The Mull of Kintyre Music
Festival committee have
announced that due to ill health
Fergie MacDonald will not be
able to play at this year’s
Festival Ceilidh. Fergie has
been recuperating from open
heart surgery since May and had
hoped to be fully recovered in
time to play, unfortunately he
has now been advised by his
surgeon that he needs to rest
for longer than anticipated
meaning he will miss year’s
Festival. The Festival
committee of course understand
this and have sent their best
wishes to Fergie for a speedy
recovery.
Fergie who could not have been
more apologetic to the committee
and his many fans have agreed to
play at next year’s event. The
ceilidh slot will now be filled
by The Susan MacFadyen Ceilidh
Band who played to packed house
at the Gigha Music Festival in
2008. They are regulars on BBC
Radio Scotland's Take The Floor
and play with a line up of
accordion, fiddle, piano, and
either a second accordion or
double bass. Tickets for this
year Ceilidh are still available
from AP Taylors Main Street,
Campbeltown.
This years Festival Ceilidh on
Friday the 19th
August in the Victoria Hall is a
night that offers all the family
an evening that goes with a
swing. We welcome back the
Fergie MacDonald Band to
play the ceilidh set, Fergie is
one of the most popular ceilidh
bands to play at the Festival
and he returns due to popular
demand. The concert set will be
provided by Jamie Smith’s
Mabon who will travel all
the way up from Wales to appear
following their outstanding
performance at this year’s
Celtic Connections Festival in
Glasgow. The Kintyre Schools
Pipe Band will start the
night in the usual rousing style
in what promises to be a night
to remember. Look out for
further additions to the bill
which will be introduced by Kay
Johnston who will MC for the
night.
Fergie MacDonald, Fergie
MacDonald has been Scotland's
top ceilidh band leader for
almost half a century As the
Ceilidh King, Fergie took the
authentic, raw and right ceilidh
dance band style to village
halls across the length and
breadth of the Scottish
Highlands and Islands. Fergie
and his band were stars. A
button accordion player he has
been Scotland's top ceilidh band
leader for almost half a century
having recorded over 23 albums
in his career.
Playing the button box, Fergie is
a regular performer on B.B.C.
Scottish dance music programmes
and was the first Scottish band
leader to broadcast ceilidh
music. He is a legend in the
Scottish Highlands where he and
his band are always in demand
for ceilidhs and wherever
there's a need for great dancing
music.
Fergie appeared at the MOK Fest
in 2009 and is one of the most
requested bands to make a return
to play at the Festival so get
your dancing shoes on for a
night to remember.
The concert set will be provided
by the Jamie Smith’s Mabon.
The band evolved from a
traditional Welsh four-piece
band, formed in 2000 and in
January 2011 became Jamie
Smith's Mabon: an
acknowledgement that Jamie's
compositions have become the
backbone of the band's sound.
Jamie Smith's Mabon started as
an instrumental band led by
Jamie Smith on accordion, Oli
Wilson-Dickson on fiddle and
Calum Stewart on wooden flute.
These three musicians share a
musical rapport that allows them
flow seamlessly between
incredibly tight tune-playing
and open, multi-layered
textures. The band have now
introduced vocals to their set
and the MOK Fest will be one of
the first events hear their new
set
Jamie Smith's Mabon -
Galician Stylee - Live at Celtic
Connections 2011
The three tune players are
joined onstage by newest member
Adam Rhodes on bouzouki, Matt
Downer on bass guitar and
upright bass, and Iolo Whelan on
drums and percussion. Adam
Rhodes, 29, is a manxman who
currently lives in Edinburgh,
where he plies his trade both as
a musician and web designer.
Matt Downer, 24, is the youngest
and coolest member of the band!
He recently graduated from a
music degree in jazz at the
Royal Welsh College of Music and
Drama conservatoire in Cardiff
and is now fully immersed in the
city’s music scene. Iolo Whelan,
34, lives in the Vale of
Glamorgan, where he runs his own
drum studio. He also studied
jazz at the RWCMD conservatoire,
where he met Matt and
consequently formed the tastiest
backline in folk music today!
Theirs music is well described
as Original, Interceltic, World
Music. Composed by frontman
Jamie Smith, and brought to life
by six highly accomplished
musicians, it draws inspiration
directly from the traditional
folk music of the Celtic
countries. This is not Welsh
music, nor Scottish or Irish;
this is Interceltic music, a
true exploration of forms and
styles found in Celtic music and
their forging into something
bold and new.
Jamie’s ambitious compositions
are founded on a deep knowledge
of folk dance music and his
passion and understanding of
folk tunes is prevalent
throughout JSM’s sound, from the
choosing of material – jigs and
reels share space with other
dance-related forms such as
Breton an dro, French mazurka,
and Galician muiñera – down to
the minute, ornamental
variations and nuances that give
the tunes their authentic
character.
More than anything it is the
emotional content of the
traditional music that Jamie
seeks to embed in his own work;
the sorrow, the joy and most of
all the sheer energy at the
heart of this uplifting genre of
music. Expect to find all of
these qualities in JSM’s music;
it is designed to move you, both
physically and emotionally, to
draw you in with a moment of
pure drama then cut you loose
with some irresistible fun.
Ceann Tir will open the
concert set following the
Kintyre Schools Pipe Band. The
line up for this event will be
Kay Johnston (vocals), Ross
Kennedy (guitar, bouzouki &
vocals) and Lorne MacDougall
(pipes, flute & whistle).
Ceann Tir has an ever changing
line-up under the coaching
skills of Ross Kennedy and is a
band that offers varied artists
from Campbeltown the chance to
play to their strengths. More
updates on the full line-up
which will play at this year’s
MOK Fest will be announced
closer to the event.
Above - Ross Kennedy, Kay
Lafferty and Lorne MacDougall
make up Ceann Tir
Kintyre School Pipe Band:
The KSPB need little
introduction since their
inception they have been
prolific in winning practically
everything they have entered
often more than once. They have
opened the Festival Ceilidh for
the past few years on some
occasions it was first official
public appearance since winning
the World Pipe Band
Championships the week before.
The sight of the full band
performing in the Victoria Hall
can be quite breathtaking and
makes it well worth turning up
early for.
