So who's the Catskinners then?

The Catskinners are a folk band from Glasgow who perform a variety of material from the tradition and contemporary sources, as well as original songs written by John McCreadie.

Working on the principle that there is more than one way to perform a song, (hence the name) we have a flexible and adaptable approach to the music where, (depending upon the venue) we can alternate between big orchestral sounding arrangements to intimate moments where we and the audience become close confidantes. We’re able to adapt the complexity of how we present each show to best fit the performance space.

We cover a huge range of styles, including jazz/folk fusion, blues, shanties, traditional ballads, Americana and English chanson using acoustic and electric guitars, various drums and other percussion, concertina, melodeon, harmonicas, and a Roland guitar synthesiser which lets Kenny Caird conjure everything from piano to saxophone to big orchestral backdrops from his guitar.

Similarly we draw our material from a wide range of sources, including the Tradition, Robert Burns, and 20th century writers and poets such as Alistair Hulett, Henry Lawson, and Guy Clark, with a number of John McCreadie’s own songs peppered through the mix.

The current line up is:

John McCreadie: Guitarist, Singer, and Songwriter. Formerly of Diggery Venn, Radical Road, and the Govan Spoonful, and an established solo performer and festival compère, John’s involvement with Scottish folk music spans several decades.
He has a considerable reputation as a songwriter, and his songs have been covered by some of Scotland’s great singers such as Arthur Johnstone, (Doomsday In The Afternoon), and Sheena Wellington (Where Are You Now My Son?)

Kenny Caird: Multi-instrumentalist and Singer. Kenny plays acoustic and electric guitars, guitar synthesiser, chromatic and octave harmonicas, anglo concertina, and button accordion.
With a background in blues rock, Kenny came to the folk scene in the early 1980s after hearing a Dick Gaughan record and deciding he wanted to be part of this music. His use of synthesisers and electric guitars bring a certain unorthodoxy to some of the Catskinners performance.

Trish Caird: Percussionist and Singer. A relative newcomer to the world of performance, Trish has developed her skills at various singers’ sessions around Glasgow before joining forces with Kenny and John. Her percussion playing occasionally raises eyebrows among the traditionalists of the ethnic drum because of her love of using domestic utensils such as pastry brushes as drumsticks. Trish’s attitude is “If it works, why not?”

Book the Catskinners for your club or festival!

For bookings or any other queries:

Ken: 07570829683
John: 07796005934

catskinner@keromail.com

Listen at our Reverbnation Page and become a fan!

http://www.reverbnation.com/thecatskinners/

Visit our forum!

http://catskinners.myfastforum.org/

Friday, 23 July 2010

Back at last

After a long hiatus it's time this blog was updated.

Straight away there's 4 new freebie recordings for you to download.

We recorded a big bunch of stuff for the "Feline My Way" album, but that's still in the (long) pipeline because we're lazy buggers who like making and recording music better than all the hassle of actually packaging and marketing it, so we end up with enough stuff for about two complete albums, and no actual albums. haha!

I'll put more stuff up soon, I promise, along with pics and stories of what we've been up to over the past few months.

Anyway enjoy the new stuff.

First up's Doomsday in the Afternoon. Lots of people have recorded this song, and it's sort of found its way into the modern tradition, although John actually wrote it.

Next is Davy Lowston. Never seal. You'll get stranded and have to eat nothing but seals and seagulls for years.

Then there's Paddy the Moocher. This is another McCreadie original about the beggars of the 1950s and the beggars of today. All failed by society.
This was big fun to record because we skinnered it completely.

The final new upload for today is Jim Jones at Botany Bay with a wee tune tacked on the end called "The Princess Royal". Both traditional, this gave me an opportunity to use the new octave tuned harmonica Trish gave me at Christmas, and John got to mess about in open tuning.

Right! I promise I'll put more stuff up soon.

Toodle pip!

Ken.
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