Shooglenifty

Last updated

Shooglenifty
Shooglenifty-CelticConnections07.jpg
Shooglenifty in 2007
Background information
Origin Edinburgh, Scotland
Genres Celtic fusion, folk rock
Years activecirca 1990–present
Labels Greentrax, Womad, Compass, Shoogle
Members Malcolm Crosbie
Garry Finlayson
Ewan MacPherson
Quee MacArthur
James Mackintosh
Eilidh Shaw
Past members Angus R. Grant (deceased)
Luke Plumb
Iain MacLeod
Conrad Ivitsky
Website Official website

Shooglenifty are a Scottish, Edinburgh-based six-piece Celtic fusion band that tours internationally. The band blends Scottish traditional music with influences ranging from electronica to alternative rock. They contributed to Afro Celt Sound System's 1996 album Volume 1: Sound Magic . [1] The band have performed in countries including Australia, Austria, Cuba, Belgium, France, Norway, Ireland, Italy, Denmark, New Zealand, Indonesia, South Africa, Lebanon, Spain, the US, Canada, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, India, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, Russia, Luxembourg, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Poland, Switzerland, Portugal, Mexico and the UK. [2] They have performed for a number of notable fans, including Prince Charles, Tony Blair, Nelson Mandela, and Emperor Akihito of Japan. [2]

Contents

Several of the band members had previously played together in Swamptrash. [3] [4]

Angus R. Grant, the band's fiddler and frontman, died in October 2016 at the age 49. [5] Eilidh Shaw joined the band on fiddle after Grant's death. [6]

Albums

Current members

Former members

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Afro Celt Sound System</span> British world music band

Afro Celt Sound System is a British musical group who fuse electronic music with traditional Gaelic and West African music. Afro Celt Sound System was formed in 1995 by producer-guitarist Simon Emmerson, and feature a wide range of guest artists. In 2003, they temporarily changed their name to Afrocelts before reverting to their original name.

Tony McManus is a guitarist from Paisley, Scotland who plays finger-style acoustic guitar arrangements of tunes from Celtic music, classical music, and other genres. McManus emigrated from Scotland to Canada in 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Monroe</span> American bluegrass musician, songwriter

William Smith "Bill" Monroe was an American mandolinist, singer, and songwriter, who created the bluegrass music genre. Because of this, he is often called the "Father of Bluegrass".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael McGoldrick</span> Musical artist

Michael McGoldrick is a folk musician who plays Irish flute, uilleann pipes, low whistle and bodhran. He also plays other instruments such as acoustic guitar, cittern, and mandolin.

Greentrax Recordings are a Scottish record label that specialises in Scottish traditional music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cape Breton fiddling</span> Violin style from Nova Scotia, Canada

Cape Breton fiddling is a regional violin style which falls within the Celtic music idiom. Cape Breton Island's fiddle music was brought to North America by Scottish immigrants during the Highland Clearances. These Scottish immigrants were primarily from Gaelic-speaking regions in the Scottish Highlands and the Outer Hebrides. Although fiddling has changed considerably since this time in Scotland, it is widely held that the tradition of Scottish fiddle music has been better preserved in Cape Breton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Tannahill Weavers</span>

The Tannahill Weavers are a band which performs traditional Scottish music. Releasing their first album in 1976, they became notable for being one of the first popular bands to incorporate the sound of the Great Highland Bagpipe in an ensemble setting, and in doing so helped to change the sound of Scottish traditional music. In 2011 the band were inducted into the Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Del McCoury Band</span> American bluegrass band

The Del McCoury Band is a Grammy award-winning American bluegrass band.

Celtic fusion is an umbrella term for any modern music which incorporates influences considered "Celtic", or Celtic music which incorporates modern music. It is a syncretic musical tradition which borrows freely from the perceived "Celtic" musical traditions of all the Celtic nations, as well as from all styles of popular music, it is thus sometimes associated with the Pan-Celtic movement. Celtic fusion may or may not include authentic traditional music from any one tradition under the Celtic umbrella, but its common characteristic is the inspiration by Celtic identity.

<i>Volume 1: Sound Magic</i> 1996 studio album by Afro Celt Sound System

Volume 1: Sound Magic is the first album by Afro Celt Sound System.

