Click here to go to News
Archive: 02
Review of Eddi performing with Aly Bain and Phil
Cunningham
Taste
of Scots music without the shortbread
Edinburgh Evening News
1 December 2003
CLASSICAL MUSIC REVIEW
MARTIN LENON
The RSNO, Aly Bain and Phil Cunningham
**** Usher Hall
Scottish music can be a dangerous thing. If it's done the wrong way, as it too often is, it can sound like the aural equivalent of a shortbread box picture. There are also many different genres and mixing them doesn't always work. Fortunately that wasn't the case on Friday evening at the Usher Hall.
The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, having tuned up, stood up to welcome their young associate conductor Garry Walker, who began the concert with an arrangement of Brochan lom. To say Walker was animated would be an understatement - he was practically dancing on the podium.
Aly Bain and Phil Cunningham sauntered on to a roar from the nearly full hall and, after some cheeky banter, they leapt into Three Wee Jigs, an air, a few marches and a strathspey. The arrangements of Scottish tunes makes or breaks them and, here they worked.
Undisciplined folk musicians push and pull the tempo of tunes and they did here, but Walker kept the orchestra locked in to every note. Eddi Reader, flanked by guitarist Ian Carr and fiddler John McCusker, came on to continue her very public love affair with Robert Burns, singing six songs over the whole evening. Biscuit tin purists may balk, but Reader has a fresh, rejuvenating approach to Burns which will keep him alive this century and beyond.
Four fiddlers from Session A9, led by Duncan Chisolm, also came on, playing tunes with odd rhythms, after which Chisolm joined Cunningham for a few numbers. The evening, a sort of mini Scottish Royal Variety Performance, also featured the ScottishPower Pipe Band towards the end, which came, inevitably, too soon.
There was no cheesy Braveheart nonsense on offer, just a grand celebration of tradition and quality.
19 December, 2003
Christmas closing
Shipping for the online shop has stopped for the Christmas and New Year holidays.
Shipping begins again on 7 January, 2004.
19 December, 2003
Media appearances
Eddi is being interviewed for a radio programme on
The History of King Tut's Wah Wah Hut – the famous venue in Glasgow,
Scotland. The programme is due to be broadcast on BBC
Radio Scotland on New Year's Day, and listeners in other parts of
the world can listen online.
Eddi is also due to give a live television interview with Billy Sloan on STV (Scottish Television) at 2.15pm (14:15hrs GMT) on 19 December. Clips of Auld Lang Syne and Wild Mountainside from the new Burns album will also be shown.
And Eddi is recording radio interviews this month for:
Richard Allan, Tay AM,
Dundee, Scotland
Luke McCullough, Northsound 2, Aberdeen, Scotland
Dave Marshall, Clyde 2, Glasgow, Scotland
Scott Wilson, Forth 2, Edinburgh, Scotland
Steve Ladner, BBC Radio Kent, England
Julia Hankin, BBC Radio Newcastle, England
Keith Warmington, BBC Radio Bristol, England
Nick Robins, BBC GMR, Manchester, England.
Interviews are being recorded on 16 and 17 December. Sorry, we don't have broadcast dates and times - please check your local listings.
8 December, 2003
Online shop last
order dates for Christmas
Place your orders by the following dates to beat the Christmas rush:
Outside
UK,
Europe,
North
America,
and
Japan:
11:30hrs GMT, Thursday 4 December.
Europe, North America, and Japan: 11:30hrs GMT, Thursday 11 December.
UK: 11:30hrs GMT, Thursday 18 December.
25 November, 2003
Eddi joins an evening with Phil Cunningham and
Aly Bain
Eddi will be special guest vocalist at a concert with Phil Cunningham,
accordion, and Aly Bain, fiddle, and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra
at Usher
Hall Edinburgh on Friday 28 November and Glasgow
Royal Concert Hall Saturday 29 November.
24 November, 2003
Eddi forced to rest, and cancels shows
Eddi is resting her voice on doctor's advice and will not be performing
again before the end of October at the earliest (see Home page for Eddi's
personal message). Regrettably this means Eddi's tour dates in Cork,
Aberdeen, Falkirk and Peterlee in September have
had to be
cancelled (refunds
for tickets bought in advance are available
at the
point
of purchase). Eddi and her management will review the position in November.
2 September, 2003
Live In Japan out soon
The final days of Fairground Attraction are captured in a new live album
originally recorded at Club Citta in Kawasaki, Japan, on 2 July, 1989.
'Kawasaki - Live In Japan 02/07/89' features 16 previously unavailable recordings and is released by BMG on the RCA label on 1 September, 2003.
Track Listing
1. Winter Rose/Allelujah
2. The Waltz Continues
3. The Moon Is Mine/Get Happy
4. Don’t Be A Stranger
5. Dangerous
6. I Know Why The Willow Weeps
7. Home To Heartache
8. Fear Is The Enemy Of Love
9. Find My Love
10. Broken By A Breeze
11. Whispers
12. Goodbye To Songtown
13. Fairground Attraction
14. Clare
15. Perfect
16. Moon On The Rain
7 August, 2003
Holiday closure
Eddi's web site gnomes are on holiday from August 11 to 27, which means
emails to info@eddireader.com will not be answered during that time.
