The Scottish Jazz Federation are running a series of workshops specifically geared towards the jazz sector and free to students and those on low income. Make this the year you get to grips with digital technology.

SMIA members will receive a 10% discount when booking. To gain maximum discount click here and “register” on the SJF website.

Productivity – Wednesday 7 February 2012  - Scottish Music Centre, Candleriggs, Glasgow, 6pm—9pm

Get things done more efficiently. An interactive, participative workshop exploring the use of services like Google Docs and Calendar, RSS readers, simple blogging tools, online image, audio and video editors, basic scheduling and project management tools and protocols. Includes two case studies on how these tools are used by music business professionals to improve productivity.

Next workshops scheduled: 15th and 21st February. Visit the SJF site for full details.

The MOBO Tour 2012 - Feb 25 Glasgow – The Mitchell Library/ArtSchool Union/The Garage

The SMIA & Hear Glasgow! have teamed up with Urban Development & DF Concerts to present a whole day and nights events in Glasgow on Saturday 23 February 2012 as part of the UK MOBO Tour 2012.

The day will consist of an afternoon of workshops & seminars, The MOBO Academy  ‘Industry Takeover’; an open Mic/MC battle and an evening concert featuring both local artists and MOBO Tour artists.

The MOBO Academy Industry Takeover will feature experts from well respected organisations including SB.TV, RWD Magazine, PRS for Music Foundation, DF Concerts, artists on the MOBO Tour alongside luminaries from the Scottish scene including Andy Rankin (ABAGA Records), Profisee, David Boyd (Capital 1212), Rachel Grimes and Muslim Alim (BBC Radio 1). They will all be sharing their insider industry knowledge, answering questions and offering advice to the next generation of talent from across Scotland.  And all for FREE.

For more information visit our Mobo Tour page

January sees the launch of our new Monthly Music Meet Ups, these are informal breakfast time networking events, offering you the chance to meet with people working across the music industry in Scotland. At each event we will have a company talking about an aspect of their work or an invited guest. We’ve already lined up some great people for the coming year and some really interesting projects.

The series will launch with a profile of  Walking Heads, producers of interactive cultural audio walking tours exploring interesting cities whose flagship project is a fascinating interactive music tour of Glasgow. The Glasgow Music Tour will lead people around one of the world’s most exciting music cities. The tour, which launches at the end of the month, will be delivered as an audio-only MP3 version and as smartphone apps for iPhone and Android.

In the first of the SMIA’s Morning Meets, members of the Walking Heads team, which include SMIA director Dougal Perman and some of the people behind long running Glasgow-based internet radio station Radio Magnetic, will talk about how they came up with the idea, where the stories have come from, how the team have worked with music over the years, how they plan to promote and sell tickets and downloads through the app and discuss the potential for working with apps, location-based services and interactive storytelling for music makers and content creators alike.

For more information on Walking Heads please visit http://www.walkingheads.net/

The first SMIA Music Meet Up will take place on Thursday 26th of January in the Club Room at Society M in the Citizen M Hotel between 8:30 – 9:45 am Map

19th January – 7pm – The Universal, Glasgow

Our AGM is be open to both members and non-members and it will give you the opportunity to meet our board, find out more about us and feed into the organisation.

We will combine our AGM with the first of our quarterly SMIA members events which provide an open forum for the members to shape our plans for the next 6 months and to tell us how we are doing from their perspective. This will be followed by a quick drink and then we will be off to the opening night of Celtic Connections festival club. The first 30 members to sign up for membership on the night will receive a complimentary ticket.

If you would like to attend our AGM please register at http://www.eventbrite.com/event/2621422746

The Scottish Music Industry Association (SMIA) today revealed ambitious plans to create a stronger, more united music industry in Scotland

The five year plan outlines the SMIA’s core objectives and sets out an ambitious programme of events and initiatives designed to engage and attract members on an industry-wide level.

An industry led membership body, the SMIA’s objectives are to strengthen the music industry internally while championing its value and quality on both domestic and international stages.  This will be achieved through the employment of three key strategies:

•        celebrate and promote all musical endeavour in Scotland;

•        stimulate growth and job-creation at local, regional, national and international levels;

•        communicate more effectively, engaging with (and uniting) a diffuse industry populated with a myriad of small and medium enterprises across a spectrum of genres and sectors.

