In the last several months, we have been lucky enough to have not one, not two, but three famous visitors from Scotland in Appalachia. On April 14th and 18th, singer-songwriter Dougie MacLean performed to sold-out audiences in Asheville, NC and Lexington, KY. On May 21st, Thistle and Shamrock host Fiona Ritchie came to speak at the Laurel Theater in honor of WUOT's 50th anniversary celebration. (Local band Finnegan's aWake played before and after her talk.) Then on May 22nd and 23rd, Scottish folk singer Jean Redpath came to sing at the Rugby Annual Festival of British and Appalachian Culture in Rugby, TN.
Scottish singer songwriter Dougie MacLean included several Appalachian stops on his spring tour of North America. Dougie has a special fondness for the traditional music and people of Appalachia. He serves on the board of the Swannanoa Gathering which is held annually at Warren Wilson College near Asheville, NC. He has long recognized the connection between the traditional musical styles of his native Scotland and those of Southern Appalachia.
Dougie began his professional musical career with the well-known Scottish band The Tannahill Weavers and toured with them for several years. Then, after a short stint with Silly Wizard, he left to pursue his solo career as both a songwriter and as a singer, accompanying himself in most of his concerts with acoustic guitar. In his recent Lexington, KY show, he was joined onstage by friends including Kathy Mattea, with whom he has collaborated in some of his recent work.
Fiona Richie spoke at the Laurel Theater for a fund-raising reception sponsored by WUOT in conjunction with Jubilee Community Arts. Fiona is the hostess of the "Thistle and Shamrock" which features old and new music of the British Isles. The Scottish native started the program in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1981. Since its inception, the show has gained international syndication, making her one of the premiere proponents of the genre. Following her talk, a reception was held and a concert given by the local Celtic ensemble, Finnegan's aWake.
Jean Redpath has, in her own lifetime, become a folk-music legend, having released nearly 40 albums and given hundreds of live performances. In the 1960's, she worked with Bob Dylan in Greenwich Village, in the 1980s, with Garrison Keillor on A Prarie Home Companion... and in 1999, she gave an outstanding performance (no surprise there) at Rugby, Tennessee's 26th Annual Festival of British and Appalachian Culture. Besides her songs, Ms. Redpath introduced the audience to some of the linguistic and cultural similarities and differences between her native Scotland and the Appalachians. After the concert, visitors to the festival may have run into her talking to the craftspeople and, Sunday afternoon, dodging the sudden spring rainstorm along with the patrons. But then, neither friendly conversation nor rainy weather is unexpected for a Scotsman...