Urgent media or booking enquiries during this time should be made to
Sincere Management, at office(at)sinman(dot)co(dot)uk.
The online shop will continue to take orders, but shipping will not begin again until August 28. If you do not want your card debited, please do NOT place your order until we re-open. We will continue to process orders normally until the evening of August 10.
6 August, 2003
Cork Festival confirmed
Eddi will perform at the Everyman
Palace Theatre during the Cork Festival in Ireland on 4 September. Box
office number is 021 4501673. Show time
is 8pm.
6 August, 2003
Media appearances
Set your video or DVD recorders. Eddi will be on The Sunday Programme,
GMTV on ITV1 (UK television) on Sunday, July 13. She will perform and
be interviewed by Steve Richards. The programme will be repeated on
ITV2 later that day. Eddi also selects some of her
favourite
music for
The
Brand
New
Opry radio programme on BBC Radio Scotland, on Friday, August 1, repeated
on Sunday, August 3. Even if you are outside the UK, you can catch
this programme online at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/radioscotland_aod.shtml?bnopry
Update: Eddi's performance at Celtic Connections earlier this year (see news report below) will be re-shown on BBC 4 on Friday, July 18, 21:30 - 22:30 hrs. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/
11 July, 2003
Read the album reviews
Take a look at these online reviews of Eddi Reader
Sings The Songs of Robert Burns:
BBCi
New-Classics
and Roots Review a
new fan site dedicated to Celtic roots music.
And if you read Greek, try Avopolis
16 June, 2003
Football prompts Glasgow date change
The show at the
Glasgow Pavilion originally scheduled for 21 May has been moved to 19
June following the success of Glasgow Celtic football club in the UEFA
Cup competition.
On 21 May in Seville, Spain, Celtic take on FC Porto in the finals of this European tournament, one of the most important events for Scottish club football in decades. Much of Glasgow and Scotland will be glued to the match on television, as will Eddi herself, a native Glaswegian, and putting on a rival show that night would be an act either of extreme optimism or folly!
As Eddi herself said today: "On behalf of my Dad and all my family I have to watch the match. And everyone else in Glasgow will too, as it's the best thing that has happened to Scottish football for a generation. Sorry if it causes anyone any inconvenience."
7 May, 2003
Online interview
Check out this interview with Eddi at the web site SimplyScottish.com,
in which she talks about her previous recorded work and the eagerly-anticipated
forthcoming
album of Robbie Burns songs, and even her views on the imminent elections
for the Scottish Parliament.
Please visit www.simplyscottish.com/readingroom/interviews/eddi_reader.htm
8 April, 2003
Eddi adds extra show
A date in Loughborough has been added to Eddi's
UK tour in May. See On The Road.
13 March, 2003
Spanish dates in March
A year after
her first concerts in Spain, Eddi, Boo Hewerdine and Colin Reid
return to build
on their success of 2002, and for the first time will be performing in
Madrid. See the On The Road section for
all the details, including box office numbers and web sites where they
exist.
4 March, 2003
May release for Burns album
Eddi's much anticipated
and as yet untitled album of Robert Burns songs is currently being mixed
by Jon Kelly in a studio in
London, having been recorded in CaVa Studios in Glasgow immediately
after Eddi premiered the album material at Glasgow's Celtic Connections
Festival last month. Eddi gathered together a band of some of
the best-known names in British folk music to perform on the album
including Phil Cunningham, John McCusker, Ewen Vernal, Christine
Hanson and
Ian Carr, as well as Eddi's long-time collaborators Boo Hewerdine
and Colin Reid. Players from the Royal Scottish National Orchestra
also performed on the album playing string arrangements by Kevin
McCrae. The album will be mastered in March and will be released
on the Rough Trade label in May 2003 in advance of Eddi's UK tour
starting May 12
at the Tollbooth Centre in Stirling, Scotland (see 'On The Road'
section for full tour details). Watch out for more one-off performances
to
be announced soon.
25 February, 2003
Eddi to play festival in April
Eddi will be playing at the Gosport & Fareham Easter Festival
in Fareham, Hampshire, on April 17. Support will include Jackie Leven.
The
event is held at Ferneham Hall, Fareham, Hampshire. Box Office: 01329
231942
Take a look at www.gosportfestival.co.uk for
more details on tickets and directions.
22 January, 2003
Second Celtic Connections show confirmed as ticket sales surge
Huge demand for tickets for Eddi's appearance with performers from
the Royal Scottish National Orchestra at the Celtic Connections Festival
in Glasgow, Scotland, (see 'Eddi connects with Robbie Burns' story below)
means we are delighted to report that a second performance has been confirmed
for
February 2, 2003. So if you have trouble booking tickets for the first
show, or it clashes with another date in your diary, book now for February
2 to avoid disappointment.
February 2, 2003
Eddi Reader Sings Robert Burns
The Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
2 Sauchiehall Street
Glasgow
G2 3NY
Scotland
Telephone: +44 (0)141 353 8000
http://www.celticconnections.co.uk
16 January, 2003