Patsy Seddon is a Scottish harpist, violinist and traditional singer in Scots and Gaelic.
Seddon was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. She was a member of leading folk band The Poozies from 1990 until 2012, [1] and the duo Sìleas with Mary Macmaster. [2] She is a former member of Clan Alba and has collaborated with Dougie MacLean, Dick Gaughan, Gerda Stevenson and Karine Polwart. [3] A Kodály-trained music teacher, she teaches harp and singing in Edinburgh schools. As of 2022, she is one of two Artistic Advisors for the Edinburgh International Harp Festival. [4]
Sìleas were inducted into the Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame during the 2013 Scots Trad Music Awards. [5] [6]
She has a BA from the University of Edinburgh.
Seddon was married to the late Davy Steele of The Battlefield Band. [3]
Scotland is internationally known for its traditional music, which remained vibrant throughout the 20th century and into the 21st, when many traditional forms worldwide lost popularity to pop music. In spite of emigration and a well-developed connection to music imported from the rest of Europe and the United States, the music of Scotland has kept many of its traditional aspects; indeed, it has itself influenced many forms of music.
The Scots Trad Music Awards or Na Trads were founded in 2003 by Simon Thoumire to celebrate Scotland's traditional music in all its forms and create a high profile opportunity to bring the music and music industry into the spotlight of media and public attention. Nominations are made by the public and in 2019 over 100,000 public votes were expected across 18 categories.
Sally Barker is a British singer and songwriter, known for her solo work and as a founding member of the Poozies. In 2014, she was a finalist in the BBC One talent contest The Voice, finishing in joint second place.
Blazin' Fiddles are a contemporary Scottish fiddle band from the Highlands and Islands. They formed in 1998 to showcase Scotland's distinct regional fiddle styles. The band have a number of awards, including; the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards Live Act of the Year, Album of the Year and Folk Band of the Year. Their records are released on their own indie Blazin' Records label. They have been described as "...the LED Zepplin of the Folk World."
The Poozies are a British all-female traditional folk band formed in 1990. They were at the forefront of a wave that revolutionised traditional Scottish and Gaelic music in the 1990s. Throughout the years they have toured worldwide, attracting recognition and appreciation for their eclectic choice of material, unusual and exciting arrangements, and notable vocal harmonies.
Mary Macmaster is a Scottish harpist and singer. She performs on the clàrsach and the Camac electroharp, and she sings in English and Gaelic. She has worked with Sting, Kathryn Tickell, Norma Waterson, Donald Hay, the Poozies, and in the duo Sìleas with Patsy Seddon. In 2013, she and Seddon were inducted into the Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame.
Sìleas is a Scottish harp duo. Patsy Seddon plays electric harp and gut-strung harp, and Mary Macmaster plays electric harp and metal-strung harp. They sing in Gaelic and English.
Hatton Castle stands on the lower part of Hatton Hill, the most easterly of the Sidlaw Hills, to the south of Newtyle in Angus, Scotland. The castle overlooks the wooded Den of Newtyle, and its views extend across Strathmore and include Ben Lawers and Schiehallion as well as the Angus and Glenshee hills. The 16th-century castle was originally built in a typical Scottish "Z plan" tower house design, as a fortified country house or château. There was an earlier castle called Balcraig Castle which stood less than half a mile from the present building, also on Hatton Hill.
Lori Watson is a fiddle player and folk singer who performs traditional and contemporary folk music. She is the first doctor of Artistic Research in Scottish Music.
Rachel Hair is a folk harpist from Scotland. She plays the Celtic harp, also known by the Scottish Gaelic word clarsach.
Mary Ann Kennedy, is a Scottish musician, singer, choral director, composer, radio and television presenter, and music producer.
Alison Kinnaird MBE, MA, FGE is a glass sculptor, Celtic musician, teacher and writer born in Edinburgh, Scotland. She is one of the foremost and most original modern glass engravers in Scotland.
Breabach is a Scottish folk music band formed in 2005. In 2011, they received nominations for ‘Best Group’ at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. They won Scottish Folk Band of the Year in 2012 and Live Act of the Year in 2013 at the Scots Trad Music Awards.
Corrina Hewat is a Scottish harpist and composer who was awarded Music Tutor of the Year at Na Trads in 2013. She has worked with poet Robin Robertson and has written music for the Dunedin Consort. She sings with Karine Polwart and Annie Grace in what they describe as a 'girly trio' and also appeared with Polwart on Lau's 2009 Arc Light album. She has collaborated with Patsy Reid and others as The Unusual Suspects. In July 2008 she performed with Bella Hardy at London's Royal Albert Hall as part of the first Folk Prom. In 2006 she appeared on Kathryn Tickell's The Sky Didn’t Fall album.
Davy Steele was a Scottish folk musician and songwriter. He sang with Drinkers Drouth, Ceolbeg, and was a founding member of the Scottish folk supergroup Clan Alba. In 1998, Steele joined the Battlefield Band as lead vocalist and guitarist, and he also played the bouzouki and bodhrán. He was married to Patsy Seddon, a founding member of The Poozies. They had one child together and Steele had three more children from an earlier marriage. Steele was diagnosed with a brain tumor and died on April 11, 2001, in a hospice in Edinburgh.
The BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician competition has run annually since 2001. It exists to encourage young musicians to keep their tradition alive and to provide performance opportunities, tools and advice to help contestants make a career in traditional music. Former winners include Mohsen Amini, Robyn Stapleton, Shona Mooney and Emily Smith.
Rachel Newton is a Scottish singer and harpist. As well as playing both acoustic and electric harp she also plays viola, fiddle, piano and harmonium. She performs solo as well as in the bands The Shee, The Furrow Collective and Boreas and was formerly a member of the Emily Portman Trio. She was a member of the Lost Words Spell Songs project and is a co-founder of The Bit Collective, a group campaigning for equality in folk music.
The Edinburgh International Harp Festival is an annual harp festival held in Edinburgh, Scotland that includes concerts, workshops, and courses, as well as one of the world's largest exhibitions of harp-makers. Organized and promoted by The Clarsach Society, two staff members, and a team of volunteers, the festival is held in April of each year and attracts more than 500 harpists from more than 25 countries.
Isobel Mieras is a Scottish clarsach player. She is a member of the Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame, and in 2020, she was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire "for services to Music in Scotland and to the Revival of the Clarsach."
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