http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=fiddlelore - here’s a few photos from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival! Courtesy of Jim Burnett & Neill Walker

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OSEryG5EgA - Fringe video (Brenda Stubbarts)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edz4uDgbu1E&feature=related - Fringe video (Blackbird)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hh4KdEYHP4&feature=related - Fringe video (Opening Set)

Penelope here from the Isle of Bute! What a wonderful time we have had! I will fill you in on the bare bones of the trip and let the girls fill in all the exciting details:)
We had a few days in a beautiful castle in Newtyle (courtesy of Mike…thanks so much!!), travelled up to Inverness and stayed with Graeme for two nights (Thanks Graeme!!), travelled back to Hatton Castle via Aberdeen. We did a concert in the Grand Hall at the castle, and ended the evening playing tunes with the great musicians who had come for the concert.
The next day we travelled up to Dornie and had a fantastic few days with Don and Nina- played on the ferry from Armadale to Mallaigh, then went to Portree for lunch and a sight-see, then on to the Edin Bane Inn where the girls ended up playing with a guy who wrote one of the tunes they play.
A couple of days ago we drove down to Glasgow, caught the train to Wemyss Bay, then the ferry to the Isle of Bute. It has been a lovely time here with our friend Hugh Cole. We went busking today and earned enough for our bus trip to Campbeltown tomorrow from where we catch the ferry over to Ireland. All in all, the busking has gone really well. It has paid for the hire of the car plus petrol which is wonderful:)
Well, I will sign off and let the others write about snippets of our travels. Thanks to everyone who has encouraged and helped us on our way. God bless, Pen

Photos and videos coming soon!

We’re here! At long last! And staying in a castle no less! I love Scotland!

HIGHLIGHT - there are too many to list! But playing in the crazy Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and an incredible session at Sandy Bells with Ross Couper and Tom Oakes  would have to be top of the list! LOWLIGHT - walking around Edinburgh for two hours with my huge suitcase, followed by three hours of catching five wrong buses… and ending up at the wrong house.

PENNY:

Emily stole my headline… I LOVE SCOTLAND!! It was a surreal experience arriving in Edinburgh and walking up a narrow, steep cobblestoned street with stone buildings towering above us. Entering High St with all our luggage and instruments on our backs and hanging off everybody’s arms, we were immediately swallowed up in a maelstrom of people! Within minutes we had lost Emile who was carrying three of the heaviest bags… he arrived exhausted at the hostel an hour or so after us:) Busking on the Royal Mile was so wonderful- after years of dreaming about Fiddlelore going to Scotland, there we were!! We were asked to perform for Turkish TV so did a set of tunes in front of a very impressive door to one of the many beautiful churches in Edinburgh. Fame for Fiddlelore in Turkey!!:)

Last night we performed at the highland night in Pitlochry and had the wonderful experience of automobile applause- car horns hooting and headlights flashing make a great change from clapping hands and the occasional whistle!

And now, here we are in an amazing castle thanks to the wonderful generosity of Mike Lean. I’ll say it again- I LOVE SCOTLAND!!!!

 KATHLEEN:

Great to be here and finally all reunited! Thanks so much to everyone back home who’ve been supporting us all the way- especially Douggie for all the help xx Ready for some authentic Scottish Fiddle…See you all this summer!!

 GRACE:

I LOVE SCOTLAND! Edinburgh was incredible, wish we could have stayed for longer…but if we are going to try to see most of Scotland in two weeks then that’s just the way it goes! Love the accent..and all the kilts.. Looking forward to the adventures to come! x

EMILE:

Is enjoying the meals and looking forward to the whisky.

Hello everyone!

Tickets are booked, itinery is almost sorted, cars aren’t booked, gigs are falling into place… it’s organised chaos at the moment! We met at McCafe last week (high flyers eh) to finalise our loop. And it is looking fantastic! We are loopy with excitement.

On Saturday, Dave, Penny and I met up with the ‘grandparents’ of the Gaidhealtachd, Dougie and Meg Chowns, at their beachfront B & B out at Whangarei Heads. We spent the afternoon eating soup, watching Doug’s home videos of Scotland and getting lost on our big map of Scotland. On a side note, it’s amazing to me how easily lost you can get, even when you have a map. (Yes, I can hear you shouting, “Get a GPS!”)

Besides my slight dyslexia with Gaelic place names, everything is going wonderfully! We are blown away by the generous outpouring of hospitality of people throughout the UK! A big thanks to Doug and Meg Chowns for their support, contacts, hospitality and soup.

Cheerio!

x Emily

A loop around Scotland. Sounds relatively simple when you put it like that, however in typical fashion we’ve left the details till fairly last minute, so at this point in time, when the 6 of us arrive in the UK we will probably be left stranded at the airport. Or the train station. Or both. Edinburgh, here we come.

At any rate, we are looking forward to exploring some of the more rugged out-of-the-way spots on our wee road trip! There are many adventures to be had! And of course, just in case any of you lovely folk out there happen to be based in the UK, and just happen to have room for a few rather enthusiastic fiddle players in August, we’d love to hear from you…

Cheerio!

x Emily

 We’re really quite charming…

Summer is drawing to a close, and as the cold creeps slowly in hot chocolate sessions around the fire are beginning to sound ever more cosy! We’ve had a few good shows this summer and as always, there are many people to thank… here’s a few of them:

Kerikeri - If you’re driving into Kerikeri, there’s a little restaurant on the way in with a grand piano inside, where music abounds… thank you Richard and Denise, we can’t wait to come back again!

