So its been AGES since I updated any news here, but there's been loads going on in the last few months.

Lets see ... well July and August were spent with The Outside Track on a fantastic tour of Canada - we had a total blast and some excellent gigs and festivals. Our next plan is a UK tour in november, and also making a new album which will be released in Jan 2010! All very exciting. Check out www.theoutsidetrack.com for more details on all this. Also our facebook page has photos and you can 'become a fan': http://en-gb.facebook.com/pages/The-Outside-Track/20715062302?v=info&viewas=0

I've also had some really nice solo gigs - Up in Gairloch for West Coast Arts, at the Museum of Scotland as part of the fringe, and more recently in Lochgoilhead for the Fiddle Workshop. I've also become involved with an exciting new project called Komposit, where I'm playing the harp part in a new composition by Bob Dickonson. Check out the project at: www.myspace.com/kompositfirebird

Next week I'm doing some session recording with a singer-songwriter called Joe Lynch so looking forward to that.

Anyway, hope you're all well and I promise to update more regularly!

x

I got this lovely review from the people at Folk Radio UK recently. Check out their site - www.folkradio.co.uk for a fantastic listening source for all types of celtic and indie music! 

This is an incredible debut solo from Ailie Robertson. Her credentials are astounding for a young musician of 24 years. I really struggled to find enough words to put across my praise for this magnificent debut. It's moving, beautiful and totally original. It is a masterful album that combines Irish and Scottish influence as well as an undeniably clever contemporary twist. Ailie shows that the Celtic harp can be just as at home with guitar, bass, percussion and piano as it can be as a solo instrument. This album will take you to places you have never been before, quite simply it is mind-blowing!

First Things First by Ailie Robertson

First things first - this is a superb, innovatively-arranged set of tunes delivering a burgeoning, rich, warm sound. The eleven thoroughly fresh-sounding arrangements feature not only Ailie's clarsach, but also percussion (the cajon sounds

excellent!), guitar, bass and piano. For me, "˜First Things First" demonstrates above all else just how good the clarsach can sound in a band setting. Through lively reels to exquisite slow airs, Ailie's playing effortlessly combines a vigorous, refreshing sense of "attack" with real emotion and poise.

The music leads you on a sinewy, seductive journey, starting with the deceptively languid-yet-funky groove of opening tune "˜The Exploding Bow" through to gorgeously expressive, poised tunes like the self-penned "Sands of Hosta" (inspired by a walk on a glorious North Uist beach). The bold freshness of these arrangements delivers the "WOW" factor big-time with a sparkling take on Donald Morrison's slip jig,"Donald, Willie & His Dog". Here, the fabulous combination of instruments explodes into a rhythm-packed crescendo of Flamenco-style handclaps. Piper Allan MacDonald's wonderful tune 'Na Goisidich/The Gossips' gets equally fresh, funked-up treatment, and the effect is stunning!

A wonderful debut solo release by this young Scottish musician who isn't afraid to fuse contemporary, jazz-inflected playing with the traditional Scottish and Irish playing techniques developed over the years. This is gorgeous stuff.

-----

I highly recommend you pop over to Ailie's MySpace page or website and have a listen to her gorgeous tunes:

Please visit Folking.com for more great reviews.

First Things First, the debut solo recording from Scottish harper Ailie Robertson, is a satisfying combination of past, present and future, as she places the ancient over-tones of the clarsach in a modern setting and imagines new directions for the harp.

Robertson's numerous awards and performances have brought her much attention so far, but this recording definitively marks her rising status, and she is set to become an important figure in future conversations about the harp. The taste and balance exhibited in First Things First reveals that Robertson has the ability to record music which is both detailed, virtuosic and accessible, ensuring her a widespread audience.

Her virtuosity is audible throughout the recording, but never over emphasised. Except for the solo tracks 'Spirit' and 'Sands of Hosta', the harp is always equally weighted within unified arrangements.

