Hi Folks.
Had a lovely 5 gigs there with the trio, enjoying some of the nice april weather. First stop was An Tobar in Mull, where we were so well looked after by Gordon, and had a lovely audience full of folk who stopped to chat after the gig.
Mhairi had just got back from a month in Athens the night before, and myself too from a wee holiday out in Malaysia, so we were no craic at all for Barry after the gig. It was early to bed for an early start the next day as we headed to Edinburgh to the Folk Club there, where we caught up with some friends and relatives, and the next night on to Glasgow where we had another lovely gig at St Andrews in the Square.
The following day we drove up to the Aros Centre in Portree, Skye for an intimate gig in the theatre there. That night we stayed with Mhairi’s cousin Allan, an amazingly kind character, and fine craftsman working with woods from all parts of the globe.
Most of the next morning was spent of his enormous hand-made garden swing in the sun!!
A nice stay with lost of thoughtful conversations and deep musical chat (most likely fueled by our good friend mr p. grigio).
It was off to The Ceilidh Place in Ullapool for our next leg, and a fine gig it was. Ended up quite a nostalgic evening watching the soon to be released Feis Rois DVD into the early hours. Many thanks to Jean for her endless hospitality.
Unfortunately we were to hear of some extremely sad news which led to the cancellation of our Kingussie gig on the 13th.
The date has now been re-scheduled for the 25th May - Talla Nan Ros - Kingussie.
I had a brilliant time over in Cambridge, Ontario for 9 days. A big thanks to all who looked after me over there, and to Andy Webster for learning up all my music. Cheers to Andrew Johnson, and to all at the Cuckoo’s Nest in London- great night folks!Here is little wintery photo at Niagara Falls. Not much of a tourist trap that day as it was -20!! I braved the cold to take a few pics.
I’ve just about thawed out now and getting onto playing some new tunes and thinking about album number 2! stay tuned for news of that soon.
We had a great time at celtic connections, including being involved in the opening night, John Mccusker’s Common Ground. It was a huge honour for me to play alongside musicians and singers I had listened to for many years.Our own gig on the 18th alongside Maeve Mackinnon was great fun, sold out, and earned us five stars in the Herald where Stuart Morrison observed our music being “at times ethereal and at others foot-stompingly riotous!”I also had a lovley gig with the Calum Stewart 3, to launch his new album ‘Earlywood’. It is available to buy at in all good record shops now, and direct from Calum on his myspace pageNow getting my teeth stuck into a few new projects, including planting the seed of thought for the next album! More news of that when it happens. I’m off to Canada for a few gigs on monday. Looking forward to the snow!
Hello All!Well, after a lovely relaxing festive time in Shetland, the Black Isle, and Skye, Celtic Connections 2008 descends on Glasgow next week and I’m diving straight in at the deep end, taking part in ‘Common Ground’, the opening concert on the 16th with a huge host of singers and musicians from all parts.We’re delighted to be recreating our album ‘When Leaves Fall’ for a special ‘Classic Albums’ gig on the 18th in St andrews in the Square (where i used to be a barmaid!!). This will be the first outing with new piano player Mhairi Hall, and we’re pleased to have Luke Daniels join us on box. The other half of the concert is the fab Maeve Mackinnon and her band, and the gig is a pick of the festival in the Scotland on Sunday this week - click here to read moreThen on the 26th sees the launch of Calum Stewarts debut album ‘Earlywood’ at the Tron with the Griogar Lawrie Band. I’ve just heard some mastered tracks and its sounding good! Look out for it in shops soon or get down to the gig. Hope to see you out and about at somethingLauren XXLink for Celtic Connections Website
I’ve had a fantastic year releasing the album, playing gigs with a host of lovely people, and managing to fit in passing a degree also!Many thanks to all who have supported my music this year, whether it was by coming along to a gig or buying the album. Looking forward to a busy 2008, so keep checking the gigs page for announcements. Have a very merry christmas and new year. See you at Celtic Connections i hope! LaurenX
Gigs for Dec/Jan now up on the Tour page. Hope to see you somewhere soon. x
Hi Folks!
This is the new look website! Thought it was time for a wee change. Don’t forget you can buy the album ‘When Leaves Fall’ direct from this site. It is also available on the usual internet sites and download pages, but this way you are supporting the artist and their music direct.
More news of gigs in the new year soon
LaurenX
Just back from a fantastic ten day tour of Germany with Barry, as part of the St Patrick’s Day Celebration festival with the Tannahill Weavers, and Last Night’s Fun. We started in the west in a town called Leverkusen, at a gig not too unlinke the Black Isle Show Dance to be honest- the audience were in the mood for a party alright! From there we made our way to the far east and enjoyed gigs in some lovely theatres, halls, and the most bizarre of all, 650 metres underground in an old dis-used Salt Mine!!! We had an early get in with all the gear, as our tour party had to get down in the lift shaft (in groups of about 8, which took 3 minutes each) before the audience started to make their way down the same way from about 4pm….there were a good 250 of them to get down…all in hard yellow hats and blue overalls!! An auditorium shaped room has been created down there, in the mass of old tunnels. And although the acoustics were a bit odd, it was a beautiful place to play and an experience I’ll never forget.
Getting a bit carried away with the excitment of it all, and with the airless atmosphere that far underground, we all decided why not don our hard hats for the final big group set- a fetching look don’t you agree??? (L-R, Denny, Ciaran, Nick and Chris of Last Night’s Fun, Barry)
After getting all the gear and the audience back up to ground level, we surfaced about mid-night and soon found ourselves celebrating Paddy’s day in a Mexican bar in the smallest east german willage imaginable, followed by a stumble across a heavy metal gig due to be starting at 3am- what a night!
We’ll be having a wee party to launch the album next thursday 8th March in Terminal Bar, West Regent St, Glasgow, from 8pm. Its Free entry and there will be wine-a-plenty. Feel free to bring an instrument (or voice) as there will be a tune after we play a short gig.
The album is getting out and about, but remember it can be bought direct, securely from this website on the ‘albums’ page. It is also now up on CDBABY.com, and other interent outlets.
Best wishes for now
Laurenx
The brand new album ‘When Leaves Fall’ (MBR1CD) is now available to buy direct from Lauren here. You don’t need a Paypal account to purchase, and the price include p+p worldwide. The record will be in all good shops after its release on 8th March, but this is your chance to get your hands on a copy hot off the press. I hope to have new soundclips from the album and track listings up soon, but in the meantime you can visit my myspace page.
The trio enjoyed a fantastic sold-out gig with Malinky and Ranarim during Celtic Connections and myself and Barry are looking forward to a 9-date German tour next month. Ja!
Cheers for now, and Enjoy!!x
