The Creole Choir of Cuba are the latest in an impressive line up of world, folk and fusion musicians who will appear at this years Big Tent, Scotland’s Largest Eco Festival in Falkland on Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 July.
The 14 singers plus drummers & dancers who make up The Creole Choir of Cuba will present 'desendann, voices of Haiti' and open the Peter Gabriel inspired ‘WOMAD Festival’ at Charlton Park, Wiltshire before heading North to the picturesque village of Falkland and ‘The Big Hullabaloo’ Main Stage at Big Tent! An estimated 1 million Haitian immigrants have made their home in Cuba since the 18th Century and each wave brought with them the strong musical and dance traditions, their religion, customs, rituals and cultural habits on their journey from Haiti to Cuba. The Creole Choir of Cuba celebrates and preserves the rich legacy of Haitian culture and has gained national and now international recognition.
Exporting musical and dance traditions resonates with other Big Tent headliners of course including Shooglenifty who have been at the vanguard of the ‘Cool Celt’, ‘Acid Croft’, ‘Folk Rock’ phenomenon and who have stirred a genetic memory or two across the planet scattered Celtic Diaspora in an astonishing twenty-year plus career.
Michael Marra will also appear at Big Tent with the cream of Scottish classical talent, Mr McFalls Chamber. Acclaimed as one of Scotland's most talented and original songwriters, Michael has been in the music business since 1971 when he formed his first band with Dougie Maclean. He formed his own record company ‘Mink Records’ in 1985 and has combined singing and performing with his love of the theatre. Michael played the character ‘Old Shep’ in the BBC’s Hamish Macbeth and also took on the role of musical director for John Byrne’s award winning drama ‘Your Cheatin Heart’. As well as his solo act Michael has performed with his own bands, as a duo with poet Liz Lochhead and in collaboration with dancers, poets and musicians of all types, even touring Europe as support act for Deacon Blue.
Described as Scotland’s next big indie–rock band and fresh from recording the theme tune on the new series of Channel 5’s ‘Minder’, come Glasgow’s Attic Lights who are signed to the legendary Island Records. The five piece band have spent the year touring with best pals The Fratellis since recording their debut album ‘Friday Night Lights’.
Emerging from the vibrant melting-pot of Glasgow’s 21st-century folk scene, The Treacherous Orchestra take Scottish dance music into a thrilling new dimension. Comprising a baker’s dozen of Scotland’s finest young instrumentalists this truly turbocharged collective have incited merry mayhem at every one of their previously rare appearances, from remote Hebridean islands to the world-renowned Celtic Connections Festival.
The members of India Alba are classical musicians from both India and Scotland and their medley of Reels and Ragas combine sounds that reflect the broad common ground between their traditions. Irish traditional singer and flautist Nuala Kennedy performs a range of material from across the Irish and Scottish traditional music repertoires. She also composes her own idiosyncratic brand of traditional music and tours in a variety of line-ups from duo and quartet to a nine-piece festival band. Nuala grew up playing traditional music in an award-winning ceilidh band 'Ceoltoiri Oga Oghrialla'. She has performed with American hipster and indie-poet Will Oldham (Domino Records 2008), French guitarist Philippe Guidat, Scotland's Norman Blake from Teenage Fanclub and cutting-edge Canadian composer Oliver Schroer.
The Bevvy Sisters effortlessly mix the richly seasoned voices of Heather Macleod, Kaela Rowan and Lindsey Black, into a headily harmonised cocktail of jazz, Americana, folk and newly written material. A recent review opined “Some of the silkiest, sultriest, sauciest harmonies ever likely to caress your ears”.
The Moonzie Allstars hail from Cupar just up the road from Big Tent and combine North East Fiddle music with Salsa and bagpipes. Straddling the divide between sample based recording and virtuoso live performance are the Joe Acheson Quartet whose combination of heavy jazz-kit riffs, digital drums, programmed beats and percussion left one reviewer panting, “Quite like nothing else on the music scene or elsewhere, they really must be sampled to be believed”!
Big Tent won many accolades last year for delivering an event, which was fun, safe and family centered, indeed the Times Online voted Big Tent among Britain’s Best 10 Family Day Outs! The Chipolatas return to Falkland again this year with their mix of circus skills, music, theatre, dance, and underlining that Big Tent is packed with great activities and mouth-watering food as well as the brilliant music on the Big Hullabaloo Main Stage and inside The Wee Shindig Tent. Stand up Comedian Phil Kay also returns to compère proceedings with his own brand of craziness.
Last year The Guardian Online voted Big Tent among the UK’s top ten folk festivals an astonishing achievement for an event that is only in its fourth year! Dana Macleod, Music Producer at Big Tent thinks the quality of the musicians on display at this year’s Big Tent is further evidence of the events growing reputation and importance among the summer music schedule. “We have brought together a truly world class programme which features Folk, Classical, Jazz, as well as Electronic, Rock, Pop. Big Tent celebrates the astonishing quality, the dedication and creativity of our home produced talent and the dynamic fusion of cultures and natural connections that exist between musicians and the music of different countries”!
Big Tent is also one of the best value events around this summer with day tickets available for £12 and a full weekends camping and combined ticket a snip at only £40. Children under twelve are free. Music is said to be the language, the voice of unexpressed words. Well, we all have enough unarticulated angst and personal frustrations around at the moment, so maybe Big Tent may well be our oasis this summer!
25th & 26th July - Tickets and more info www.bigtentfestival.co.uk . Telephone Booking office 01592 611101
“Ends”
Media Contact Ian Harrower 07971 858581
Dana Macleod, Music Producer 07866 603147
Editors notes:
The Creole Choir of Cuba – UK contact toby.gough@gmail.com
Shooglenifty - http://www.shoogle.com/
Michael Marra - http://www.musical1.com/
Mr McFalls Chamber - http://www.myspace.com/
Attic Lights - http://www.atticlights.co.uk/
The Treacherous Orchestra - http://www.myspace.com/
India Alba - http://www.indiaalba.com/
Nuala Kennedy - http://www.myspace.com/
The Bevvy Sisters - http://www.myspace.com/
Moonzie Allstars - http://www.myspace.com/
Joe Acheson Quartet - http://www.myspace.com/
The Chipolatas - http://www.chipolatas.com/
Phil Kay - http://www.philkay.co.uk/
