FARMINGTON – The Old South Church Concert series brings all female supergroup fiddle band from the Orkneys to its stage on Tuesday, May 1 as the first stop on their debut U.S. Tour, which has been two years in the making. Fara brings together four leading musicians at the forefront of today’s Scottish folk scene – Jennifer Austin, Kristan Harvey, Jeana Leslie and Catriona Price’s three fiddles and a piano – to produce a fiery sound rooted strongly in their upbringing among the music of Orkney.
The four contrasting personalities and individual musical voices in Fara, make for a colourful melting pot – each member brings a different musical pallet to the table. But the strong Orkney fiddle tradition that the four women grew up on together, is the glue that binds them, and is at the heart of each of their musical characters.
Each of Fara’s four members hold degrees from The Royal Academy of Music, The Royal Northern College of Music, The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and Strathclyde University. Their diverse activity with their other projects such as Blazin’ Fiddles, Jeana Leslie & Siobhan Miller, Rachel Sermanni, and Twelfth Day, as well as accolades including BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award, BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year, Deutsche Bank Award in Performance and Composition, and the Danny Kyle Award, hold them up as leading members of today’s Scottish music scene.
Following a nomination for Up And Coming Act of the Year at the Scots Trad Music Awards in 2015, the success of their debut album Cross The Line in 2016, lead to a nomination for the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards’ Horizon Award. Fara also performed at 2017’s prestigious event in the Royal Albert Hall, to a rapturous response. Also in 2017, Fara won the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik (German Critics Choice Award) and were nominated for Folk Band of the Year at the Scots Trad Music Awards.
With vibrant arrangements full of rich harmonies, energetic fiddle playing and driving piano, Fara’s music is an exciting experience. With a mixture of self-penned and traditional Orkney tunes as well as stunning vocals, these young women combine their musical experiences and friendships to produce an exciting and individual sound. Having been friends since early childhood, the girls grew up under the musical guidance of Douglas Montgomery (The Chair, Saltfishforty), Seona Dunsmuir, Jean Leonard and Hazel Wrigley, with the three East Mainlanders of the band in fiddle group Hadhirgaan at Kirkwall Grammar School, and Kristan, a West Mainlander, in Jenny Keldie’s Shoramere at Stromness Academy. The four girls then went on to study south, before reuniting to form Fara in 2014.
The idea for the band came after several appearances as “The Chairettes,” The Chair’s backing band. At one gig, the girls were asked to play a couple of sets on their own, and Bob Gibbon, The Chair’s Accordionist and Orkney Folk Festival director, suggested they form a new band. To the Chair’s disappointment they decided to loose the name, and Fara was born. Since then, the quartet has performed across the UK and Europe, and is making their U.S. Debut and will also be touring in Canada, Sweden and Germany in 2018.
“The debut recording from Fara is perhaps one of the most exciting developments in recent years for music from the Northern Isles. Showcasing fired up instrumental sets as well as the beautiful vocals of Jeana Leslie, this recording is testament to the strength of the traditional music development in Orkney. The Northern Isles and indeed Scotland now have a new fiddle supergroup but this time, with an all female line up. I suspect that stages from near and far will be seeing and hearing a lot from these lasses….” – Mhari Pottinger, Shetland Folk Festival
Fara’s second album is scheduled for release in October 2018. Additional band information and videos can be found at the band’s website www.faramusic.co.uk
Old South Congregational Church, UCC is located at 235 Main Street. Adult tickets $15. Student tickets are $10. Doors open at 6 p.m. with pre-concert jam session at 6:15 p.m. and concert begins at 7 p.m. Refreshments are available by donation during the jam session and at intermission. Reservations are recommended by calling 207-491-5919. Handicapped accessible. Subscription to the newsletter can be emailed to oldsouthchurchconcerts@gmail.com. Information about the concert series can be found on Old South Church’s website: http://www.farmingtonucc.org/get-connected.html.
