Folk

Ravi Shankar - Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Mon 22 Aug

A mesmerising show of classical Indian music as part of 2011 EIF

24 Aug 2011

Ravi Shankar crossed over into popular culture with his associations with various 60s musicians, working with and/or influencing the likes of The Beatles, The Kinks and The Byrds. Going on to play at iconic festivals such as Woodstock and The Monterey…

Bert Jansch set for 2011 Edinburgh Festival date

Returning folk hero, pal of Neil Young and Devendra Banhart

16 Aug 2011

One of the great acoustic guitarists, Bert Jansch comes to Edinburgh fresh from an American tour with Neil Young and a London show with folk-jazz supergroup The Pentangle. Jansch has been doing an annual Festival show since the mid-90s, touching base…

Orkestra del Sol's Top Trumps

Balkan, gypsy and polka sounds in a musical face-off

12 Aug 2011

Orkestra del Sol’s Top Trumps show is an inspired concept for a live music performance. Flyers bearing each band member’s vital statistics are handed out prior to the gig, so that audience members can pick a favourite from the nine musicians. The…

Fringe show The Trains explores Holocaust

Music and video with score by Steve Reich, Weill, Mahler, Puccini and Górecki

10 Aug 2011

Songs from the Holocaust might seem too dark a subject to tackle. But Greek-born singer Marika Klambatsea is convinced that even music from this bleakest of periods can be life-affirming. ‘Music can help people overcome tragedy. From these songs, you…

Fingerstyle guitarist Andy McKee Glasgow and Edinburgh dates

Virtuoso guitar plucker who made his name on YouTube

28 Jul 2011

In 2006 American ‘fingerstyle’ guitarist Andy Mckee joined the YouTube sensation club when he posted a video of himself performing his song ‘Drifting’. It has to be seen and heard to be believed – nearly 78,000,000 hits and climbing – but McKee is…

Lach's Antihoot music showcase returns to 2011 Edinburgh Festival

Antifolk set and nightly showcase from Edinburgh-based New Yorker

27 Jul 2011

Having brought his Antihoot night to the Edinburgh Fringe for the first time last year, New York’s antifolk originator Lach (it’s pronounced ‘latch’, which Scots might find counter-intuitive) has found himself a new home. The man whose seminal open mic…

Mr McFall’s Chamber

Tribute to Scottish techno-folk composer

12 Aug 2010

In a concert featuring the music from their latest album, Mr McFall’s Chamber present a programme of the same name, ‘Birds and Beasts’, celebrating the musical legacy of ‘folk meets techno’ composer Martyn Bennett, and including a couple of pieces by…

Withered Hand set for Edge Festival show

Key player in Edinburgh alt.folk scene hits the Fringe

10 Aug 2010

This likeable oddball is a key player in Edinburgh’s alt.folk scene. Singer Dan Willson is a regular performer at Fence Record nights (and also pops up at this week’s Haarfest festival, see page 129) and counts Neil Pennycook (of Meursault) Bart Owl…

The Ukulele Project

Charming folk take on modern classics

8 Aug 2010

Festival newbies The Ukulele Project make their debut here, bringing their unique take on everything from Radiohead and The Beatles to Plan B and Gorillaz.

The Loose Screw promises a sexy gypsy midnight music party

Denise Black answers five questions on her Fringe show

5 Aug 2010

5 words I’d use to describe my show Sexy gypsy midnight music party. 4 things I bring on tour Guitar, pedal steel, busking licence… and I can’t do without my virtuoso guitarist Graeme Taylor, who was a long-haired rockstar in the 70s with folk…

Lady Carol - Malady

We asked the singing, ukelele playing, dark-humorist five questions

30 Jul 2010

This ukelele lady has an inky-black sense of humour, and can turn the sweetest of love songs into a creepy stalker anthem. Just, please, keep her away from bright light and cakes. Five words you’d use to describe your show Sad songs, silly…

Lach’s Antihoot - anti-folk night imported from NYC

Birthplace of Beck, Regina Spekto and Jeffrey Lewis comes to Fringe

30 Jul 2010

‘The Antihoot is the heartbeat of the anti-folk revolution,’ explains its infamous founder, Lach. ‘It produced US acts like Regina Spektor, Beck and Jeffrey Lewis, and inspired UK practitioners like Kate Nash and Laura Marling.’ It also prompted…

