Brian Ferguson's interview with Donald Shaw, creative producer of Glasgow's Celtic Connections festival
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00:00Hi, I'm Brian Ferguson, the Arts Correspondent at Scotsman. I'm here in Glasgow with Donal Shaw, who's the Creative Producer of the Celtic Connections Festival. Celtic Connections seems a long way away to me, Donal, but how close is it to you?
00:17Close enough! Yeah, we're only three or so months out. Well, there's a lot happening and we're launching the majority of the programme in the next few days, so yeah, it's close enough.
00:30Tell us how much of the programme is going to be on sale this week?
00:36Yeah, I mean, probably two-thirds to three-quarters of the programme, so the big shows, the projects in the main venues, they'll certainly be getting announced, and some of the collaborations that we've been working on for a good while.
00:50As ever, the festival always seems to mark a lot of big birthdays, but there's a really big birthday next year.
00:56So yes, this is an initiative that Glasgow City have taken on to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the creation of the Commonwealth Constitution in Glasgow.
01:10So yeah, we shall get there early and mark the occasion by doing a show on the opening night of the festival, and it's probably not what you want to hear, but most of that night is a surprise!
01:28It's a very large and interesting cast, a lot of different people, and very much portrays the musical landscape of Glasgow, if you like, in the past, present and future.
01:42We're going to release a few names, but what I can say is that the community of Glasgow, that's very important right now.
02:01Institutions like the RCA, the Celtics, the Irish Celtics here in town, and also what I think is a fundamental movement at the moment, which is the Glasgow Session Center, I think that they will all have great examples from that night in the concert.
02:24I do think that Glasgow's in an interesting place in terms of finding vibrant, interesting music, even in the week that we're in, sitting in the bar.
02:42I don't think it would be unfair to say that when I first came to Glasgow in the 90s, you would not be applauded for walking into a bar and taking an accordion out.
02:52So that's changed, there's a fantastic attitude towards that, almost to the point that people see us as an element of tourism and destination, but also as a session scene music.
03:07The active tradition of music seems to me that that's just grown and grown, even coming out of the pandemic, there seems to be an explosion of events all over the place.
03:16I think it has, I think it's more to do with public appreciation and the growth of the love of music. I don't think it's necessarily that there are more and more bands and more and more musicians.
03:29I think obviously there are fantastic musicians coming through every year, but I think what's happening is it's a growing love of the music itself that's making a difference, so the audiences are growing in that sense.
03:41And also, I think it's fair to say we have a new environment for a lot of the younger audiences where we're happy to put shows on in big standing arenas or outdoor spaces, that's happening more and more, so yeah, it's good to know.
04:00Obviously the festival from day one has been about, to me, giving bands and artists the opportunity to put on really big scale shows, you've got quite a few already.
04:11Yeah, absolutely, I think that's a big part of it. I think, you know, if we take an artist who's been part of the growing cycle of the traditional music scene, I think, you know, Corrine Fulbert would be a good example of that.
04:29She's got her own first headline show at the festival in front of all, and she's decided to do it in her own brave way, which is to involve 300 choir singers, so yeah, always delighted to see a mission at the heart of what artists do at the festival.
04:46Julie Ferns has got a big show as well. Julie's got a big show with Eamon and Zoe and John, which is a kind of collaboration, a fairly unique collaboration of traditional and newly written material, as do the Scottish and Irish gallet performers, and they'll be performing with the Scottish keyboard orchestra.
05:08And then, Taylor's got some of the other big, yeah, maybe orchestral shows as well.
05:12Orchestral shows, well, again, we're working with a lot of the other big music organisations, like the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, we're going to be working with them, with the Orchestral Chorale, which are an artist that we have a great love of.
05:28We brought them, I think, maybe three or four years ago, as a support act, so this is at the headline of their own show. BBC's Scottish Symphony Orchestra are doing a special night with the Finnish band Frick, which would be great.
05:44Reykjavik are doing a special commission with the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, and we have projects with the Scottish Ensemble again, they're doing a really interesting night with the musician Donald Grant.
06:00So yeah, we have all those kind of nights swirling around with a lot of musicians, and then we have some exciting headliners from different genres of music.
06:12Americana plays a big part again, we have Grammy winner Madison Conant coming, very excited about that, and the iconic Lil' Love It, coming with his acoustic group.
