Issue 1 11/97
Belle Stewart passed away
Scotland.Belle Stewart the doyen of the traditional music of the travelling people of Scotland died on Thursday, 4th September at the age of 91. While slightly disingenous (her father was actually a raspberry farmer in Blairgowrie and all the travelling she did in her life was between Scotland and America) she did do more that any other to preserve that, sometimes crude and raw but always vital, aspect of the Scottish folk tradition. Anyone having met her could not but fall under her spell of certainity. - May she rest in peace.
Info from Charles McGregor
Sean Talamh becomes Shantalla
Belgium/Ireland. Helen Flaherty, the excellent Scottish singer and bodhran player, has joined Belgium-based Irish Traditional band, Shantalla. She replaces Katia McDermott who has left the band to pursue other interests.
Flaherty, who originally hails from East Kilbride and is now resident in Antwerp, brings to Shantalla a diverse repertoire of songs and a wealth of experience. Violinist Luc Pilartz has also left Shantalla to concentrate on his work with the Belgian European Folk Group Panta Rhei. With the new line-up firmly established, Shantalla has resumed work on
its new CD, which will be released in 1998. Shantalla is now:
Helen Flaherty (East Kilbride): Vocals & Bodhran; Michael Horgan (Down): Uilleann Pipes, Flutes, Whistles; Gerry Murray (Monaghan): Accordion, Bouzouki; Kieran Fahy (Galway): Fiddle; Joe Hennon (Dublin): Guitar.
Shantalla is an 'anglicised phonetic' spelling of the Gaelic phrase, Sean Talamh, which literally means 'Old Ground' and is a metaphor amongst Irish emigrants for Ireland. The band was originally formed in
1992 as Sean Talamh. With the regrouping in 1996, it changed its name to Shantalla for ease of pronunciation.
Blair Douglas Appeal
Scotland. Saltire wrote: Blair Douglas recently lost all his posessions in a fire at his home on Skye. Thankfully he and his family escaped uninjured. His friend Art Cormack is trying to help by circulating a message to friends and admirers of Blair's music.
Background: Blair Douglas is a very well known accordionist and keyboard player . From Skye, he was a founder member of Runrig and has performed with Artfor many years. Blair has performed on several albums and is in greatdemand as a composer of music for film, radio and television. Perhapshis best known song is Kate Martin's waltz on his "Beneath the beret"album. His recent album "A summer in Skye" was greeted with criticalacclaim. Blair also performs on the Mac-talla album and jointly runsMacmeanmna records.
Message from Art Cormack:
Chaill Blair a h-uile cail a bh'aige as an teine, ach beag air bheag,tha e togail air.(Blair lost everything he had in the fire, but little by little he'sgetting on top of things)Tha sinn air urras a steidheachadh gus airgiod a chruinneachadh airsonionnsramaidean ur a cheannach dha, agus 's docha gum b'urrainn dhut mochuideachdh le bhith sgaoileadh fios mu dheidhinn seo air an eadar-lion.(We have established a trust in order to buy new instruments for him,and perhaps you could help me by distributing information about this onthe Internet.)Tha cunntas ann am Banca na h-Alba ann am Port-Righ, agus ma tha duinesam bith airson airgiod a thoirt seachad, dh'fhaodadh iad seic a churchun na banca. 'S e ainm a chunntais "Douglas Family Appeal Fund".(There is an account at the Bank of Scotland in Portree, and if anyonewould like to donate some money, they could send a cheque to the bank.The name of the account is "Douglas Family Appeal Fund".)Ma tha duine sam bith airson airgiod a thoirt seachad le cairt-creideas,dh'fhaodadh iad fon a chur thugam-sa aig a bhuth air 01478 612990.(If anyone would like to make a donatation by credit card, they can dothis by calling me (Art) on 01478 612990.)
In the German news you can find as additional news:
To the (newer) FolkWorld News of Nr. 2To the content of FolkWorld online music magazine Nr. 1 © The Mollis - Editors of FolkWorld; Published 11/97
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