Scotland, Glasgow

It's almost Hogmanay as they call New Year in Scotland, one of the biggest parties on the Scottish calendar.  It's so big here that the Scots get 2 days off, so what better place to celebrate it than in Glasgow.

Glasgow is the most populous city in Scotland and maintains a fierce rivalry with the capital Edinburgh.  Whilst Edinburgh is generally considered the prettier city. Glasgow has a working class industrial heart as a port city.  Although ever since they were awarded the European Capital of Culture a few years back, it has moved upmarket somewhat.  I have never stopped but for a few hours in the city, so can't comment on any of that, but judging by the amount of good music coming from this city, it's alive and well.

Back in 1978 a band called Kentigern formed here named after St.Mungo who was the Scottish apostle of the kingdom of Strathclyde in the 6th century.  I don't know what happened to them subsequently, but they released a couple of albums, including a self-titled one in 1979, which is currently not available any more.  Here are 3 jigs from this album:

Before them, in 1969, the Battlefield Band formed and are still active today, although in a completely different line-up to the original set-up.  Here's a cheeky song from their 1976 debut album Farewell to Nova Scotia (which is available as a free download on Folk Yourself) called The Bonny Wee Lassie Who Never Said No:

Much more recent arrivals on the Glasgow folk scene are the trio Talisk.  Formed in 2014, they consist of Mohsen Amini on concertina, Hayley Keenan on fiddle and Graeme Armstrong on guitar and they have already earned themselves a BBC folk Band of the Year award in 2017.  This tune, The Abyss, is the title track from their 2016 debut album:

The quartet Rura burst on the scene in 2010 with their award winning performance at the Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow.  They consist of Jack Smedley on fiddle, Steven Blake on pipes and whistles, Adam Brown on guitar and David Foley on bodhrán and flute.  Here is a tune from their 2015 album Despite the Dark called The Dark Reel performed live at the Tradfest in Glasgow:

Burd Ellen is new folk music project featuring the haunting voice of Debbie Armour.  Have a listen to this spell-binding vocal mosaic from their fresh off the press 2019 self-released single called Chi Mi Bhuam, which according to Google Translate means you to me.

Moving away from traditional music, Admiral Fallow are a young band playing what is described as orchestral indie pop, whatever you make of that.  The songs are apparently autobiographic taken from the life of lead singer and main writer Louis Abbott.  Here's a song from their 2009 debut album Boots Met My Face entitled Squealing Pigs: 

As usual you can follow my virtual journey on this link on tripline.  Happy Hogmanay everybody!