Photo: Camille Lemoine

Saturday April 5 * 7pm * GA $25-30, Low income / student: $15-25 * TICKETS

Brìghde Chaimbeul is a leading purveyor of celtic experimentalism and a master of the
Scottish smallpipes – the bellows-blown, mellower and more emotive cousin to the famous Highland bagpipes – and she’s taken them to the global stage. A native Gaelic speaker from the Isle of Skye, Brìghde roots her music in her language and culture. She rose to prominence as a prodigy of traditional music, but has since begun a journey to take the smallpipes into uncharted territory. She has devised a completely unique way of arranging for pipe music that emphasises the rich textural drones of the instrument; the constancy of sound that creates a trance-like atmosphere, played with enticing virtuosic liquidity. She draws inspiration from the world of interconnected piping traditions, and her most recent album brings in influences from ambient, avant garde and electronic music. One can talk about Brìghde’s awards (BBC Young Folk Award; BBC Horizons Award; SAY Award nominee) and her wide array of collaborators (Caroline Polachek; Colin Stetson; Gruff Rhys; Aidan O'Rourke...) but after it all, her music speaks for itself. Haunting, entrancing, breathtaking, beautiful – this open-eared, understatedly virtuosic performer is transforming and creating new definitions for Scottish folk in the 21st century.

Henbane was formed in the summer of 2023 by Kohoutek percussionist Scott Verrastro and bassist Griffin Vernor Drutchas based on the framework of 1968-1970 Fairport Convention, covering a repertoire of traditional British Isles folk ballads, lyrical gems from '60s and '70s songwriters, and original compositions. Like Fairport, Henbane aims to adapt traditional ballads to contemporary times with their own arrangements. The quintet also features vocalist Eva Sheppard, guitarist John Comune (Bitter Wish/Strawberry Hands) and violinist John Coursey (The Deadeyes/Kohoutek). The band has shared stages with Gwenifer Raymond, E, Frank Hurricane, Elkhorn, and Flash Hits. Henbane will be entering the studio at the end of January to record its debut LP.