First Scottish Dance Band online concert series to launch this month

The first ever Scottish Dance Band online concert series is set to launch this month under the watchful eye of musician and BBC Radio Scotland presenter Gary Innes.

Article Source: The Ceilidh Craic & Culture Club
Last Updated: 16 June 2021 10:46

Entitled The Ceilidh Craic & Culture Club, this concert series will showcase the top Scottish Dance Bands on the scene today, alongside some of the best Scottish traditional musicians.

Filmed in Coda Studios in Glasgow, the online show will include a one-hour set from a different Scottish Dance Band each month, an ‘interval floor spot’ from a duo on the Scottish traditional music scene, alongside an on-the-sofa ‘in conversation’ chat between presenter Gary Innes with the various musicians that are performing on the night.

The first online concert in this series is set to take place on Thursday 24th June 2021 with Leonard Brown and his All-Star Band taking to the screens, along with the musical pairing of Ewen Henderson (Mànran) and Ewan Robertson (Breabach)
An online concert will be broadcast each month in full HD, with the very best Scottish Dance Bands and traditional artists on the scene today performing as part of each night’s entertainment offering.

Each event will be broadcast online across the world using the MyPlayer platform which will allow individuals to pay £12 to watch the live concert. The content will then be available to keep so it can be watched an unlimited number of times afterwards.

Gary Innes, Series Producer, said: “I can’t wait to bring this new and unique series of shows that celebrate Scotland’s music to the wider world.

“I have been presenting BBC Radio Scotland’s longest running music programme, Take the Floor for the last 5 years and during that time I have become very aware of the huge following that Scottish Dance Band music has not just at home here in Scotland but across the world.

“It is a musical genre that is rarely picked up on television or onscreen and I feel that this is an exciting opportunity to offer people watching at home the chance to enjoy the music visually with an online concert. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to create a monthly series that showcases a traditional six-piece Scottish Dance Band on a regular basis, the only show of its kind at this time!”

The line-up of Scottish Dance Bands for the initial year-long concert series includes Liam Stewart and his Scottish Dance Band, the legendary John ‘Iky’ Carmichael, the Lomond Ceilidh Band, Nicol MacLaren and the Glencraig Band, Alasdair MacCuish and the Black Rose Ceilidh Band, Tom Orr and his Scottish Dance Band, Simon Howie and his Scottish Dance Band, The Seamus O’Sullivan Experience and Robert Nairn and his Highland Dance Band.

Representing the traditional music scene will be Siobhan Miller, Mohsen Amini and Charlie Galloway, Kim Carnie and Innes Whyte, Ali Hutton and Ross Ainslie, Ingrid Henderson and Iain MacFarlane, Donald Shaw and Charlie MacKerron, Robert Robertson and Ross Wilson, Kathleen MacInnes and Mike Vass, Megan Henderson, Anna Massie and Jenna Reid, Alec Dalglish plus Iona Fyfe and Michael Biggins.

After two successful pilot events for the Ceilidh Craic and Culture Club in late 2019, Gary has worked with Creative Scotland to bring this event to life with a commitment to a full year’s concert series.

Scottish Dance Band is a very popular genre of music, as can be seen with over 70 box & fiddle clubs across Scotland and the north of England alone - not to mention the societies scattered across the world. However, in the last five years the only platform on which a traditional six-piece Scottish Dance Band would be showcased or get the opportunity to perform in full is on BBC Radio Scotland’s, Take the Floor as part of their Saturday night programme. This monthly series will be the only place that fans of the Scottish Dance Band genre will be able to watch a visual performance of a traditional six-piece Scottish Dance Band perform together.

For more information or to buy tickets please go to www.ceilidh.tv

The Ceilidh Craic & Culture Club is supported by Creative Scotland.