The SMIA will be responsible for delivering a number of high-level networking events, regional trade fairs and continuing professional development for its members.  The Association’s plan includes a number of exciting new developments including an annual programme of Independent Label Markets across Scotland, designed to bring together a range of independent labels, self-releasing artists and the music loving public. There will be a programme of bespoke professional training delivered in partnership with the Music Managers Forum which will help improve the skills of professionals in key areas like international music publishing and contract negotiation.

The SMIA also has ambitious targets to grow its membership with the stated objective of achieving full financial self-sufficiency within five years. Tam Coyle, Chair of the Scottish Music Industry Association, said;

‘The SMIA has enormous potential.  We have an excellent board with an appetite to change Scotland’s music industry for the better; the events and initiatives currently being developed are enormously exciting and should help the SMIA to become a unifying, proactive advocate for Scotland’s music industry.

‘By driving our membership recruitment, the SMIA can employ its financial resources into delivering initiatives for the industry, by the industry, without having to rely on external funding in the longer term.’

The SMIA will be supported by Creative Scotland investment during this key developmental phase, investment which recognises the Scottish Music Industry Association as a partner in delivering Creative Scotland’s aims of growing the cultural economy, stimulating growth within Scotland’s creative industries and maximising its global export.

Caroline Parkinson, Director of Creative Development at Creative Scotland, said;

‘Creative Scotland works with networks across a range of arts and creative disciplines and we are delighted to begin working with SMIA and its newly developed plans for their work with the Scottish music industry.

In addition to supporting its work in Scotland, Creative Scotland has tasked the SMIA with delivering Scotland’s presence at South By South West (SXSW) Music Conference and Festival in Austin, Texas in March next year.

Additionally we will lend support to SMIA in delivering those plans by providing capacity in the form of a one year secondment, which will give SMIA a foundation to build from.’

SMIA Board member, Stewart Henderson of Chemikal Underground, said;

’Delivering SXSW allows the SMIA to deliver on its two core objectives.  We can promote and champion Scotland’s musical success overseas while using the consultation processes required at home to strengthen and shape our international showcasing strategies moving forward.  Placing the music industry at the heart of these policy decisions will ensure we can deliver a strategy that’s meaningful and productive, offering substantial returns for the industry, from artists and labels through to managers, promoters and our partners in the media.

Further support during this key stage of development has been provided through the secondment of Creative Scotland Development Officer Stuart Thomas for one year to work as Operations Manager at the SMIA.  Stuart will work across the full range of our activities with direction from the SMIA board, taking a lead role in the Association’s delivery of Scotland’s SXSW presence.

About SMIA

The SMIA is a company limited by guarantee steered by a non-executive board of directors.  All of the directors are professionals working within various sectors and genres of the music industry and sit on the board in an unpaid, voluntary capacity.  The SMIA was originally formed in 2008 in recognition of the fact that no trade association existed to represent the industry with one clear, authoritative voice. The SMIA now has a dynamic board and an ambitious clarity of purpose:  ‘The Scottish Music Industry Association exists to unite Scotland’s music industry and see it recognised as one of the most vibrant, influential and respected in the world.’

The SMIA Business Plan and Strategy Document 2011 – 2016 is available at: www.smia.org.uk/business-plan

Tam Coyle (Chair)

MIOBABIG Music Consultancy; DJ
Greg Kane

Blairhill Media; Hue & Cry
Dougal Perman

Inner Ear; Radio Magnetic
Stewart Henderson

Chemikal Underground
Jamie Gilmour

Hail Eris Management; BASCA; Scottish Music Centre (Project Manager)
Adam Armit

Circular Records
Cathie Rae

Scottish Jazz Federation; Thick-Skinned Productions
Stephen Hume

Venue Booker – Toolbooth (Stirling); Artist Manager
Stuart Braithwaite

Mogwai; Rock Action Records
Caroline Winn

Hebrides Ensemble (General Manager)
Douglas MacIntyre

Creeping Bent Organisation; Stow College / Electric Honey Records
For more information about SMIA, a copy of our business plan or directors contact details please contact Caroline Cooper

About Creative Scotland

Creative Scotland is the national development agency for the arts, screen and creative industries.  Our vision is that Scotland will be recognised as one of the world’s most creative nations – one that attracts, develops and retains talent, where the arts and the creative industries are supported and celebrated and their economic contribution fully captured; a nation where the arts and creativity play a central part in the lives, education and well-being of our population.

