Farewell till 2023 Edinburgh Tradfest! Take a bow Maddie Morris, Madeleine Stewart Trio, Heather Cartwright, Falasgair, promising stars under the ETF Spotlight.
📍 Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh
📅 Sunday, May 7, 2023
🕖 Running time: 2 hours 15 minutes (one interval)
👥 Featuring: Maddie Morris, Madeleine Stewart Trio, Heather Cartwright, Falasgair
🎂 Parental Discretion
🎭 Wheelchair Accessible Venue, Wheelchair Accessible Toilets, Audio Induction Loop
ETF Spotlight, a new strand for Edinburgh Tradfest is an opportunity for newer performers in traditional and folk music to take to a big stage. It was a fairly full Traverse One which paid witness to 4 selected acts, plucked from around the British isles.
First up Maddie Morris with a clutch of tunes, traditional and self-composed, impressed with a versatile, melodious voice. Centrepiece ‘Marsha P Johnson’ stems from very personal fears of persecution and ostracisation as a member of the LGBTQI+ community. Invoking the spirit of pioneering activist Marsha P. Johnson, Maddie reaches for the strength to resist the temptation to give up.
Then it was time for The Madeleine Stewart Trio who gave a cheery set of reels and transatlantic jigs. Technically sound, and overflowing with good feeling, Madeleine Stewart on fiddle, Rory Matheson on piano, and Craig Baxter on bodhran make a winning combination. With Simon Thoumire’s jazz-infused ‘Joseph Boseph’ they a promising supply of versatility and virtuosity.
Heather Cartwright, seen earlier in Edinburgh Tradfest 2023 highlight ‘Two For Joy’, brought her nimble fingers and sweet voice to stage next. Talent and years of dedication have created a guitarist of the first order, blending fingerpicking and rhythm with ease. A set of self-penned numbers such as the warm-hearted instrumental ‘Goodnight Glasgow’ closing with a really delightful cover of Ray Charles ‘Hallelujah and I Love Her So’ make a dream booking for musical promoters of taste.
Closing the night came powerhouse 6-piece Falasgair: Macaulay Ross – fiddle, Dougal McKiggan & Finn MacPherson – whistle and bagpipe, Ben Muir – keyboard, Caetano Hayes Pelletti – guitar and bouzouki, and Eoghainn Beaton – bodhran. Creators of powerhouse folk without question, they do justice to everything they play. From healthy dose of Hanneke Cassel, through a clutch of dynamic renditions of Scots and Irish classics, and into their own self-penned numbers, they never leave a number knowingly undersold. Definitely a band to energise even the most sedentary crowd this is the Ceilidh band you wish to meet, but never do.
This brings to an end The Quinntessential Review’s coverage of Edinburgh Tradfest 2023. It’s been a privilege to cast my critical eye over far more events than any other publication. A showcase of living, breathing traditional excellence, Tradfest is – amongst other things – an antidote to the Shortbread tin ‘Scottishness’ to be found wrapped in plaid bows and piped through doorway speakers of the city’s many tartan tat shops. If such is your only experience of traditional music, then be kind to yourself and book some tickets for Tradfest next year.
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