Scottish fiddling may be distinguished from other folk fiddling styles by its particular precision of execution and energy in the delivery, for example, the rendering of the dotted-quaver/semi-quaver rhythmic patterns, commonly used in the Strathspey. Christine Martin, in her Traditional Scottish Fiddling players guide, discusses the techniques of "hack bowing", "the Scottish Snap", and "snap bowing". These techniques contrast quite sharply with the most common bowing patterns of Irish fiddling. The style has a very large repertoire consisting of a great variation of rhythms and key signatures. There is also a strong link to the playing of traditional Scottish bagpipes which is better known throughout the world.

<i>Solar Shears</i> 2000 studio album by Shooglenifty

Solar Shears is the third studio album and fourth album overall by Scottish Celtic fusion band Shooglenifty. After the critical acclaim given to their underground second album A Whisky Kiss (1996), the band left Greentrax Recordings and signed to Vertical Records in the UK and Compass Records in the US and hired long time producer Jim Sutherland to produce their new album. The album sees the band expand their self-described "acid croft" sound, featuring a wide range of musical influences such as worldbeat, Eastern music, African music, psychedelic music, bluegrass, breakbeat and techno fused with a traditional Scottish Celtic music sound. With this album, Sutherland introduced many unorthodox approaches to the band's music, including looped beats, scratching, electro-atmospherics and sampled 'discovered sounds' from industrial clanks and rumbles to snatches of telephone conversation and recorded pelican crossing announcements.

<i>A Whisky Kiss</i> 1996 studio album by Shooglenifty

A Whisky Kiss is the second studio album by Scottish Celtic fusion band Shooglenifty. After releasing their first album Venus in Tweeds in 1994, the band toured, and then began work on A Whisky Kiss in late 1995. Some of the album's tracks were premiered in early 1996 ahead of its release. The album combines the band's Scottish Celtic music with genres such as worldbeat and techno. The band described the album as "acid croft", whilst one reviewer termed it a unique variation of Celtic rock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malinky</span> Scottish folk band

Malinky is a Scottish folk band specialising in Scots song, formed in autumn 1998.

<i>Mellowosity</i> 1996 studio album by Peatbog Faeries

Mellowosity is the debut studio album by Scottish Celtic fusion group Peatbog Faeries, released in 1996 on Greentrax Recordings. After forming as a vocal-based Celtic rock group in 1994, the duo had settled into becoming an instrumental Celtic fusion group by the release of Mellowosity. The album draws from a wide range of musical styles and influences including jazz, reggae, afrobeat, rock, Eastern music, dub and funk, that are mixed in with the band's traditional Scottish folk/Celtic sound featuring fiddles and bagpipes.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eilidh Shaw</span> Scottish fiddle player and singer

Eilidh Shaw is a Scottish fiddle player and singer. She has performed with The Poozies, Harem Scarem and recorded a solo album, Heepirumbo, in 1997. Her brother Donald Shaw was a founding member of Capercaillie. She and The Poozies performed at 2008's Fèis an Eilein in the Isle of Skye. She joined Shooglenifty in 2018 to replace fiddler Angus R. Grant, who died in 2016.

Swamptrash were a Scottish bluegrass/psychobilly band formed in 1987 in Edinburgh. They split in 1990 and several of the members went on to form Shooglenifty. The band has been recognized as crucial to the development of experimental Scottish acoustic music.

they really were a ramshackle and thoroughly enjoyable faux-punk string/bluegrass band who attacked new and old tunes with the verve and self-evident pleasure others heard in the Pogues

Bongshang are a Scottish band from Shetland, who fuse traditional Shetland and folk styles with rock, funk, electronica and contemporary production techniques. They have been likened to Celtic fusion artists such as Shooglenifty and Martyn Bennet.

Matt Flinner is an American mandolinist, music transcriber, and ensemble leader. Mike Marshall has called him "one of the truly great young mandolinists of our generation."

References

  1. "Afro Celt Sound System - Volume 1 Sound Magic". Discogs. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  2. 1 2 Wilson, Sue (15 August 2003). "Shooglenifty: Cult Celt connection". The Independent. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  3. Belcher, David (3 February 1995). "A band for all seasons". The Herald . Glasgow. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  4. "Angus Grant,'acid croft' folk musician – obituary". The Telegraph. 27 October 2016. ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  5. "Tributes paid to Shooglenifty's Angus R Grant". BBC News. 10 October 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  6. Jobson, Jonny (7 March 2018). "Fiddler Eilidh Shaw to Shoogle full time after joining band". The National . Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  7. Ferguson, Brian (12 April 2015). "John Byrne brushes up for Shooglenifty album cover". Scotland on Sunday . Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  8. "Shooglenifty: Acid Croft Vol 9 Independent – Out Now". folkradio.co.uk. 15 October 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2020.