Creative Scotland is currently conducting a review of the music sector in Scotland, to identify strengths, address gaps and inform its future investment priorities. This review will be completed in July 2012.  A voluntary steering group will be established to bring in additional expertise, objectivity and different perspectives to the process.  The steering group will be chaired by a member of the Board of Creative Scotland and SMIA will have representation on the group.

The Featured Artists Coalition campaigns for the protection of UK performers’ and musicians’ rights. They want all artists to have more control of their music and a much fairer share of the profits generated in the digital age. They speak with one voice to help artists strike a new bargain with record companies, digital distributors and others, and are campaigning for specific changes.

The MMF UK is the largest representative body of Artist Management in the world. They have over 400 members, representing over 1000 of the most successful acts on the planet. Their emphasis is on implementing positive actions to assist their members with a keen eye on the ‘next generation’ of entrepreneurs and innovators.

The event will take place at 5pm in the CCA, Glasgow.

To register your free place please visit our Eventbrite page  http://www.eventbrite.com/event/2490081902

Artistic Director Donald Shaw today unveiled a stellar programme for Celtic Connections 2012, sponsored by ScottishPower, with some of the biggest names in folk, roots, world, traditional, indie, blues and jazz performing in Glasgow this January and February.
The 19th Celtic Connections will see around 2100 artists from around the world taking part in 300 events in 20 venues across Glasgow over 18 days.

Programme highlights include Béla Fleck and the original Flecktones, The Aaron Neville Band, Bruce Hornsby and guests, Jack Bruce (Cream) with Lau, A Woody Guthrie Centennial, Orchestra Baobab, The Spirit of Scotland Pipe Band, Song for Ireland, a one-off reunion gig with Glasgow’s The Big Dish, and Floating Palace featuring KT Tunstall.

An all-star line-up will assemble to celebrate the life and music of Gerry Rafferty, in a show curated by his daughter Martha Rafferty and long-time friend Rab Noakes, featuring The Proclaimers, Barbara Dickson, Maria Muldaur, Ron Sexsmith and more.

Spearheading the festival’s political strand is a celebration of the Woody Guthrie Centennial with his granddaughter Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion. Coming together for the first ever live performance of The Woody Guthrie Project are Jay Farrar (Son Volt), Yim Yames (My Morning Jacket), Anders Parker and Will Johnson (Monsters of Folk).

Also part of the political strand is a UCS Work In 40th Anniversary Celebration, marking 40 years since the conclusion of the historic Upper Clyde Shipbuilder Work In.

The festival celebrates the vibrancy of the folk and trad scene with performances by Shooglenifty, Session A9, Blazin’ Fiddles, Treacherous Orchestra, Salsa Celtica, Dónal Lunny, Cherish the Ladies, Matt Molloy Trio and more.

Celtic Connections will launch in spectacular fashion with Béla Fleck and the reunited original Flecktones performing with an array of special guests for the opening concert.

Martha Reeves and The Vandellas, Cedric Watson, Moussu T, Pura Fé and John Trudell will bring a touch of soul, gospel and blues to Glasgow.

Omar Sosa, Emir Kusturica & the No Smoking Orchestra, Vieux Farka Touré, Faiz Ali Faiz, Orchestra Baobab and Sol i Serena add a world music flavour to the festivities.

Artistic Director Donald Shaw today unveiled a stellar programme for Celtic Connections 2012, which will see some of the biggest names in folk, roots, world, traditional, indie, Americana, bluegrass and jazz descend on Glasgow next January. The festival, which enters its 19th year in 2012, will run from 19th January – 5th February and is sponsored by ScottishPower.