This is a solo album that relies heavily on, and is greatly complimented by, the support of great accompanists. Paul Jennings cajon and percussion playing have a strong influence on a number of tracks; his intro to 'Donald, Willie and His Dog' sets a background which is wholly organic, but creates a strong electronic feel with its drum-loop quality. Duncan Lyall (bass) and James Ross (piano/harmonium) both support and lead the harp, creating beautiful moments on tracks such as 'Ho Ro Mo Bhobag an Dram', moments which evoke the open-awareness of a jazz trio. Finally, Ewan Robertson's modest yet incisive guitar playing is ever present; his six strings sounding at times almost like an extension of the harp.

The studio work has managed to capture the nuances of the instruments so that they ring with a clarity which usually only reaches the performers' ears. Each time you listen, the sound seems alive and not just a reproduction of a studio event. Both Robertson's harp and Lyall's piano sustain so beautifully at times that you can almost feel their physical presence.

The combination of instrumentation and arrangement styles give a diversity to the tracks without becoming distractingly eclectic. Robertson's music has too strong a footing for that to happen. These foundations are further revealed by the inclusion of five of her own compositions ā€“ 'Swerving for Bunnies', 'Good Spirits', 'Ray & Kevin's Reel', 'Sands of Hosta', and 'The Angels Share' ā€“ showing that Robertson is able to add to both the repertoire of the harp and traditional music in general.

As a debut album, this is inevitably a showcase of ability. However, there is nothing here which does not belong. The note has been struck; both First Things First and Ailie Robertson will sustain for quite some time to come.

You can listen again to my interview with Julie Fowlis for Fowlis on Folk on Radio Scotland here. It will be available on the BBC iplayer for the next 7 days. 

Hope you enjoy it!

I am delighted and honored to let you know that I have been nominated for Best Up and Coming Artist at the 2008 MG Alba Scots Trad Music Awards! The awards ceremony takes place on Dec 6th at the Old Fruitmarket in Glasgow and will be televised and broadcast on BBC Alba. 

If you would like to vote for me, the link is:

Thanks for your support!

First Things First is at number 4 in the Top 10 Trad CD releases for London Area, as published by Irish Music Magazine. Here's the chart:

LONDON TOP TEN

1 Various Artists ~ Masters of Tradition ~ RTE

2 Brendan Hendry/Brendan Mulholland & Paul McSherry ~ Tuned up ~ Own Label

3 Beal Tuinne ~ Live at St James Church, Dingle ~ Own Label

4 Ailie Robertson ~ First Things First ~ Own Label

5 Brian Conway ~ Consider The Source ~ Own Label

6 Mary McPartlan ~ Petticoat Loose ~ Own Label

7 OisĆ­n & Conal Hernon ~ Up & Coming ~ Own Label

8 Rattle the Boards ~ The Parish Platform ~ Own Label

9 Oliver Loughlin & Damian Oā€™Brien ~ The Factory Turn ~ Own Label

10 Dave Sheridan ~ Sheridanā€™s Guest House ~ Own Label

TAPLAS

The Welsh Folk Magazine

9/10.08

Reviews/ Adolygiadau

AILIE ROBERTSON

First Things First

Lorimer LRCDOI (44m)

THE SURGE of wonderfully creative tradition-inspired musicians from Scotland continues apace with this absolutely stunning debut album from harpist Ailie Robertson. Her credentials are already impeccable and impressive, with numerous awards to her name.

She plays music from the Scottish and Irish tradition, as well as her own compositions. While the harp is always centre stage, very significant contributions are made by percussionist Paul Jennings, Duncan Lyall on bass, guitarist Ewan Robertson and pianist James Ross.

Ailie pushes the boundaries of harp technique in exciting but always intensely musical ways.

Donald, Willie and his Dog just swings along with lots of interesting effects, as do the Angus Jigs. Joyous, lively and forthright tracks, such as jazz-tinged The Exploding Bow, are balanced by a couple of slow airs for solo harp, where the beauty, the poise, the pauses and the lyricism took my breath away.

