Hands Up for Trad’s Trad Music Spotlight is a monthly feature on a band or solo artist. It was first launched in February 2015 and features musicians who are working in the trad scene – both in Scotland and around the world. We asked award winning band Talisk a few questions.
What’s happening?
We’re currently on our way to perform at the Edinburgh TradFest after a great week at the Shetland Folk Festival followed by gigs at Monaive Folk Festival, All Saints Church, Wokingham and Trinity Folk Festival in Guildford. These gigs have been the first outing for our debut album, ‘Abyss’, which will be released officially later this year.
We recorded the album at Carrierwaves Studio in Glasgow with Barry Reid and the album features a number of guest musicians including Ryan Murphy (Mànran) on pipes and flute, Adam Brown (RURA) on Bodhràn, Graham Mackenzie on fiddle and Rufus Huggan on cello. The album features some sets we’ve been performing for over a year and a few brand new ones.
When was the band formed?
The band formed in August 2014 for a gig at the Partick Folk Club. We’d all played with each other before in a number of different outfits but decided to go as a three piece for this gig.
Each of us have been performing for a number of years but after winning the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award in 2015, we’ve found ourselves playing full time with Talisk, mostly around Britain.
What excites you about performing Scottish music?
Each of us enjoys taking aspects of our own musical backgrounds, be it Scottish or Irish and combining them with parts of other genres to create a sort of modern take on folk music. We’re currently experimenting a lot with how far we can push the music while keeping it in the Scottish folk music genre.
What’s next for you?
We have a very busy touring schedule planned for 2016 with gigs booked in Australia, Denmark, Belgium and all over the UK. We’re also looking forward to officially releasing ‘Abyss’ later on this year!
Read more about Talisk at their website http://www.talisk.co.uk
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