With an ambitious and adventurous programme which embraces Celtic music’s connections with musical genres and cultural traditions from across the globe, Celtic Connections 2012 will see 2100 artists perform in around 300 events over 18 days in 20 venues across Glasgow. Celtic Connections is programmed and promoted by Glasgow Life.

New venues for the 2012 festival include the Mitchell Theatre, Brel, St Mary’s Cathedral, Platform and Apollo 23 – the new home of the Celtic Connections Festival Club.

Folk and Trad at the heart of the festival

At the heart of the festival is the vibrant folk and traditional music scene, with some of the UK and Ireland’s finest musicians set to raise the roof this January. Artists include Blazin’ Fiddles, Shooglenifty, Salsa Celtica, Breabach, The Simon Bradley Trio, The Wrigley Sisters, Babelfish, Skipinnish, Paul McKenna, Ailie Robertson’s Traditional Spirits, Niteworks, Rua MacMillan and The Bevvy Sisters, whilst the 13-piece musical powerhouse Treacherous Orchestra celebrate the launch of their highly anticipated debut album.

The superb Scottish supergroup Session A9 will headline a fiddle triple-bill in the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall (also featuring Toronto’s Sultans of String and the Quebe Sisters from Texas). Lau join forces with the Northern Sinfonia for the first Scottish performance of their epic orchestral work, Strange Attractors, written by the trio and Northern Irish composer Brian Irvine.

Stalwarts of the Scottish folk scene, including Sheena Wellington, Elspeth Cowie, Aileen Carr, Gordeanna McCulloch and Barbara Dymnock, will take to the stage at the festival.

Specially curated for the festival, the Celtic Connections Box and Fiddle Night celebrates more than 60 years of the dance band with a cast of dance music luminaries recreating classic tracks.

Ian McCalman will create an evening of music built around the album Far Far From Ypres (songs, poems and music of World War I), whilst Corrina Hewat’s six-harp suite The Oak and the Ivy encapsulates the diverse energies of the contemporary Scottish harp revival.

Once again the festival spotlight shines on Gaelic talent. Julie Fowlis’ Heisgeir is a documentary film which splices footage exploring the history and heritage of the now-unpopulated Monach Isles with live Gaelic song and music from her band. Inspired by the unique Gaelic song tradition of the Outer Hebrides, Cuairt nan Eilean will bring together Jenna Cumming (Harris), Linda MacLeod (North Uist) and Darren Maclean (Skye) for an exploration of the rich song traditions of their native islands.

Other Gaelic artists appearing at the festival include Mànran, whose phenomenal energy and footstompin’ Gaelic tunes have taken the music scene by storm this past year, as well as Maggie MacInnes, Anne Martin, The Campbells, Alyth McCormack and Kathleen MacInnes. Ceolas – a celebration of the Uist festival of Gaelic arts – will feature Rona Lightfoot, Angus MacKenzie and a host of other renowned singers, pipers and dancers.

St Mary’s Cathedral will play host to a Gaelic Mass, composed by Blair Douglas featuring the Inverness Gaelic Choir with soloists Paul McCallum and Maggie MacDonald.

Ceol ‘s Craic, will once again host a series of films, lectures and workshop throughout the festival celebrating Gaelic arts, including a Gaelic hub encouraging people to drop in and experience film, workshops and get information on Gaelic culture in the city.

Celtic Connections will also pay tribute to the late and dearly lamented Ray Fisher (1940-1911) with a line-up including Archie Fisher, Cilla Fisher, Martin Carthy, Sheila Stewart, Emily Smith, Siobhan Miller and Fiona Hunter, performing an array of the key songs she shared with them.

Other high profile folk artists performing at the festival include Northumberland’s Kathryn Tickell, Steve Tilston, The Unthanks performing the Scottish premiere of their acclaimed show, The Music of Robert Wyatt and Anthony & the Johnsons, Mercury-nominated North East band Tarras, and KAN featuring Aidan O’Rourke, Brian Finnegan, Jim Goodwin and Ian Stephenson.

