Wow! We’re back from a great weekend in Wellington, what a trip! We were asked to play at the closing of the Scots in NZ exhibition at the museum on Saturday and it was a blast. A very big thanks to Te Papa for having us, and especially the lovely Sonja Gulliver for all your hard work in arranging to get us there. Many thanks Danya for the photo!

To the people who make the place so cool: Dan M. What’s not to like, you lent us your room and let us take over your bathroom! You probably won’t ever get rid of us now. Thanks for having us and for the scrambled eggs that finally got Kathleen out of bed! Dan H (our stand in roadie) and the Welly flat - pancakes are yum. You guys are great. Mike & Rennie, BB, Alex, Oscar… beautiful music in Seatoun…

And last but not least, thanks to the wonderful Wellingtonians who came along just to listen. It was a real pleasure.

Cheerio!

x Emily

We’re very honoured and excited to have received the Frank Winter Memorial Award at the Auckland Folk Festival 2010~ many thanks to the Folk Festival Committee and to the Winter Family for your generosity and support!

Gaidhealtachd: (Gailtark) (noun)

One week of camping beneath blue skies, a full moon and the majestic shadow of Mt Manaia at Whangarei Heads; crazy fiddlers, bagpipers at dawn (revenge will be sweet), instant noodles (for some), amazing Chia cooking (for others), wild ceilidh dancing, cold showers, very little sleep (for some), no sleep at all (for others),  and home of perhaps some of the best jamming and music sessions you will ever hear in your life… this is Gaidhealtachd!

Of course to finish everything off in grand style was the world’s greatest final tutors’ concert - what else would you expect from this line up: Dave Alley, Jon Sanders, Dave Khan, Mark Mazengarb, Bob McNeill and Sula! (accompanied by Jamie & Ollie of course)

Yup, we were pretty amazed as well.

All our thanks - you know who you are - to all the people who have worked so tirelessly putting this epic camp together. Kathleen is learning the ukelele,  and it’s all because of you. To the fiddle class - sheet music is on the way! And I expect to hear these tunes in some excellent sessions at the Auckland Folk Festival! You have 2 weeks to practise. See you there.

Cheerio!

x Emily

So perhaps Emile will have to come to Scotland as well…

CONGRATULATIONS GRACE!

Great news - Mark’s CD Acoustic Affair is now up for grabs online… at his brand spanking new website www.markmazengarb.com! This is gold. Check it out!

Indescribable fun. A sold out show (I think we managed to squeeze in a few extra chairs) in a beautiful venue - good times! It was Kathleen’s and my first ever visit and I’m sure it won’t be our last! We had a grand time meeting lots of lovely people and we even got to climb the Mount.

So many people helped with putting this event together, but here’s a few mentions - Mill Reef - wow. Thanks for having us! Stunning venue and a great team. Jill - thank you for letting us stay in your beautiful home and take over your bathroom. We love you. Craig - lovely to meet you! The wonderful people of Tauranga who came out on a stormy night, so supportive and enthusiastic - what’s not to like. We had such a blast and can’t wait to come back again.

Cheerio!

x Emily

Tomorrow we head down to Mark’s home town for a very special concert at Mills Reef Winery. If you haven’t booked already you can do so HERE. We can’t wait!  

Also don’t forget to pick up a copy of Mark’s debut album which will be on sale after the show - this is a masterpiece.

Cheerio!

 x Emily

This year I was the lone Fiddlelorian to attend SHISSF, what can I say? Amazing as always… so many great tunes (and even greater people) - thanks so much to Cathy Fraser and Duncan Smith for organising everything, you guys do an absolutely phenomenal job, year after year! Also a very special thank you to the visiting tutors Gregor Borland and Kendra Macgillivray, and to the cooks - quite honestly, without your amazing food, SHISSF couldn’t happen anymore!

What is SHISSF? It stands for the ‘Southern Hemisphere International School of Scottish Fiddle’ (try saying that really fast!) and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in playing or accompanying Scottish Fiddle music, learning new tunes, improving their technique, meeting new people (and don’t mind getting less sleep than usual…) To learn more about it, check out www.shissf.com, it’s seriously worth it.

 Love,

 Kathleen