Paul Buchanan, Chris Thile, Skerryvore, Nathaniel Rateliff and Angelique Kidjo are also set to perform
The traditions and stories behind instrument building, and sounds for the big screen (including music from Craig Armstrong and King Creosote) are two of the major themes running through Celtic Connections 2015, whose programme has just been announced.
Also on the line-up for Glasgow’s folk and trad festival in January 2015 are homages to eminent trad musicians of the past, indie rock and folk, Americana and bluegrass, and large-scale collaborations.
Glasgow composer and performer Craig Armstrong gives a live performance of his latest solo album It’s Nearly Tomorrow, with guests including Paul Buchanan and Brett Anderson, and collaborates with the Orchestra of Scottish Opera on music from his movie soundtracks including Moulin Rouge, Romeo + Juliet and The Great Gatsby. And Fife-born Kenny Anderson, better known as King Creosote, fronts a nine-piece band in a live musical score to accompany director Virginia Heath’s film From Scotland With Love.
A new show explores music for fiddles, clarsach, mandolin and cello, all built from wood from the same tree. The Fiddletree, based on the book of the same name by violin maker Otis Thomas, delves into the stories and traditions of instrument building. And English folk musician Sam Sweeney, of eleven-piece Bellowhead, has put together a World War I-themed show based around a fiddle he bought whose maker was discovered to have died in the Great War.
Ewan MacColl and Martyn Bennett are among the eminent names of trad music from the past celebrated in tribute concerts. And among indie acts confirmed are Missouri-born Nathaniel Rateliff, while the Roaming Roots Review brings together musicians for one-off collaborations, including Grant-Lee Phillips with Howe Gelb, Rachel Sermanni with Colin MacLeod, and Roddy Hart and the Lonesome Fire as house band for the strand.
Mandolinist Chris Thile’s Punch Brothers along with Rodney Crowell and Patty Griffin are among the performers exploring Americana and bluegrass, while the Elizabethan Session is one of the festival’s large-scale collaborations, bringing together contemporary folk artists including Nancy Kerr, Martin Simpson, Jim Moray and Bella Hardy in new takes on Elizabethan music.
Adding further to the festival’s huge and eclectic line up, visiting world musicians include Benin-born singer-songwriter Angelique Kidjo, who performs with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, as well as Afro-beat godfather Tony Allen, Nashville-based Lambchop and Brazilian folk-rapper Criolo. Scottish musicians taking part include Skerryvore, Manran, Eddi Reader, as well as Irish folk singers Frances Black and Kieran Goss.