Collaboration and Camaraderie

The festival’s famous spirit of camaraderie will once again bring together high profile artists from the worlds of folk, roots and rock for a string of one-off collaborative shows.

The legendary American singer-songwriter and pianist Bruce Hornsby, famous for The Way it Is and Mandolin Rain, will visit Glasgow for a special Celtic Connections show, where he’ll collaborate with guest artists on his classic hits.

One year on from Gerry Rafferty’s much-mourned passing, his daughter Martha and long-term friend (and Stealers Wheel co-founder) Rab Noakes curate Bring It All Home: Gerry Rafferty Remembered. A commemorative gathering of the Paisley-born singer-songwriter’s friends, family, bandmates, collaborators and admirers, it’ll feature their pick of songs from his 40-year career. Artists include The Proclaimers (Rafferty having co-produced their 1987 breakthrough hit Letter from America); Barbara Dickson (who sang backing vocals on City to City and Night Owl, later duetting with Rafferty on her Dylan album); fellow 70s hitmaker Maria Muldaur; ex-Cream singer and bassist – and fellow Scottish small-town-boy-made-big – Jack Bruce; Canadian singer-songwriter Ron Sexsmith, Burns Unit/ ex-Delgados songstress Emma Pollock and soulful Irish balladeer James Vincent McMorrow. Two of Rafferty’s regular sidemen, guitarist Hugh Burns and saxophonist Mel Collins, will feature with the evening’s house band, Glasgow’s own Roddy Hart and the Lonesome Fire.

As well as appearing in Bring it All Home, the Bishopbriggs-born singer-songwriter (and founding member of Cream) Jack Bruce will rearrange some of his own material especially for a unique collaboration with Lau. With Jim Sutherland (percussion) and Mr McFall’s String Quartet, this promises to be a special one-off show.

The hugely popular Transatlantic Sessions returns once again to bring the festival to a sensational finale with the ultimate back-porch session. The 2012 line-up features Darrell Scott, Eddi Reader, Karen Matheson, Ruth Moody (of the Wailin’ Jennys), Declan O’Rourke, Danny Thompson, John Doyle, Michael McGoldrick, John McCusker, Aly Bain and Jerry Douglas.

The Beat Bothy at The Arches brings big beats, blasting bass lines and boundary pushing music courtesy of Parisian violinist and sample pioneer Chapelier Fou, who concocts live arrangements using acoustic and electronic elements. Bringing west coast and Gaelic tinged electro are Skye’s very own Niteworks, and The Treacherous Orchestra’s Adam Sutherland, John Somerville and Barry Reid launch their new electro big beat project Halcyon. There will also be a full set from festival favourite and purveyor of aquatic funk, DJ Dolphin Boy.

The home of impromptu sessions and spontaneous collaborations, the Celtic Connections Festival Club will take up residency in Apollo 23 (formerly Jongleurs Comedy Club) on Renfrew Street, with the Late Night Sessions continuing in the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. Alongside the Late Night Sessions, the much-loved House of Song hosted by Doris Rougvie, will be held in the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall.

Blues, Roots, Soul & Jazz sounds

The festival makes the Louisiana Connection with a night celebrating the rich gospel, blues and roots traditions of the American south. Soul icon and founding member of the legendary New Orleans R&B outfit The Neville Brothers, Aaron Neville will perform with his band. Also on the bill is one of the brightest young talents to emerge in Cajun, Creole and Zydeco music over the last decade, the four-time Grammy-nominated fiddler, singer, accordionist & songwriter Cedric Watson.

The festival will welcome Motown divas Martha Reeves and The Vandellas, famous for anthems such as Dancing in the Street, Nowhere to Run and Jimmy Mack for a gig at The Arches. The group’s feel-good soul-infused pop has recently earned them a second consecutive nomination for Best Headliner at the UK Festival Awards. A sizzling double bill of US acts breathing dynamic new life into Depression-era sound brings New Orleans-based singer Meschiya Lake and The Little Big Horns and Brooklyn trio The Wiyos to Glasgow.

