Celtic Connections

TUESDAY LINE-UP – Celtic Connections On Campus

Written by celtic music radio on January 23, 2024

Celtic Connections on Campus is live every day this week on Celtic Music Radio.

Back for its eighth year it is hosted by Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) in association with Celtic Music Radio and TRADtv.

The second of five free lunchtime concerts takes place today in the Re-union bar and grill in the GCU Students’ Association building.

Today’s line-up is:

EDINBURGH COLLEGE TRADITIONAL MUSIC BAND

Edinburgh College’s Traditional Music Band is made up of staff and full-time music students from the college: fiddlers, woodwind players, guitarists, pianists and accordionists. They play their own arrangements of Celtic tunes – reels, jigs, strathspeys, airs, hornpipes and lots more – from Scotland, Ireland, the USA and beyond. The band performs several times a year at concerts and functions in Edinburgh and Glasgow, and playing at Celtic Connections on Campus is always a particular highlight. They’ll be part of a college music tour to South West Scotland in June 2023. https://www.facebook.com/EdinburghCollegeMSP

LOU MCLEAN

Lou Mclean is a Scottish singer-songwriter telling stories through indie pop songs. Her latest singles: ‘Rbf’ & ‘Good Girls’ received airplay here and in the US. She is now playing live with her house band ‘The Killjoys’. Inspired by riot grrrl and folk, Lou explores relationships and feminist theory via her pithy lyrics – at turns heart breaking, honest and darkly funny. Lou is co-founder of the GRS Songcirlcle: a monthly meetup for women and non-binary songwriters of all levels, which was shortlisted for a Creative Lives Award in 2022. Lou is currently recording her 4th EP, “KILLJOY’ and studying the MA in Songwriting at UWS. Socials: https://linktr.ee/loumcleanmusic Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4OtiJHqRsGy7gG0bE0MmtO?nd=1

WOODLANDS

“Woodlands evokes the sound of waves crashing into the Scottish sea shore and lures you to dance between the Nordic pine trees.” Focusing on tradition and innovation, Kristina Leesik (fiddle/vocals) and Justyna Krzy?anowska (harp/vocals) create a platform where Scottish and Irish music meet and transform into dreamlike and captivating arrangements. With backgrounds in Swedish folk music and classical music respectively, combined with influences from jazz and pop, their compositions remain one of a kind. Woodlands’ repertoire spans the width of the Celtic tradition and other genres, showcasing an intense diversity of beautiful songs, sweeping melodies and expressive performances of jigs and reels. The harp with its resonant sound and rhythmic drive, and the fiddle with sweeping tones full of variations, complete and enrich one another to form an exciting and nuanced musical experience. Kristina and Justyna met at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm in 2017 and continued their musical journey together some years later at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where they both deepened their knowledge of the Scottish folk music tradition.

RYAN KERSHAW

South Lanarkshire born singer-songwriter Ryan Kershaw delivers beautifully emotive reflections on life. Deftly navigating the alt-folk/acoustic tradition Ryan weaves touching and thought-provoking vocals into poignant, often sublime, tracks. http://www.ryankershaw.com