BREABACH (SCOTLAND) + STRAY HENS
Nominated Best Group – BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2014
Live Act of the Year – MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards 2013
“Breabach once again displayed all the artfulness, ambition and imagination that set them so decisively apart from the pack.” Scotsman ****
“Tempos are often exhilarating, & the ensemble interplay is fiery. The colours & textures are beautifully layered but spaciously uncluttered lending the Breabach sound a depth & definition that only strengthens its impact.” Songlines ****
“a richly textured, highly crafted & engaging album & Breabach are magnificent live.” Froots
Ever since launching their career as winners of an Open Stage Award at Celtic Connections 2005, Breabach’s star has been steeply on the rise, an ascent that continues with the release of their fourth album, Ùrlar.
They are often described as the new faces of Scottish Traditional music. Their career has already seen them voted ‘Best Group’ at the Scots Trad Music Awards and nominated for BBC Radio 2 Folk and German Folk Awards. Breabach unite the thrilling talents of Calum MacCrimmon (pipes/whistles/ bouzouki), Ewan Robertson (guitar/vocals), James Mackenzie (pipes/flute/whistles), Megan Henderson (fiddle/ vocals/stepdance) and James Lindsay (double bass). Founder members and new recruits have forged a seamlessly fresh creative dynamic, further enriching Breabach’s signature synergy of songs and tunes, traditional and modern, sweetness and fire. Recent years have seen Breabach performing across the globe. 2014 kicked off with a New Year performance at the Woodford Festival in Australia. March and April will saw them perform at WOMAD New Zealand and Sydney Opera House before returning to the UK for HebCelt Festival and the Commonwealth Games. They were back down under in November before celebrating Christmas in South Korea and returning home to Scotland for Edinburgh’s Hogmanay.
Stray Hens had a huge 2014, launching their debut album and playing a mountain of gigs around the country. Their show is a dynamic mix of rhythm and harmony, lead by the incredibly talented Mandy Connell and an acclaimed group of musicians that include Rowena Wise on fiddle/vocals, Richard Grace on double bass, Ryan Tews on drums and percussion and Sally Taylor on fiddle/vocals.
They are playing every festival in the book this summer, and will be a perfect match for the Scots.