Celtic Connections will also bring together Marseillie’s Moussu T and two Native American singer-songwriters – Pura Fé (who celebrates her Scottish ancestry with this Celtic Connections appearance) and John Trudell for a night at the O2 ABC entitled Blues of the World. Fé and Trudell both bring their indigenous heritage to their blues sounds, and former political activist Trudell is renowned as the “voice of Alcatraz” for his role as the spokesperson for the United Indians of All Tribes’ takeover of the Californian prison from 1969 – 1971.

Other artists performing in Glasgow this January include the acclaimed Australian blues and roots guitar and banjo player C.W. Stoneking, the vintage swing jazz group The Quebe Sisters, Brooklyn honky-tonky group the Sweetback Sisters and the Geordie funk and soul duo Smoove and Turrell. The acclaimed 24-year-old Armenian jazz pianist Tigran Hamasyan will also perform at Celtic Connections.

West End bar Brel will host jazz nights throughout, including an appearance from Federation of the Disco Pimp – Scotland’s premier exponent of modern funk, who combine elements of old-school funk, disco, psychedelic and jazz.

Politics and Polemic

With folk music having been long since used as a vehicle for political expression, Celtic Connections traces this evolution and looks at the presence of politics in the current music scene.

For the 100th anniversary of Woody Guthrie’s birth, an all-star line-up of artists will assemble to demonstrate how his seminal impact is as relevant to the music scene today as it was when he was blazing a trail for the likes of Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, Bruce Springsteen and countless others in the 1940s. A new generation of folk-influenced artists will unite to pay tribute to the ultimate folk figurehead, who transformed the folk ballad into a powerful tool for social protest and observation. Sarah Lee Guthrie, Woody’s granddaughter, and her husband Johnny Irion will join Jay Farrar (Son Volt, formerly of Uncle Tupelo), Yim Yames (My Morning Jacket), Anders Parker (Gob Iron) and Will Johnson (also of American supergroup Monsters of Folk) for this special night. They’ll give the first live performance of songs from a forthcoming Rounder Records CD – The Woody Guthrie Project – which features Woody’s unpublished lyrics with newly-composed music.

World Turned Upside Down brings together Justin Currie, the Karine Polwart Trio, Palestine’s Kamilya Jubran, Pura Fé & John Trudell and Chris Wood to highlight the influence and effect of songs of conscience, and their political relevance in the changing world.

A celebration of the 40th anniversary of the successful conclusion of the historic Upper Clyde Shipbuilder Work In and the retention of thousands of jobs in the Clyde shipyards, this concert brings together a number of great Glasgow performers including Arthur Johnston, David Hayman, Jimmie MacGregor and Tom Leonard for a special show. Flute player and composer Eddie McGuire has created a new piece for the concert, inspired by the workers’ spirit of resistance which led him to compose a piece which he gave to Jimmy Reid back in December 1971.

The 2012 festival will stage a second musical gathering in memory of singer, songwriter, socialist and revolutionary Alistair Hulett (1951-2010), featuring Dave Swarbrick – with whom Alistair enjoyed a popular duo partnership – and singers/songwriters Roy Bailey, Karine Polwart, Alasdair Roberts and Ian Bruce. Also on the bill will be the winner of the Songs for Social Justice Award, a new songwriting competition aimed at continuing Alistair’s musical and political legacy.

Premieres and Exclusives

This January, artists will premiere new pieces, and new musical ensembles will take to the stage for the first time as Celtic Connections presents a number of exclusives and premieres.

The 2012 festival will kick off in spectacular style with the first European outing of the world-renowned banjo player Béla Fleck and the recently reunited original Flecktones line-up. Fleck, Victor Wooten (bass), Roy Wooten aka Future Man (drums) and Howard Levy (harmonica and piano) released their first album together in 20 years in May, Rocket Science, which shot straight to the top of the Billboard and iTunes jazz charts upon its release. Also featuring Casey Driessen (fiddle), they’ll be joined by special guests including Gaelic singer Kathleen MacInnes and Manchester flute virtuoso Michael McGoldrick for the European debut of their reconvened line-up.

