Day: August 28, 2014

Regarded as one of the finest contemporary folk bands, Other Roads are the guests at Irvine Folk Club on Wednesday September 3rd. Their excellent musicianship will make for an excellent first club night back after a particularly memorable Marymass Folk Festival.
Pete Abbott, Gregor Borland and Dave Walmisley are talented multi-instrumentalists. They play an impressive selection of instruments including fiddle, bouzouki, mandolin, guitars and harmonica. Expect to hear some fine harmony singing too.
The Other Roads repertoire reflects their diverse backgrounds in Scotland, England and Zimbabwe resulting in an eclectic mix of traditional, contemporary and original material that ranges from soft ballads to foot stomping Celtic fiddle tunes and choruses.
The friendship that is shared by Pete, Gregor and Dave shines through, as does the sheer enjoyment of what they do. Other Roads put the emphasis on firmly on entertainment and this they achieve very well.
As well as being multi-instrumentalists, their other musical talents include teaching Scottish fiddle all over the world, arranging music and song writing. Despite all of that, one of the band hankers to be a rock star playing bass.
The band played a two month tour in New Zealand at the beginning of the year and since then have been touring extensively in the UK. Following a September tour of the UK, which includes the Irvine date, they tour the Netherlands and Germany.
Other Roads will be at Irvine Folk Club on Wednesday, September 3rd, in Vineburgh Community Centre. The club starts at 8pm and its BYOB,
The website for Irvine Folk Club is now available at www.irvinefolkclub.org.uk

Marymass Folk Festival

‘Absolutely good!’ was the unsolicited verdict of a beaming Primary 2 pupil at St Mark’s after hearing Canadian Roots band My Sweet Patootie play – and it neatly illustrates the response throughout the 47th Marymass Folk Festival.
The concert at St Mark’s was one of four Folk Music in Schools sessions which were part of the 20 Folk Festival events with an exceptionally high standard of music and entertainment throughout.
Over the five days, audiences repeatedly said how much they enjoyed the music – in terms of quality and entertainment – and of course the musicians responded and the whole Festival just kept getting better. ‘When all the planning comes together it’s very satisfying for everyone concerned – audiences, musicians as well as those who help support the Festival financially or in kind’ said Folk Festival Chair Anne Clarke. ‘And it would be remiss not to mention the valuable role of the main venues – Vineburgh Community Centre, The Ship Inn and the Volunteer Rooms. They all welcomed the Festival and that was a key factor in the overall success of this year’s event.’
On the final day of the Folk Festival, former Kilwinning man now resident in Wales Bobby Connell went away with two World Championships. Bobby was the comfortable winner of both the Whammy-Diddling and the Chuckie-Chucking trophies..….and then donated the accompanying bottles of whisky back to the Festival!
And to round off a fabulous Marymass Folk Festival, it can be reported that the Festival Treasurer Joyce Hodge slept soundly happy in the knowledge that the Festival cleared its feet!