06:25On the world music front, for the first time in Glasgow, we're presenting Femi Kuti, the Acoustic Horse, direct from Nigeria, it'll be a great night.
06:37I think across the board, what we're finding more and more is that sense of what is folk music.
06:50We've seen that in a lot of projects, artists who have both, or multiple styles within their compositional skills, whether it be electronic or jazz, so yeah, a lot of nice stuff going on.
07:06I'm afraid to say that audiences now pretty much expect all genres of music to be represented at festivals.
07:13I think so, but I think we can also normally pull a show apart and find that part of it is roots music, so I think that's important to us.
07:27And I think that, you know, what's interesting is, if you take an act like Elphick Sessions who are playing in the Academy, they're drawing heavily on electronic and dance inspiration, to kind of highlight trap music, but the tunes are on the top of the picture, if you like, they're still the main focus.
07:51So yeah, I think audiences are less taken aback or shocked to see a string quartet with a banjo player or whatever.
08:03You've got some of the big jazz stars, have you really been making a name for yourselves in the last few years in the festival?
08:11Yeah, Kurt Alte are doing a show in the Barlands, we've got a young singer, Kitty, who's gone through the scene, who's going to do a headline show, so yeah, that's a big part of it.
08:25I think it's very important that, we've seen in Summerland who are musicians there, who are living side by side over three or four years, exploring the roots of jazz and traditional music and orchestral music at the same time, and all talking to each other, and that's creating a whole new approach, I think, towards how traditional music is presented.
08:51Are there any real up and coming bands that people might not have heard of that you'd encourage people to check out?
09:00Well, I would say check out a new young band called Astroblock, which is Erin Ray's new band. Erin Ray will be familiar to some folk as one of the young trad musicians of the year, fiddle player, great young artist.
09:17I think as well, it's always a calling card for us, the new voices, the shows, all three artists, Kirsty Beaton, the bass player, doing some great composition and performing.
09:32And you have Ciaran Ryan, a banjo player from Montrose, I believe, and very much doing the same. And Michael Viggins, amazing pianist, he's been doing this thing for a few years. So, they're maybe familiar to the traditional music circuit, but I think they're a marvellous artist in terms of the general public.
09:56You're back at the Barrellands. There's quite a few shows there. Casey Tunstall, for example.
10:00Casey Tunstall, exactly, yes. She's celebrating her 25th anniversary of her album, Lights of the Telescope. So, two big nights with her, one in the Barrellands and one here at the Cluster Hall.
10:12And a nice moment in the sense that she wanted to put a show together that had a Celtic-American feel to it, so Rolly Harps put a band together for her for that.
10:23Who else is in the Barrellands? The Chair, celebrating 20 years, 25 years? I don't know.
10:32So, that great Arcadian big band sound that they do that no one else can do. And they're joined by, of course, the Northern Arcadian group, Farrah. They're in the Barrellands.
10:45And then, a kind of special Glasgow moment at the end of the festival with the Bluebells.
10:50So, lots to look forward to.
10:53Yeah, so it's a huge programme, lots to look forward to and everything you always wanted out of music is there.
10:58It's a programme pretty much at a scale that even people will come to expect. There's obviously tricky times in Scottish culture.
11:05Yeah, full steam ahead with your festival.
11:08Yeah, very much so. You know, my life is made easy and difficult at the same time by the amount of great artists who want to get on with the festival.
11:17And it's really just about us managing the venues. I mean, I think we'll match what we did last year.
11:26Some nights we're doing 27 or 28 venues in one night. So, I think that's good enough.
11:32We also have one little venue addition. I don't know if you know about that. One little venue addition.
11:38First time ever we're going to do a show in the Emirates Arena.
11:41Oh, right.
11:43So, right in the east end of Glasgow. It'll be the first time we try this venue out and see how it feels.
11:52Obviously people will know it as a sporting venue, but we've broken it up as a major show.
11:57Do you think that's the first music event in a town?
12:00It is, very much so.
12:02Our friends from up in Lewes are keeping you company.
12:06Oh, right.
12:07Amongst an interesting support cast of other artists that we've not announced yet.
12:13They don't do anything normal really?
12:16No, they're coming down to be our game mix for the Emirates.
12:24Sorry to take it by surprise that you didn't know about that.
12:27I didn't know about that.
12:29I thought I'd mention that because they're actually...