Celtic Connections and the Edinburgh International Harp Festival have commissioned one of Scotland’s finest contemporary composers, Sally Beamish, to create a brand new concerto for fiddle, Scottish harp and string orchestra. Seavaigers is a collaboration between its composer and two of the foremost soloists in the Celtic tradition: Chris Stout and Catriona McKay, who will perform its world premiere alongside the Scottish Ensemble.

Celtic Connections will also stage an exclusive reunion gig by local heroes The Big Dish, who reform for a special one-off gig at the O2 ABC.

The multi-award winning Québécois powerhouse Le Vent du Nord are joined by Dervish, Breabach and Väsen for the world premiere of their 10th anniversary show at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall.

English singer-songwriter Thea Gilmore will perform her soon to be released collaborative album Don’t Stop Singing live for the first time at the festival. The record brings together Gilmore’s songwriting and arrangements with previously un-scored lyrics penned by folk legend Sandy Denny.

Dervish’s Cathy Jordan will also air material from her new solo project for the first time at the festival.

From Senegal to Donegal and Mali to Manchester will premiere a new collaboration between Manchester’s Michael McGoldrick and Mali’s Fatoumara Diawara. The show also brings together the talents of Irish group Fidil and Senegal’s Solo Cissokho.

Scottish traditional music’s answer to Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, The Boy and the Bunnet unites the talents of Booker-nominated author James Robertson, pianist/composer James Ross and Gaelic poet Aonghas MacNeacail. This contemporary fairy-tale was originally performed in Gaelic at Blas festival, and Celtic Connections will present its debut Scots performance.

In another family friendly event, children and young people from Broomhouse’s The BIG Project lead an interactive sing-along show, alongside classical, gospel, Gaelic and community choirs, with Kim Edgar’s brand new commission Breakthrough as the concert finale.

Indie Strand

With the influence of folk on the indie scene the most prominent it has been for years, Celtic Connections once again features a top line-up of indie and rock artists in 2012.

Mercury-nominated duo King Creosote and Jon Hopkins kick-off their 2012 tour with a performance at the festival. Other artists on the bill include Del Amitri frontman Justin Currie, Laura Veirs, Admiral Fallow, Dry the River, Chasing Owls, Rachel Sermanni, Mull Historical Society aka Colin MacIntyre, Dublin’s James Vincent McMorrow, Findlay Napier & the Bar Room Mountaineers, François and The Atlas Mountains, English songstress Naomi Bedford, Spanish indie sensation Russian Red (who will be joined by Stevie Jackson and Bob Kildea of Belle and Sebastian for her Celtic Connections gig) and State of the Union (a brand new partnership between Boo Hewerdine and veteran US slide guitar ace Brooks Williams).

The festival will host a Communion Records Night at the Mitchell Theatre featuring a hand-picked selection of Communion artists – Marcus Foster, Daughter, Matthew and the Atlas and Bear’s Den. Founded by Ben Lovett (Mumford and Sons), former Cherbourg bassist Kevin Jones, and acclaimed producer Ian Grimble, Communion began as a monthly Club Night in London and quickly grew into a flourishing community of musicians and fans alike, providing an independent platform for the freshest young artists on London’s circuit. Fellow Communion artists To Kill a King – currently being hailed as the next Mumford and Sons – will perform their own headline gig at Óran Mòr. Brel will also hold a Chemikal Underground night as part of the festival.

A World of Music

The festival once again celebrates the connections between Celtic traditions and cultures across the globe. First introduced to Glasgow by the city’s influential music promoter Billy Kelly, the legendary Afro-Cuban pianist and composer Omar Sosa will return to appear with regular touring outfit the Afreecanos Quintet.

Serbian film-maker, actor and musician Emir Kusturica will appear with the No Smoking Orchestra, who fuse Slavic, Balkan, gypsy, Greek, German, Middle Eastern and Mexican elements. Kusturica is a two-time winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes and clips from his films will accompany the show.

The festival will stage Jaadu, which translates from Hindi as “magic”, bringing together maverick French guitarist Thierry “Titi” Robin (also on Afghan rubab and Middle Eastern buzuq) and Pakistan’s Faiz Ali Faiz. A former protégé and designated understudy of the late great Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Faiz Ali Faiz is widely regarded as today’s greatest living qawwali singer.