With First Things First, Robertson earns herself a place among the cream of Scottish musicians.

Delyth Jenkins

AILIE ROBERTSON First Things First Lorimer Records 

By Siobhan Long

Shattering preconceptions about the fragility of her chosen instrument, Scottish debutante harpist Ailie Robertson basks in a heady excavation of the driving rhythms that lie dormant between the strings. Forget misty images of lovelorn maidens at lattice windows. Instead, step into a world where Robertson's harp jousts (alongside the energising confidence of fellow Scots harpist Catriona McKay) with percussion, bass, guitar and piano. Her opening salvo, The Exploding Bow, sets the tone for a funky excursion around a trio of contemporary jigs, the final one written by Robertson herself. Another of her original compositions, Good Spirits, is paired cannily with a reel, The Humours of Scariff. The tunes revel in the unpredictability of newfound company. Robertson's genius is in straddling the Irish and Scottish traditions with a fresh-faced and utterly bearable lightness of being. 

Download tracks: Spirits, The Exploding Bow

Ailie Robertson - First Things First (Lorimer)

Young Scottish harpist Ailie's pedigree is already impressive: five times National Mod Gold Medallist, erstwhile member of the Scottish Harp Orchestra, Na Clarasairean, and currently member of international six-piece band The Outside Track (who have been delighting UK festival audiences over the past year, and whose CD I reviewed in Stirrings 133). Inevitably, Ailie's debut solo CD is a more intimate affair, with an at times quite laid-back atmosphere that's both soothing and invigorating. Ailie's instrument is the clarsach (the small harp whose recent resurgence has been led by the likes of Corrina Hewat and Patsy Seddon), and its unique and definitive sound-world is captured here in a demonstration-class recording that manages to convey all the relevant nuances and timbres in due perspective without sounding at all clinical or sterile. Each of the eleven tracks brings its own special delights, starting with the almost jazzy insouciance of the opening set of jigs, where the rippling joy of the harp line offsets James Ross's classy piano embellishments and the crisp, busy percussion backing (Paul Jennings on cajon). The playing is sprightly, yet with an enviably relaxed precision of attack that holds the listener's attention throughout - and this quality applies equally to the slower-paced items on the disc, notably the gorgeous slow air Spirits (co-written by Angus Lyon and his father), which forms its centrepiece. The Irish and Scottish hornpipes that are wedded together on the gently swinging Marry Me Now set are a model of delicate playing, with Ailie's deft syncopations and skilfully bent ā€œblue notesā€ enticingly complemented by guitar (Ewan Robertson) and bass (Duncan Lyall); these same two musicians bring an exhilarating sense of drive to the tricky time-signatures of Ailie's own tune Good Spirits in the ensuing set. Ailie's slower-than-customary treatment of The Favourite Dram brings out its inherent beauty in a way I've not heard on any other recording of the tune, while her own composition Sands Of Hosta (written after a long beach walk on North Uist) is both genuinely tranquil and introspectively evocative. And you can hear Ailie taking the harp technique into hitherto-uncharted areas of innovation and expertise on tracks such as the infectious Angus Jigs set: the closer you listen, the more detail there is to revel in. First Things First is a thoroughly charming disc, replete with both a consummate finger-dancing intelligence and an irrepressible joie-de-vivre.

David Kidman August 2008

Ailie Robertsonā€™s aim with First Things First was to put the harp in a contemporary sounding ā€œbandā€ setting and I think she has succeeded with that. I didnā€™t know what to expect when I first put the cd on, but from the word go I was captured. Not only is she a great player, but she also shows all the potential of the harp. From mellow and subtle slow airs to almost rock like tracks, her playing is spot on. Yes, the harp is indeed a very delicate instrument, but in the skilled hands of Robertson it can also be transformed into an instrument as potent as an electric lead guitar.

