event details

Transatlantic Sessions

Friday 1st February 2008, 7.30pm

Glasgow Royal Concert Hall : Auditorium

Please Note: This is a past event event.

Following the acclaim heaped on BBC Scotland’s third series of Transatlantic Sessions, broadcast in autumn 2007, Celtic Connections presents another glittering line-up of Celtic and American stars, all of whom were featured in the recent programmes.

Since their inception, these concerts have consistently ranked among the festival’s fastest-selling tickets, hence the decision this time to stage the show twice, with the same line-up of artists on both nights, although – given the proceedings’ traditional element of spontaneity – the set-list may well vary between the two.

Heading a truly stellar cast of singers, soul/country diva Joan Osborne makes her Celtic Connections debut. Finding inspiration in sources as diverse as blues, gospel and Indian devotional music, Osborne has collaborated with the Dixie Chicks, the Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan and Taj Mahal, combining her arrestingly sensuous voice with direct, emotive songwriting. Also from Stateside comes a phalanx of top roots vocalists, including Tim O’Brien, Mindy Smith and Darrell Scott, with the Scottish team featuring Eddi Reader and Karen Matheson.

Also assembled for this year’s ‘ultimate back-porch session’ are a mouthwatering dream team of renowned instrumentalists, with Shetland fiddler Aly Bain and dobro king Jerry Douglas (CMA Musician Of The Year 2007) once again acting as musical directors.

Among the remaining US visitors are guitarist Russ Barenberg, bassist Garry West and banjo ace Alison Brown, while accordionist Phil Cunningham, guitarist John Doyle, percussionist James Mackintosh, Donald Shaw on piano and accordion, Bruce Molsky (fiddle) and Michael McGoldrick on flutes and whistles complete the Celtic contingent, for what promises to be two very special concerts.