Also featuring at Celtic Connections 2012 is the “Hendrix of the Sahara” Vieux Farka Touré, the son of the legendary Ali Farke Toure, whose unique desert blues sound and trance-like guitar solos have been earning him major recognition, not least from recent album guests Dave Matthews, Derek Trucks and John Scofield.

Orchestra Baobab, who are one of the defining acts of African contemporary music, are also on the bill. The festival also features Swedish trio Väsen, N’Diale (which brings together Breton’s Jacky Molard Quartet with Mali’s Foune Diarra Trio), and Ana Moura, the next global star of Portuguese fado, who has guested live with Prince and the Rolling Stones, and Mali’s sensational Fatoumata Diawara, whose latest album features the likes of Toumani Diabaté and John Paul Jones.

As international partners of Showcase Scotland, the festival spotlight will fall on Catalonia with a special showcase of some of the region’s finest artists. Sol i Serena, Las Migas, Jordi Molina & Perepau Jiménez, Lídia Pujol, La Carrau and Domini Màgic will celebrate the strong connections between Catalan and Celtic musical traditions.

The Irish Connection

The festival brings together the cream of Irish songwriting talent for A Song for Ireland at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. Celebrating their musical heritage, Irish artists Cara Dillon, Seamus Begley, Julie Feeney, Solas, Finbar Furey, Luka Bloom, Eleanor McEvoy and Dick Gaughan will assemble for this special show.

The Godfather of Irish folk, Dónal Lunny returns to Celtic Connections to perform with a special group comprising fellow Planxty members Liam O’Flynn and Andy Irvine alongside legendary fiddler Paddy Glackin.

Perennial festival favourites Cherish the Ladies make a welcome return, bringing their Country Crossroads show to Glasgow. The Irish-American group will be joined by special guests including contemporary banjo pioneer Alison Brown, dobro demon and Blue Highway co-founder Rob Ickes and expat Irish singer Maura O’Connell.

Also returning to the festival is the traditional Irish group Four Men and a Dog, with their big band outfit.

Other Irish artists include Dublin-based ex-boxer and street-gang survivor turned singer-songwriter Damien Dempsey, flautist Nuala Kennedy, At First Light, Matt Molloy, Andy White, Cathy Jordan, Guidewires and a night featuring some of the finest acts from the 2011 Sligo Live festival. The Alan Kelly Gang will see Ireland’s leading accordion player perform alongside special guests including Scottish songbird Eddi Reader.

The art of song-writing

Veteran troubadours and legendary lyricists will take to the Celtic Connections stage this January. Artists include Will Oldham, aka Bonnie Prince Billy, Bridget St John (who was one of the first acts signed to John Peel’s Dandelion Records), legendary Australian singer-songwriter Paul Kelly, California’s master storyteller Tom Russell, UK folk triumvirate Martin Simpson, Dick Gaughan and June Tabor and Glasgow’s own Rab Noakes.

The Cecil Sharp Project brought together a who’s who of the British folk scene to create new works based around the life and legacy of Cecil Sharp – the founding father of England’s first folk revival and the country’s most prolific collector of folk music and dance. The highly acclaimed collection will be performed live by Show of Hands’ Steve Knightley, English sibling singers Jim Moray and Jackie Oates, accordionist Andy Cutting, ex-Breabach fiddler/vocalist Patsy Reid, Southern US roots specialist Caroline Herring and Canadian clawhammer banjo ace Leonard Podolak, of The Duhks.

A brand new show called Floating Palace will premiere at Celtic Connections before touring the UK, featuring KT Tunstall, Abigail Washburn, Robin Hitchcock, Howe Gelb and Eliza Carthy.

For more information, please visit: http://www.celticconnections.com

Over 2 days, participants will meet with successful composers, music supervisors and film directors to talk about the real world of composition from those who live it everyday. Participants for the programme will also receive a full festival Industry pass.

For more information, please visit: http://www.edfilmfest.org.uk/talentdevelopment/composers-mini-lab

The deadline for applications is Wednesday 18 May 2011.