Alongside the harp the cd features guitar, bass, piano/harmonium and cajon/percussion - all played by very competent musicians. Thereā€™s no doubt, though, that this is a solo album for the harp. The other instruments are along to make up the band setting.

Thereā€™s a good mix of tunes on the cd, ranging from traditional Scottish and Irish tunes to newly composed tunes. Several of which are Robertsonā€™s own compositions, proving she is not only a gifted and original musician, but also a gifted composer. Beautiful slow airs almost leave you in a trance from which you are catapulted the next moment by fast and heavy rhythms.

Three tracks, which epitomize the cd, are Ho ā€œRo Mo Bhobag An Dram (The Favourite Dram)ā€ followed by ā€œDonald, Willie and His Dogā€ and ā€œSpiritsā€ - They have it all: The impeccable and delicate harp playing followed by the wake up call of rough and fast harp picking and rhythmic drums and hand claps and back into a slow air when its best.

Ailie Robertson set out to prove a point and this she has done: This beautiful cd works!

LORRCD1 (August 2008) 

AILIE Robertson's debut CD confirms the major promise that the Edinburgh harpist has shown in the course of picking up an armload of prizes at successive National Mods. If that implies a strictly traditional approach, then think again. 

The harpist is pushing the instrument in fresh and contemporary-sounding musical directions, and the band setting that she adopts here ā€“ with James Ross on piano, Ewan Robertson on guitar, Duncan Lyall on bass and Paul Jennings on percussion ā€“ is a very effective complement to her own virtuoso technique and expressive interpretations in the role of lead instrumentalist. 

Her lovely, evocative execution of slow airs is particularly impressive, but she is equally intent on underlining the fact that the harp is also an appropriate vehicle for flying jigs, reels and polkas, all dispatched in vibrant, sure-fingered style. 

KENNY MATHIESON

"a player of Ailie's class has the ability to tear your heart out" - Maverick

"This new album is wonderful. A really talented harp player, Ailie Robertson, with a fresh take on the music. Who said all harp music sounds the same? A real contender for Newcomer of the Year." Chicago Irish-American News

"Wow! Harp player, Ailie Robertson has just released First Things First. What a brilliant debut! We're listening to this repeatedly. Wow!" LiveIreland.com

"Get ready, gang. We'll be playing this a lot in the next few months. A stunning debut called, First Things First. Scotland gives us a real winner. Listen to this..." American Public Radio

First Things First is now being distributed in America by CDbaby

CD baby: http://cdbaby.com/cd/ailierobertson

Ailie Robertson

First Things First

Cat No: Lorimer records LORRCD1

4+

Award winning harp player produces debut CD sprinkled with magic and joy

KM 

Under the tutelage of the likes of Wendy Stewart, Patsy Seddon and Corrina Hewitt there has been a resurgence of interest in Scotland and elsewhere in the clarsach or small harp. This has lead to a new generation of exciting young players who are determined to explore all the new possibilities of this ancient instrument. One of the foremost in this set is Ailie Robertson, from Edinburgh, who has taken time from her busy teaching and playing schedule to produce First Things First, her first album. From the smooth jazz rhythm introduction to the opening The Exploding Bow and throughout the entire album there is evidence of a confidence in the instrument and material that allows Ailie to take a mixture of traditional and contemporary tunes and bend them to her musical whim. For this recording Ailie has gathered around her a set of extremely talented young Scottish musicians consisting of Paul Jennings (cajon / percussion), Duncan Lyall (bass), James Ross (piano and harmonium) and the BBC Young Musician of the Year, Ewan Robertson (guitar) who provide an excellent springboard for her flights of celtic fancy. The album was co-produced by acclaimed clarsarch player and broadcaster Mary Ann Kennedy and feel of this album is very much that of a ā€˜liveā€™ performance with no sign of overdubs and with the harp, thankfully, to the fore in the mix. Thereā€™s also a vague theme running through the album with tunes like The Favourite Dram, Good Spirits and The Angels Share all referring to the distilling and enjoyment of whisky, which can be a bad thing. The clarsach, when played properly, can be one of the most versatile instruments in the world and this album has tunes like Swerving for Bunnies, and The Flutterat, with their complex time changes which fairly skip and dance and bring the inevitable smile. Alongside these are tunes like the self-composed Sands of Hosta and the beautiful, haunting Spirits by Angus Lyon and his father which in the hands of a player of Ailieā€™s class has the ability to tear your heart out. Simple hornpipes like President Garfieldā€™s start off played more or less straight before evolving into the syncopated and extremely modern take on Marry Me Now. It is this intelligent juxtaposition of the old and new, ancient and contemporary along with the sheer standard of the playing which makes this CD so vibrant and compelling.

