Speyfest - 27th July - 3rd August 2008

SPEYFEST…….a small town festival with big ideas!

SPEYFEST tickets have already been flying off the “cyber-shelf” through The Booth web-site www.thebooth.co.uk with sales well up on this point last year particularly for the Thursday and Friday concerts. But as the dates for this year’s festival draw ever closer we are pleased to announce that for the people that prefer to pick up their tickets in person, the Speyfest ticket office will be open as usual in front of The Institute on High Street, Fochabers from Wednesday 25th June. It will be open from 5pm – 8pm on Wednesday through to Saturday each week in the run-up to the festival which kicks-off on 27th July. Opening hours will be extended in the week of the festival itself……..assuming we still have tickets to sell!!

The full programme for this year’s festival has now been announced and we are particularly proud this year of the performers that we have managed to attract for our Thursday, Friday and Saturday night events. Thanks to the hard work of James Alexander and his team, a stunning line up of acts will be taking to the stage in the marquee at the Playing Fields in Fochabers on all these evening.

Thursday Concert Thursday 31st July 2008 7:00 PM
Price: £16/£13 concession

The opening concert at Speyfest 2008 sees Eddi Reader and her band travel north to remind us why she is rightly considered the First Lady of Scottish music. In a solo career that has recently seen the release of her stunning interpretations of the Songs of Robert Burns, an MBE for outstanding contributions to the arts and in 2007 the latest album "Peacetime", Eddi continues to sell-out concerts all over the world. Her band features Boo Hewerdine on vocals and guitar, Alan Kelly on accordion, Roy Dodds on percussion and Kevin McGuire on double bass.
This evening with Eddi Reader will also feature a guest performance from Orcadian Kris Drever, who for some time now has been recognised as one of the most talented musicians on the traditional scene. But with the release of his debut solo album "Black Water" in 2006 and the BBC Radio 2 Folk "Horizon" award that followed, Kris' vocal talents are now also winning him critical acclaim.
The concert will be opened by the hugely impressive pipes and drums of the award winning Grampian Police Pipe Band. Quite simply one of the best competition pipe bands in the country, their surprising repertoire and performance will get the night off to a great start.


Friday Concert Friday 1st August 2008 7:00 PM
Price: £16/£13 concession
Special Offer!! £20 'All-nighter' wristband (includes entry to Ceilidh/Stomp)

Since winning the BBC's primetime show "When Will I Be Famous", The Red Hot Chilli Pipers have gone on to perform all over the world from the USA to China at some of the biggest events and festivals. But it's the Chilli Pipers "show" that has won the band a legion of new fans that includes in it's number HRH The Princess Royal, Ewan McGregor and Phil Collins and saw them pick up the Live Act Of The Year award at the 2007 Scots Trad Music Awards. Their album "Bagrock to the Masses" went Platinum earlier this year after it was featured on BBC Radio 2's Chris Evans Drivetime show. In the first of two performances The Red Hot Chilli Pipers will bring the curtain down on the Friday Concert at Speyfest 2008 before returning to the stage to lift the roof at the late-night Stomp.
Tonight's concert will also feature another award winning group for which 2008 has been a very good year. LAU, a formidable union of three of the finest exponents of modern traditional music in Scotland today, Kris Drever on guitar and vocals, Martin Green on piano accordion and Aidan O'Rourke on fiddle, was nominated for three awards at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards earlier this year, winning Best Group against impressive new-folk competition. Towards the end of 2007 they released their critically acclaimed debut album "Lightweights & Gentlemen" and are now one of the most sought-after acts on the live music circuit.
The bill is completed by the Craig Duncan Band from Nashville, Tennessee. A hugely accomplished musician, Craig is bringing the Bluegrass music of his home state to Speyfest with his band featuring fiddle, mandolin, guitars, banjo and bass.



Friday Ceilidh/Stomp Friday 1st August 2008 10:30 PM
Price: £12
Special Offer!! £20 'All-nighter' wristband (includes entry to Friday Concert)

With the main marquee now cleared of seating, The Red Hot Chilli Pipers will get this late night event underway with more of their unique "bagrock". The line-up of three pipers, snare drum, percussion, drum kit, guitar and keyboards mix traditional pipe tunes with rock music to create an unforgettable live show. Featuring piper Stuart Cassells, BBC Radio Scotland's Young Traditional Musician of the Year 2005 and Steven Graham, twice winner of the Pipe Band World Championships with The House of Edgar Shotts and Dykehead Pipe Band and three graduates of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, the talent on show is outstanding.
The night will close to the raw, no nonsense style of Scottish dance music that is a Vatersay Boys live gig. Hailing from the most southerly populated isle of the Outer Hebrides, the Vatersay Boys have gathered a huge fan base for their music that has seen them create a stir of madness and mayhem throughout the Western Isles and play to sell-out crowds at the Barrowlands in Glasgow.



Saturday Festival Night Saturday 2nd August 2008 7:00 PM
Price: £16

Salsa Celtica are a big band with a huge reputation and live, they are a storm. Playing a fusion of the Cuban charanga sound with elements of folk and jazz on fiddle, flute, pipes, banjo and rhythm section, they are THE outstanding Scottish salsa band. Having played at most of the country’s biggest festivals including T in the Park, Celtic Connections and the Cambridge Folk Festival, we are delighted to have them headline the Festival Night at Speyfest 2008.
The supporting line-up features the best of our young talent and the music of the isles...albeit one of the islands is Vatersay and the other is Australia. Speyfest ever-presents, The Fochabers Fiddlers will open the evening with their up-beat take on the fiddle music of Scotland. Fiddler Lori Watson and her band Rule of Three - Fiona Young, Innes Watson and Donald Hay - take a fresh approach to the music of the Borders. The band was a Danny Award winner at Celtic Connections 2005 and is in the vanguard of the resurgence of interest in Scottish traditional music. There is a second chance to catch The Vatersay Boys and experience the rough, raw, no nonsense style of dance music that has won them a huge following on the Western Isles and beyond. They are quite simply one of the best live acts on the Scottish music circuit. Completing the bill for the Festival Night is Melbourne based, The Ploughboys. For over ten years now this band has enthralled festival crowds in places as far apart as Sweden and Singapore, Hobart and Helsinki and come to Speyfest as part of their latest two month European tour. Their sound is described as Australian flavoured celtic roots folk-rock.......something for everyone!!

Full details of Speyfest 2008 can be found at the updated and re-launched www.speyfest.com and copies of the Festival Programme can be picked up from public libraries and local Tourist Information Centres or call the Speyfest hotline (07875 212382) and one will be sent out to you.