Villagers at the Edge Festival

Tender, poetic pop, now with added Mercury nomination

30 Jul 2010

‘I usually have a picture or a colour in my head as I’m making a song,’ says Dublin’s Conor O’Brien – the dulcet bard and multi-instrumentalist behind Villagers’ picturesque rock. And so it was with Becoming a Jackal (Domino), the dramatic…

Edinburgh Mela 2010

An international and ceremonial start to the Festivals

30 Jul 2010

These days the Mela is just as much of a ceremonial start to Edinburgh’s Festivals as the (often far less exciting) Fringe Cavalcade. This year, alongside Bollywood dance shows, multi-artform companies from China, traditional Sufi music from Rizwan…

Homecoming at Henderson's

Graceful homecoming at a fine old Edinburgh powerhouse

17 Sep 2009

Henderson’s is an Edinburgh stalwart whose vegetarian power base, begun on Hanover Street in the early sixties, has slowly but surely expanded to dominate an entire street front. There are reasons for its success. It’s a business built with love, and…

Pokey LaFarge

21 Aug 2009

Being totally honest, it was the tremendous name that first caught our eye with Mr LaFarge, but when you hear the ragged glories he knocks out on his acoustic six-string you know there’s more than just showbiz glitz to this critter. Like all genii…

Malinky

Facing up to change

20 Aug 2009

Malinky have been around on the Scottish folk scene for over a decade now, and went through a scenario that many young bands face – the loss of a particularly prominent member to a solo career. The band initially got together to allow singer Karine…

Preston Reed

Under the hammer

20 Aug 2009

Guitarist Preston Reed is a dazzling exponent of the guitar technique broadly known as ‘hammering-on’, a percussive method of playing on the neck that looks as impressive as it sounds. You can get a flavour from his CDs, but there is no substitute for…

5 Questions: Antonio Forcione

The outstanding guitarist answers our questions

20 Aug 2009

5 words to describe your show Funky, evocative, personal, dynamic and humorous. 4 shows you’re looking forward to during August Boothby Graffoe (even when he is not here) Adriano Adewale, Stewart Lee and Nick Pynn. 3 things you love about…

David Ferrard: Scottish Folk Roots & Offshoots

A homecoming Transatlantic session

16 Aug 2009

One thing you notice when you meet young David is his cheery, cherub-faced features, positively unraveled by his folklore tales of poet Burns, slavery and the Highland Clearances – oh, and he’s the youngest in a tight pub room of 20. Born in Edinburgh…

Women in Harmony

Out of the Kitchen

14 Aug 2009

Women in Harmony is a self-described ‘girly trio’ consisting of three well-established Scottish singers and instrumentalists, Karine Polwart, Annie Grace and Corrina Hewat. The trio grew out of an informal get-together in Corrina’s kitchen back in…

Eric Bogle & John Munro

Bidding a Fond Farewell

13 Aug 2009

FOLK In this Year of Homecoming, Scots-born singer and songwriter Eric Bogle is in the midst of a farewell to his homeland, having announced his intention to give up the touring game after this current excursion with fellow expat John Munro. Bogle…

Mumford and Sons

Furious energy from indie folk upstarts

10 Aug 2009

The tiny cavern that is Cabaret Voltaire may not be the biggest of venues Edinburgh has to offer, but it’s still some fear for these still relative unknowns from London to sell-out two intense, sweaty nights in a row, especially considering the…

Dean Owens

7 Aug 2009

Edinburgh songwriter Dean Owens might feel just peachy about knocking out spectral acoustica like some Edinburgh Elvis Costello or something, but just don’t ask him about public transport 5 words to describe your show Guitars, songs, chat, happiness…

Music from the Penguin Cafe

Revisiting a musical phenomenon

6 Aug 2009

The death of Simon Jeffes in 1997 seemed to bring an end to the intriguing story of the Penguin Café Orchestra. Jeffes had founded the group in the early 70s as a vehicle for his musical concept, which – as he told me when I interviewed him in 1994…