Celtic Connections PHOTOS

Celtic Connections festival Glasgow  
I enjoy many genres. In my twenties I dated a folk guitarist in Edinburgh and visited Sandy Bells and Arran folk festivals. The immediacy and passion of live traditional reels and folk songs were infectious and I was hooked.  Celtic started in 1994 when Aly Bain was the only professional fiddle player in Scotland and he wondered would they sell 100,000 tickets in January in Glasgow.....? 
This is one of my favourite festivals and 2012 will be my fifth year covering Celtic.  

I met Jerry Douglas last year at the Fruitmarket. I've also met Eddi Reader, John McCusker, Donald Shaw, Karen Matheson, Inge Thompson, Mat Martin, Kirsty McGee, Dick Gaughan, Phil Cunningham, Alistair Oglivie, Rab Noakes, Michael Marra, Karine Polwart at various folk music events. 
Celtic is one of the largest gatherings of folk music worldwide. One of the main aspects I enjoy at Celtic are the very interesting and sometimes usual collaborations.
Transatlantic now goes on tour after the festival, check for dates.  http://www.celticconnections.com/

Emeli Sande wins the Brits Critics' Choice award 2012

I saw Emeli Sande gig at the Oran Mor Glasgow for her first EP launch in December 2006. I saw her again four years later at King Tuts in 2010. She has had a busy time since then!  In 2011 she has had The Mobos and her debut single Heaven reached No 2 in the UK charts. Her album, Our Version of Events, will be released early in 2012. Emeli spoke of how wonderful the past year has been for her and of her present number one song with Professor Green titled 'Read all about It.

Her music is rocky and the edge of our joys and sorrows - soul with a questioning edge. I had a chat with Emeli backstage at King Tuts December 2010, where she kindly sigend prints for me, and she said her music was influenced by the likes of Portishead, Massive Attack and Joni Mitchell. I am now excited for her album and I expect it to be a smash success!  Emeli attended Glasgow medical school and after obtaining a medical degree in Neuroscience, she decided to focus on her music.  http://www.emelisande.com/

NEWs Dec 2011 - Emeli Sande wins the Brits Critics' Choice award", which rewards up-and-coming talent. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts

Alan Bissett Edinburgh International Book Festival 2011

Alan Bissett is an author and playwright. Alan Bissett’s Pack Men is surely the first novel to be written about the Manchester riots at the 2008 UEFA Cup Final, as old friends gather up to face the unfolding violence and their own personal tensions.  After the publication of his first two novels, Boyracers and The Incredible Adam Spark, he became known for his different take on Scots dialect writing, suffused with popular culture references and socialist politics.  Bissett used to lecture in at the University of Leeds.

Bidisha Edinburgh International Book Festival 2011

Bidisha interviewed the author Sapphire on her new book "The Kid" her follow up to Oscar-winning "Precious".  Bidisha is a feminist, critic, broadcaster and writer. She began writing professionally for arts magazines such as i-D, Dazed and Confused and the NME at the age of 15 and published her first novel at 18. Bidisha is also a radio and TV arts critic and presenter.  She was a regular guest on BBC Two's Newsnight Review. She has written for The Guardian, Financial Times, The Observer, and the arts magazine The List.

Karin Altenberg Edinburgh International Book Festival 2011

Copyright Pauline Keightley
Karin Altenberg gave a talk at the Edinburgh International Book Festival 2011.  She is originally from Sweden and moved to Britain to study in 1996. She holds a PhD in Archaeology from the University of Reading. Her thesis, which was published in 2001, won the Nordenstedska Foundation Award. She is currently senior advisor to the Swedish National Heritage Board and is a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London. Her 'powerfully imagined debut' novel (Independent), Island of Wings, is a rich and vivid account of the harsh realities of life on a remote Scottish Island in the 1830s.

Alex Salmond Edinburgh International Book Festival 2011

It was a thrill for me as a lifelong supporter of Scottish Independance to shake hands with Big Al and take his photo! 
Alex Salmond MSP is a Scottish politician and First Minister of Scotland. He became Scotland's fourth First Minister in May 2007. He is the Leader of the Scottish National party (SNP), having served as Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Gordon. Salmond was re-elected SNP leader in 2004.  In 2006 he stood for the 2007 Scottish Parliament in which the SNP emerged as the largest single party. Salmond was voted First Minister by the Scottish Parliament on 16 May 2007. 

Neil Gaiman Edinburgh International Book Festival 2011

--> --> Neil Gaiman is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, and films. Including the comic book series The Sandman.  Gaiman's writing has many awards, including Hugo, Nebula, Bram Stoker, Newberry meal and 2010 Carnegie Medal in Literature. He gave a talk at the Einburgh Book Festival 2011.