ā€˜First Things Firstā€™ - an outstanding mix of passion, power and gentle reserve.

Ailie Robertson is a fine musician of that there is no doubt. Sheā€™s also individualist and inventive, and takes her virtuoso harp skills in directions many ignore or are too afraid to try. Her debut solo album reflects that, it also proves the clasarch is not simply a solo instrument, in Ailieā€™s hands itā€™s equally at home leading a band. Ailieā€™s album ā€˜First Things Firstā€™ is a golden opportunity to hear a harp played with flair, precision and consummate skill, plus passionate drive and gentle reserve. There's so much depth to her music it could take a long time to discover it all, but keep listening you'll love the journey.

Ailieā€™s list of awards is enough to recognise her skill. Thereā€™s many clichés you could use such as ā€˜old head on young shouldersā€™, and ā€˜talent beyond her yearsā€™ ā€“ but they donā€™t come close. Simply listen to this album to hear a harp played as never before. You know without doubt youā€™re listening to inspired genius. Ailie effortlessly blends traditional Scottish and Irish jigs, contemporary tunes, airs, hornpipes, reels, and polkas with her stunning original compositions. On ā€˜First Things Firstā€™ Ailie also enlists the help of Paul Jennings on cajon and percussion, Duncan Lyall on bass, Ewan Robertson on guitar and James Ross piano and harmonium.

Everyone will find some favourites on ā€˜First Things Firstā€™ ā€“ these are mine. The album opens with ā€˜The Exploding Bowā€™ - three gentle jigs, the third being Ailieā€™s ā€˜Swerving for Bunniesā€™, which in her words ā€˜reflects rabbit avoidanceā€™ ā€“ love it. ā€˜The Favourite Dramā€™ usually rattles along but Ailie slows it down and creates a tranquil melody woven around harp and piano. ā€˜Spiritsā€™ is an outstanding air and once more Ailie proves (were it needed) how delicately her fingers can touch the harp. The tone alters dramatically with ā€˜The Humours of Scariff/ Good Spiritsā€™ the second being Ailieā€™s own composition to (in her words) celebrate the joys of whisky drinking. Amen to that. Another of her compositions is Sands of Hostaā€™ (my favourite on the album) itā€™s just exquisite thatā€™s all you need to say. This is quite simply music for the soul.

Ailieā€™s standing as an accomplished exponent of the clasarch precedes her, this album will only strengthen that reputation. If the day wraps its problems too tightly round your shoulders then listen to ā€˜First Things Firstā€™ and let the unwind begin.

Tim Carroll

FolkWords

Album Review: Ailie Robertson

Published Date: 29 June 2008

By NORMAN CHALMERS

AILIE ROBERTSON

First Things First

****

Lorimer Records LORRCD1, £10.99

These innovative, assured and beautiful arrangements place the young Edinburgh harpist at the forefront of the current evolutionary surge in Scottish musical technique and accomplishment. 

It's not just the molten fingering in the flying, percussively driven reels and dance grooves, or the relaxed precision in clever variations of traditional pipe tunes. But it's especially in the slow and medium tempos, as in the re-paced 'Favourite Dram' with James Ross's arresting piano chords, that her harp exerts its undeniable and inexorable tug at the heart strings.

