Busy Celtic Connections for Perth’s Brian MacAlpine

Jan 15 2010 by Alison Anderson, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

ONE of the busiest musicians on the traditional music scene in Scotland has to be Perth’s Brian MacAlpine – music arranger, director, keyboard and accordion player and occasional actor.

So don’t expect him staring at pretty snow scenes as he approaches meltdown over the next few weeks. Instead, he’s likely to turn giddy whirling around Glasgow to fulfil a hefty schedule of Celtic Connections commitments before heading off on tour with supergroup Session A9, of which he’s a founder member.

Even Brian couldn’t remember all his Celtic Connections duties when he spoke to PA Arts in the run-up to this feast of roots music which opened last night and runs until January 31. Suffice to say that he’ll be sharing various stages with luminaries such as Phil Cunningham, Andy M Stewart, Karine Polwart, Charlie McKerron, Michael Marra and opera singer Elizabeth McCormack.

And the icing on the Celtic Connections cake for Brian was being asked by Irish legends The Chieftains to play with them and their special guest, revered US musician Ry Cooder, at their sold-out Glasgow Royal Concert Hall concert on January 26.

“It’s absolutely mad. I couldn’t be busier,” he said, no doubt to the envy of the majority of musicians who would love a diary half as full as Brian’s.

Brian, who trained at Perth College music school, is putting the final touches to tomorrow’s Celtic Connections headliner, A Scottish Songbook, with its top drawer line-up. He’s sharing the concert’s musical director duties with award-winning singer-songwriter Karine Polwart, and will be taking his place on stage in his regular role as keyboard player with supergroup Session A9, which is house band for the night.

A Scottish Songbook is a massive tome covering folk standards to pop classics, leftfield cult anthems to Gaelic ballads – performed on the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall stage by stellar performers, carefully matched with each number but also being gently nudged outside their comfort zones.

“The running of the show falls in Karine’s hands and I’m concentrating on the music arrangements. We’re trying to get some of the big songs from each era of the last century, and will include the Associates, Humblebums and Annie Lennox – there’s something for everyone and it’s a fantastic line-up,” said Brian.

Another of Brian’s Celtic Connections ‘biggies’ is tonight as lynchpin for a performance of Eilidh Mackenzie’s song cycle Bel Canto. The St Andrews in the Square performance is a reprise of the album launch in Inverness in November, and the line-up of top performers includes Brian as pianist, Gordon Gunn on fiddle and Christine Hanson on cello, with Eilidh on vocals and guest singers including Michael Marra, opera singer Elizabeth MacCormick, James Graham, and Eddi Reader.

“Elizabeth is incredibly talented, and this is the first time I’ve done a gig with a singer of proper opera,” continued Brian, adding: “It’s crazy but a fantastic time and I realise how fortunate I am.

“My final Celtic Connections concert is with Session A9 on the 29th then we go straight off on tour. Unfortunately we’re not coming to Perth on this tour but I hope we’ll play again at the concert hall before too long. It’s a fantastic venue.”

l Other Perthshire-based musicians with Celtic Connections duties this weekend include sing-songwriter Jim Malcolm, who joins the Robert Tannahill Bicentenary Concert line-up tonight and shares a double bill with The Poozies in St Andrews in the Square at 8pm on Sunday;

The Vale of Atholl Pipe Band headlining the Annual Piping Concert in Glasgow Royal Concert Hall at 12.30pm tomorrow;

The eight Tunes for Gordon – as premiered in the annual National Treasure concerts in Perth Concert Hall celebrating the music of the late Gordon Duncan from Pitlochry – will be reprised on Sunday at 7.30pm in the GRCH Strathclyde Suite, played by some of the countries’ best young composers and musicians, including Perthshire’s Ross Ainslie and Ali Hutton;

And the Gordon Duncan Memorial Solo Piping Competition is now an established event on the Celtic Connections’ programme, with Gordon’s father, Jock, presenting the prizes in the National Piping Centre on Sunday afternoon.

l The full Celtic Connections programme can be viewed onwww.celticconnections.com