Catching Up!

My apologies. It's been a while since the last post, however we've not been idle. Honestly!

Since the last bulletin,  had a great concert from Steve Daggett of Lindisfarne back in August and we're now preparing for this weekend's gig by ace guitarist John Goldie. Coming up in the lift, we have outrageously talented guitarist/singer/songwriter Elliott Morris who appears on THURSDAY 3rd October whilst the legendary  Rab Noakes  graces the stage at Ceol on Saturday 26th October. 

More information on these gigs and some early warnings on next year's concerts coming shortly.

Guitarist John Goldie plays at Ceol on Saturday 14th September

Looking back to the Steve Daggett gig for a second, it was a master-class on how to engage an audience with a mixture of familiar and unfamiliar material. Steve augmented his voice and guitar with occasional harmonica and stomp-box which brought real moments of light and shade to the music. By the end of the night, not only was everyone singing along with the obvious favourites from Lindisfarne/Alan Hull's back catalogue (Lady Eleanor, Fog on the Tyne, City Song, Meet Me on the Corner, Run from Home and One More Bottle of Wine to mention but a few) and also a couple from a certain Mr Zimmerman (Maggie's Farm and Don't Think Twice It's Alright), they were also making a dive for Steve's stack of his own CDs. Next time round, the Ceol crowd will be singing along to Daggett-penned classics such as Mandolin Moon, Devil's Causeway and the peerless Ballad of Jimmy Forsyth. Here's a couple of clips from the gig on our YouTube Channel.  As you will see, Willie Durnan's lights also played a major part in the success of the show - classy and sympathetic as ever. Many thanks, Willie!

Steve Dagget at Ceol

Moving back to John Goldie, it's pretty hard to categorise this guy and I'm not sure he would want to be pigeon-holed. Although acknowledged as one of the finest jazz guitarists in the world, whether solo or playing in a combo, John also brings his own finely-honed rock, soul and folk influences to his performances, reinventing classics such as this or even more surprising, this!  He is also a fine composer in his own right as evidenced here performing with his excellent Acoustic Unit.

It's shaping up to be another great night at Ceol so we hope to see you there! There are a few tickets still available at the reception at The Ardshiel Hotel, priced £8.  However, best not leave it too late in case you get  caught out by the infamous Campbeltown rush and miss out as you'll probably end up regretting it for the rest of your life!