Scottish fiddling legends Blazin’ Fiddles will the good times roll when they open their latest UK tour at Haddington Corn Exchange on 5 March.
The tour follows the release of Incendo, the band’s first album without founder Bruce MacGregor and their first as a quintet.
“It was Bruce’s idea in the late 1990s to bring players together from the different fiddling styles of the Highlands and Islands, and he made the band a showcase for these styles with solo spots as well as the ensemble playing with passion,” says pianist Angus Lyon. “Although none of the current musicians were involved in the beginning, we’ve all worked with Bruce over a period of years and he passed on to us a commitment to capturing Scottish fiddle music’s variety, vigour and sensitivity.”
When MacGregor decided to step back from touring and concentrate on his business interests in Inverness, he gave the remaining members his blessing and Incendo has been enthusiastically received by the band’s long-standing fans in Scotland and by the media across the world.
“We launched Incendo during Celtic Connections in Glasgow last month and it’s been getting great reviews and accolades including Album of the Week on BBC Radio Nan Gaidheal,” says Angus Lyon. “On top of that, we get regular reports of radio plays in the U.S., Canada and Australia as well as here in the UK. One presenter in Vermont played five tracks in a row, so I think he must have liked it!”
The current Blazin’ Fiddles line-up features a three-fiddle frontline in Shetlander Jenna Reid, Kristan Harvey, from Orkney, and Rua Macmillan, from Nairn. They’re accompanied by multi-instrumentalist Anna Massie, who adds guitar, mandolin and tenor banjo alongside Angus Lyon’s piano in the rhythm section and who can add an extra fiddle on occasion.
Winners many times of the Live Act of the Year and Folk Band of the Year titles at the Scots Trad Music Awards, Blazin’ Fiddles will set out to thrill audiences with their mix of traditional tunes alongside self-penned work and other modern compositions on tour.
“Jenna, Kristan, Rua and Anna are all award-winners in their own right,” says Angus Lyon, whose CV includes work with Paul McCartney, Cat Stevens and vocal magician Bobby McFerrin. “So people know to expect high quality playing. But what’s also important is that we really enjoy what we do and I think audiences can sense that. It’s more than a gig when you come to see Blazin’ Fiddles – it’s a party.”
