Edinburgh TRADFEST 2022 returns in April - PROGRAMME • reviewsphere

Opening the Festival on Friday 29 April is highland fiddle legend and composer Duncan Chisholm and his band formed from some of Scotland’s top instrumentalists – Jarlath Henderson (whistles/uillean pipes), Innes Watson (guitar), Michael Biggins (piano) and Donald Hay (percussion). These trad music legends are supported by Scots Singer of the Year nominee BBC MG ALBA Trad Awards 2021 Beth Malcolm (The Scotsman’s folk ‘One To Watch’ 2022).

Over the 11 days of the Festival there will be a fantastic line-up of music each night including Tradfest’s new commission Come All Ye from Phil Alexander (Moishe’s Bagel) celebrating the impact that many immigrants have made on the cultural life of Scotland and the diversity of traditions that 21st contemporary Scotland represents. This piece is a collaboration with an outstanding group of international musicians who have made Scotland their home and will include stories of arrival and departure, displacement and togetherness.

Other great names in the 2022 line-up include twice-nominated Mercury Music Prize nominee and multiple-award winner at the BBC Radio Two Folk awards Eliza Carthy performing with her legendary father Martin Carthy; a supercharged set of new tunes and old favourites from Shooglenifty; ingenious Finnish ‘nordgrass’ fiddle music from Frigg; harmonious and playful vocals from Sian (Ceitlin Lilidh, Eilidh Cormack and Ellen MacDonald); US classic banjo artist Aaron Jonah Lewis; powerful vocals and instrumental prowess from the phenomenal folk bluegrass band The Shee (Rachel Newton, Lillias Kinsman-Blake, Olivia Ross, Amy Thatcher, Signy Jakobsdottir); Project Smok (Pablo Lafuente, Ewan Baird and BBC Young Traditional Musician of the year 2020 Ali Levack) who blend traditional music with contemporary new-age pop influences to create their unique sound; Malin makes Music (bagpipe, fiddle); up-and-coming folk artists from the Outer Hebrides Eabhal; and Ross and Ali Trio (Ross Ainslie and Ali Hutton with Jenn Butterworth) mixing high octane jigs and reels with magnificent slow airs.

Other great musical pairings in this year’s line-up include: international traditional musicians and long-time friends and musical collaborators Nuala Kennedy (flute and songs) and Dubliner/New Yorker Eamon O’Leary (guitar and song); Janice Burns and Jon Doran – the Scottish Anglican duo whose tight vocal harmonies and sensitive interplay between mandolin and bouzouki is a true celebration of their own musical and geographic backgrounds; dynamic American roots musicians Evie Ladin and Keith Terry who will perform a hugely entertaining mix of Appalachian roots music, step dance and body percussion; two of Canada’s greatest roots singer-songwriters Dave Gunning and J P Cormier who have recently released their first album together; seven-time winner at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, including 2018 Folk Singer of The Year, Karine Polwart with renowned jazz/folk pianist Dave Milligan; and Alice Allen and Patsy Reid of the North East fiddle tradition.

The Festival’s programme is built around collaborations and this year Tradfest is once again partnering with the University of Edinburgh to present Rebellious Truth 22 – a talk addressing gender inequality in traditional music with Úna Monaghan (harper, composer, researcher and sound artist from Belfast); and, for the first time will work with Bogha-Frois aka ‘Queer Voices in Folk’ – a community of queer folk musicians based in Scotland and beyond who are curating a line-up of bands including Hebridean trio Hecla and Madderam an up-and-coming five piece band and finalists at the Na Trad Awards in the ‘Best Up and Coming Artist’ category.