuit have signed up to appear at the award-winning Hebridean Celtic Festival next summer.
The Battlefield Band, The Red Hot Chilli Pipers and The Hot Seats are the first acts to be revealed for the island festival which will be held from 17-20 July, 2013 and based in the island of Lewis.
Regarded as one of the great institutions of the traditional music scene, the Battlefield Band, who release their 28th album in January, have been performing around the world for over 40 years and were named Scottish Folk Band of the Year at the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards in 2011.
Their gig on the festival’s main stage on Friday, 19 July, will be a homecoming for fiddler Alasdair White who was born in Stornoway. The line-up also includes fiddler, piper and vocalist Ewen Henderson, originally from Fort William, as well as Sean O'Donnell (vocals/guitar), from Derry, Northern Ireland, and guitarist and piper Mike Katz, originally from Los Angeles.
Alasdair said: "We’re really pleased to be playing the HebCelt in 2013. It's my home turf so it's particularly important to me. It's actually the first time I've played in my home town with the Battlefield Band since I joined them at the age of 18 and I'm really looking forward to it.
“Over the years quite a few people have asked when the band will play in Lewis so it's brilliant to finally be there.
“I've been going to the HebCelt since I was a kid - I attended the very first one when I was about 13! The workshops have always been a superb opportunity to learn from visiting musicians, but perhaps even more important for me was to see bands of a really high calibre up there playing on a fitting stage, right on your doorstep. I always hesitate to use the word 'inspiring' too lightly but in actual fact this was.
“It's a real honour and a pleasure to come back now and perhaps even do the same thing for other young musicians."
The Battlefield Band’s performance will be followed on Saturday, 20 July by the internationally-acclaimed Red Hot Chilli Pipers who last appeared at HebCelt in 2008. Their ‘Bagrock’ style is in demand around the world and has seen them voted Scottish Live Act of the Year in 2007 and 2010.
Formed in 2002, the Chillis, who play Alhambra in Dunfermline on 30 December and Stonehaven’s Hogmanany celebrations the following night, are in demand at home and abroad for their lively live act which mixes the traditional pipes with modern rock.
“To be invited to return to the festival five years on from our original performance in 2008 is amazing”, said piper Kevin MacDonald. “A lot has evolved in our band over these five years and we have had many different experiences but I can tell you personally that nothing has yet surpassed my first experience of Heb Celt – outstanding people, place and atmosphere.
“This year will see the full Chilli team taking the stage with our brass section – the Horn Supremacy joining us. We are all really looking forward to taking part in one of Scotland’s best outdoor festivals – roll on July 2013.”
Also confirmed to appear on the Thursday and Friday are Virginian five-piece The Hot Seats whose hard-to-characterise music mixes Bluegrass, skiffle, ragtime, blues and rock ‘n’ roll and list among their influences Woodie Guthrie, Frank Zappa and George Formby.
The band have gone down a storm at events including Celtic Connections, Shetland Folk Festival, Didmarton Bluegrass Festival, Maverick Festival, Speyfest and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe where they were awarded a coveted Herald Angel in 2008 for their outstanding contribution to the event.
The band's Josh Bearman, who shares stints on double bass and banjo, said: “No trip to the UK is complete without a good string of dates in Scotland, and we couldn’t imagine being in Scotland and not playing the Western Isles.
“One of the most memorable gigs for all of us was when we played An Lanntair in the summer of 2011.
“We have been hoping to return to Stornoway for another wild and fun-filled night and we are ecstatic to be coming back for HebCelt.”
The 18th HebCelt is attracting huge interest across the globe seven months ahead of the event. Advance tickets – which are being held at 2012 prices of £70 (£55 for concession and £15 for children under 14) for the main arena events – have already been snapped up by fans across the UK and Ireland, Europe and America.
This year’s event - which was headlined by The Waterboys, The Proclaimers and Kassidy – saw a major expansion in programming and attracted visitors from 19 different countries.
There will be a chance to re-live some of the highlights when BBC Alba screen a 15-minute programme featuring Mànran on 27 December, followed by an hour-long special on The Proclaimers’ HebCelt gig on 29 December.
A further two programmes are scheduled for the start of the year featuring Admiral Fallow, Washington Irving, Isobel Ann Martin and Niteworks on 5 Jan; and Kassidy, Skerryvore, Frank Yamma and David Bridie on 12 Jan.
Festival director Caroline Maclennan, said: “Next year’s festival is already off to a great start with confirmation that The Battlefield Band, The Red Hot Chilli Pipers and The Hot Seats will be in the line-up. All three are fantastic live bands and will add to the special atmosphere for which HebCelt is renowned.
“With some more fabulous names still to announce, our 18th birthday looks set to be a special occasion.”
For further information contact
John Ross
Lucid PR
01463 724593; 07730 099617
johnross@lucidmessages.com
NOTES TO EDITORS
The 18th HebCelt takes place between 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.
Last year the festival was selected for the second 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 this 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 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.
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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