Top trad acts combine for one-off Perth gig

Apr 29 2011 by Alison Anderson, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

TWO of the most thrilling live acts to emerge from the Scottish scene in the past decade are getting together for a one-off double bill in Perth Concert Hall next Saturday (May 7).

Session A9 and Lau will bring their characteristic musical adventure and abandon to the exclusive show – a must-see for trad fans who like their music talented, fast and furious.

Session A9 emerged as the trailblazer of Scottish super groups. Formed through informal music sessions up and down the arterial Scottish road, the A9, and featuring the then Perth-based keyboard wizard Brian McAlpine, the band has successfully toured Scotland and England playing at many of the major music festivals in the UK as well as festivals and concerts in Spain, Denmark, Switzerland, Italy and the USA.

Nominated for best folk band in the 2008 Scottish Trad Music Awards, the current Session A9 line-up is Adam Sutherland, Brian McAlpine, Charlie McKerron, David ‘chimp’ Robertson, Gordon Gunn, Kevin Henderson and Marc Clement.

Lau’s trajectory has also been meteoric since the threesome was formed in 2004, gathering armfuls of plaudits, including three consecutive years of being crowned ‘Best Group’ at the BBC Radio Two Folk Awards.

Their strength partly lies in the pool of knowledge they draw on as all three Lau members pursue successful and varied musical paths in their own right. Kris Drever (vocals, guitar) was one of the Session A9 founding members and his first solo album, ‘Black Water’, landed him the Horizon Award for ‘Best Newcomer’ at the 2007 BBC Folk Awards.

Award-winning fiddler and composer, Aidan O’Rourke was ‘Instrumentalist of the Year’ at the 2006 Scots Trad Music Awards and a founder member of Blazin’ Fiddles. His current work also takes in KAN – another coming together of mega talent from different musical directions with this supergroup fronted by Aidan and Brian Finnegan from the legendary BBC Award-winning Flook.

The third Lau member is accordionist Martin Green, who has toured in the bands of Eliza Carthy, Joan Baez, Linda Thompson and many other great names of folk music. He was short-listed for the BBC’s coveted ‘Musician Of The Year’ in the 2008 Folk Awards.

Aidan told PA Arts how this stellar line-up of musicians were invited to join forces for next Saturday’s super-gig by Horsecross Arts’ creative director of music, Andy Shearer: “Andy is an imaginative programmer who thinks out of the box a lot of the time, and we all agreed with him that while neither Session A9 nor Lau could sell out Perth Concert Hall, with our combined audience we could attract a really good crowd.”

The fiddle maestro continued: “I’m really looking forward to the gig. We’re all pretty good pals – it’s amazing how small a community Scotland becomes when you’re playing a lot of music with different people and bands and travelling around.”

Aidan has oft played in the Fair City at both Perth Concert Hall and Redrooms in Perth Theatre. He appreciates the quality of both venues, but Perth Concert Hall holds special favour: “It’s a fantastic venue, one of the best in the country for lots of reasons.”

“Next Saturday should be really special. Even getting us all together for the one gig is amazing because most of us are so busy with other projects as well as with Lau and Session A9.

“We haven’t got together yet to discuss the programme for next Saturday. All I can say is that something exciting may happen!”

Tickets are £16.50 (concessions £14.50) from the box offices at Perth Concert Hall and Perth Theatre, telephone 01738 621031, and online www.horsecross.co.uk