Waiheke Island - A huge thanks to Dee Austring from Artworks Theatre, and to Mary Batten and Phil Symonds for your lovely Waiheke hospitality. Waiheke, your dancing skills are second to none.

The Bunker - Best folk club in the world. Robert Halliday organised a great meal, Phil and Bo did the shimmy, we had a Scots fiddle judging panel, strobe lights, and everybody swayed along to the boat song. Epic. Thanks always to Roger and Hilary!

Titirangi - Right down by the water in the Beach Hall, here we played with RECKLESS ABANDONMENT on Saturday night, and it was grand.

And thank YOU for coming!

So now, we begin the countdown to Europe. August 2011 - here we come!

FOLKIN’ YOUTH ORCHESTRA - AUCKLAND FOLK FESTIVAL 2011

Rosie Boom’s book launch was a smashing success! We had a great time - pop past her website if you have a free moment it is well worth a look!

Hi everyone,

We’re back from another adventure up at the Copthorne motel in Omapere! It was a very long drive up, during which Penny unfortunately lost the game of I Spy, and had to eat a jalapeno.

The doctors at the retreat were very kind to us and some even had a bit of a dance which was great to see! It’s always interesting trying to find a fiddle tune that you can turn into a cha cha. 

Grace & Emile were locked out of their motel room (new low!), very unfortunate when it is pouring with rain at midnight and everybody else is asleep. However,  thanks to our jalapeno eating criminal mastermind, they were able to break back in. Band meeting was held the following morning on the deck overlooking the sand dunes - all were confirmed present and it’s unanimous, the all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet was the highlight of our trip.

Cheerio!

x Emily

Well, we’re coming to the end of a long run of fabulous gigs over the summer and with those shows lots of people to thank! A few brief mentions…

Browns Bay Garden Party - what a great turn out! Thanks to the lovely Sally Cargill for all your organising efforts, and for keeping certain people from throwing certain things at a certain person. 

Troubadour Trail in Mangawhai - many thanks Jean, we had a great time playing down there with a stunning view of Mangawhai Heads from our perch on the deck! Next time we might have to do the walk instead! (Kathleen might need a piggy back)

The Matakana Markets! We had a brilliant day beginning with the sunrise, a surf lesson and some fab busking - if you haven’t been before check them out! It’s the vibe of the thing… a big thanks to Michael Kessel! and Marie, Pete & Rico for our Omaha home.

Whangarei Folk Club - ah, Dave, your lights are beautiful. Here at home there’s always such a foot stomping and super supportive bunch of lovely people! And nice to see lots of Kerikeri folk too. Thanks guys. We had a ball.

To everyone who has come out to these and many other gigs over the summer, hosted / fed / watered / organised or otherwise, thank you, from the bottom of our hearts.

Wow! We’re back from a great weekend in Wellington, what a trip! We were asked to play at the closing of the Scots in NZ exhibition at the museum on Saturday and it was a blast. A very big thanks to Te Papa for having us, and especially the lovely Sonja Gulliver for all your hard work in arranging to get us there. Many thanks Danya for the photo!

To the people who make the place so cool: Dan M. What’s not to like, you lent us your room and let us take over your bathroom! You probably won’t ever get rid of us now. Thanks for having us and for the scrambled eggs that finally got Kathleen out of bed! Dan H (our stand in roadie) and the Welly flat - pancakes are yum. You guys are great. Debbie & Ren, BB, Alex, Oscar… beautiful music in Seatoun…

And last but not least, thanks to the wonderful Wellingtonians who came along just to listen. It was a real pleasure.

Cheerio!

x Emily

We’re very honoured and excited to have received the Frank Winter Memorial Award at the Auckland Folk Festival 2010~ many thanks to the Folk Festival Committee and to the Winter Family for your generosity and support!

Gaidhealtachd: (Gailtark) (noun)

One week of camping beneath blue skies, a full moon and the majestic shadow of Mt Manaia at Whangarei Heads; crazy fiddlers, bagpipers at dawn (revenge will be sweet), instant noodles (for some), amazing Chia cooking (for others), wild ceilidh dancing, cold showers, very little sleep (for some), no sleep at all (for others),  and home of perhaps some of the best jamming and music sessions you will ever hear in your life… this is Gaidhealtachd!

Of course to finish everything off in grand style was the world’s greatest final tutors’ concert - what else would you expect from this line up: Dave Alley, Jon Sanders, Dave Khan, Mark Mazengarb, Bob McNeill and Sula! (accompanied by Jamie & Ollie of course)

Yup, we were pretty amazed as well.

All our thanks - you know who you are - to all the people who have worked so tirelessly putting this epic camp together. Kathleen is learning the ukelele,  and it’s all because of you. To the fiddle class - sheet music is on the way! And I expect to hear these tunes in some excellent sessions at the Auckland Folk Festival! You have 2 weeks to practise. See you there.

Cheerio!

x Emily

So perhaps Emile will have to come to Scotland as well…

CONGRATULATIONS GRACE!

Great news - Mark’s CD Acoustic Affair is now up for grabs online… at his brand spanking new website www.markmazengarb.com! This is gold. Check it out!