Download this: Spirits

The new album is now arrived and we had a great album launch last night at George Watson's College in Edinburgh to a sold out audience - Thanks to everyone who came along. The album can be bought from the shop section of the website, and some audio clips are available on the music player. 

The album was recorded at Watercolour Music in Ardgour, and also features Paul Jennings on percussion, Duncan Lyall on bass, Ewan Robertson on guitar and James Ross on piano, and was produced by Mary Ann Kennedy. 

Hope you enjoy it!!

You can find audio and video clips from Sunday nights young trad final here:

Thanks to the BBC for their wonderful filming and recording!

CELTIC CONNECTIONS: HARP HEAVEN (Strathclyde Suite, Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, 20 January 2008)

22 January 2008

BARRY GORDON enjoys an inspirational evening with a stellar collection of angelic ā€“ and not so angelic -harpists

INSPIRATION, as any musician will tell you, can come from any variety of sources. Life, dreams, places that have no names - enlightenment has no bounds. How odd is it then, that one of the most unique performances ever put together at Celtic Connections (an all-harp concert featuring twelve of the best players around) should be inspired by a cartoon. In this case, a Gary Larson ā€˜Far Sideā€™ sketch - a strip where those entering heaven are handed harps, and those venturing into hell with accordions.

Corrina Hewat wasted no time in telling us how delighted she was to outsell their nemesis, the accompanying Accordion Hell concert taking place the following evening. Just as cheeky, another harp player (who shall remain nameless) boasted of using a friendā€™s accordion case to support her own harp. Accordions, it seems, are indeed the work of the

devil. 

The second half saw the performers change from their all-white attire to something more commonly associated with those out on a Hen night. Indeed, in true devilish spirit, Mary MacMaster drew groans from the crowd by announcing she had performed ā€œopen harp surgeryā€ on a broken string backstage. But that was before Laoise Kelly highlighted the plight to save the ancient Hill of Tara in Meath ā€“ a motorway is due to be built through the site ā€“ with a tune commissioned by The Distil Project written by Ailie Robertson. 

Winding down the evening, it was both appropriate and heart-warming to see Mary MacMaster and Patsy Sneddon ā€“ two of the best Scottish harp players of all time ā€“ lead off with a tune dedicated to Kristen Nogues, a true innovator of Celtic harp playing who sadly passed away last year. You could almost sense her spirit in the room. 

Overall, though, this was one of the most captivating and compelling concerts I have ever witnessed. One that should be repeated again - and often. I wonder if Gary Larson will ever know what magic he has unknowingly inspired [Mr. Larson is apparently a nifty jazz guitarist himself ā€“ Ed.]. 

© Barry Gordon, 2008

THE first thing I noticed were the angels, resplendent

in their saintly white robes. The next thing I heard

was the sound of a dozen harps, notes hanging in the

air like snowdrops dangling from a tree. Where were

we? Heaven, of course. 

Gathered together to deliver one of the most unique

aural experiences ever heard, 12 of the most amazing

harpists on the planet ensured those fortunate enough

to be in the crowd left this rare Celtic Connections

concert certain they had witnessed a small slice of

Paradise. 

Conversions of bagpipe tunes were nothing short of

dramatic, the varying types of nylon, wire and

electric-stringed harps creating a compelling

never-heard-before sound. Germany's Jochen Vogel (one

of only two men onstage) showed off his ability to

bend his harp's strings, while one of the women took

great delight in using a case of an accordion (the

harp's nemesis) to prop up her own harp. Having

performed "open harp surgery" on a broken string

backstage, Mary MacMaster returned for a heartfelt ode

to Kristen Nogues, a leading innovator of the Celtic

harp who passed away last year. 

If there was a gripe, it was that distorted

microphones plagued the occasional song or two. Other

than that, the only real disappointment was this

ethereal gathering of enchanting harp players left the

stage without receiving the standing ovation they deserved.