Every year for the past four years, BBC Radio in Scotland hosts an event that has six finalists competing for the prestigious Young Traditional Musician Award -- and the prize includes a CD release courtesy of Footstompin' Records. Past winners are Gillian Frame (2001), Emily Smith (2002), Anna Massie (2003) and James Graham (2004). This afternoon, I saw all four previous winners perform at a wonderfully intimate gig (though surprisingly there were a few spare seats) at the Piping Centre.

How wonderful it was to listen to Graham (from Lochinver) sing a selection of Gaelic songs, including a mesmerising puirt-a-beul and a lament, all completely unaccompanied. He is surely one of the finest Gaelic singers working today, with his beautiful voice and his crystal-clear pronunciation. Next up was fiddler Frame (from Arran) who, accompanied by Emily Smith and the Napier brothers, performed a superb set of lively and rousing songs and tunes. Smith (from Thornhill) was next, singing songs from her just-released A Different Life; particularly beautiful were "Always a Smile" and "Far O'er the Forth." Last but not least came Massie (from Fortrose), a prodigiously talented instrumentalist, particularly on acoustic guitar. She is simply dazzling to watch; her ability to pick out reels, jigs, strathspeys, you name it, at blistering pace, is second to none. Guitar is my favourite instrument, and Massie is an absolute craftswoman. It was an unbelievably enjoyable experience to see her play again.

It was back to the Arches we ventured later that evening to see superb Shetland fiddler Chris Stout perform with Fraser Fifield (sax), Catriona McKay (piano/clarsach), Malcolm Stitt (guitar) and Ewen Vernal (double bass). The gig was seated this time, to allow for maximum focus on the outstanding skill of these five musicians, and we were treated to two hours of superlative music played with an eloquence, energy and drive that are hard to rival. Stout HAS to be one of the most accomplished fiddlers to hit the Scottish scene in years -- his expressive powers are sublime. He recently released a solo album, First o' the Darkenin', to great acclaim. This gig was one of the genuine musical highlights of my visit.

To round off our Celtic Connections experience for 2005, it was back to the Festival Club for an excellent night of music. (Bear in mind that Gibb Todd, club compere, is duty bound to wind up proceedings by 4 a.m.!) What a night of music! Instinkt was back with a short but stunning set, and a great reminder of the night before. The BBC Young Trad Musician Final had taken place this afternoon at the Strathclyde Suite, Royal Concert Hall, and Highland bagpiper Stuart Cassells from Falkirk had beaten off stiff competition to take the coveted award. Dressed in black kilt and very fetching red sporran, he took the Festival Club stage and raised the roof! Accompanied by the superb Aaron Jones (bouzouki) and Martin O'Neill (bodhran), his set was stonkingly good and had a very young crowd rushing to dance as he happily cranked up the pace to a storming finale. What a worthy winner of this annual award! I'm not normally a huge fan of the Highland pipes, but played solo and with such verve, and before a dancing audience, it was a total blast to witness!

A lovely change of pace ensued as Annie Grace took the stage, accompanied by the excellent Johnny Hardie and Aaron Jones again -- what a delightful rapport Grace has with her audience, and she lent her beautiful voice to some lovely numbers, including the excellent "Take Me Out Drinking Tonight" -- a pretty apt choice for a Festival Club audience! The evening closed with a brilliant set from one of Scotland's favourite festival bands, Shooglenifty -- with James Mackintosh pounding out the rhythm on drums, and the rest of the band on great form on guitar, bass, banjo, keys and fiddle, the festival closed on the highest note imaginable, with lots of dancing. Shooglenifty has an incredibly loyal following, and many at the club had attended the band's main gig earlier that evening.

And that's my Celtic Connections Festival over for another year. Back down to earth after some ridiculously late nights, good craic and truly excellent and inspiring music!

My one complaint? That the Festival Club was too cramped on Friday and Saturday nights -- the cavernous "VIP area" adjacent to the club looked like the Marie Celeste -- all the musicians were in the club, bars and on the dance floor!

- Rambles
written by Debbie Koritsas
published 2 April 2005