SCOTTISH ARTS COUNCIL BACKS BRAMPTON’S SPECIAL SHOWCASE

A sparkling showcase of Scottish talent is to be sponsored by the Scottish Arts Council at Brampton Live – the biggest folk roots festival in the north of England.
Described by top singer Eddi Reader as a festival “second only to Cambridge”, Brampton Live, takes place near Carlisle on the weekend of July 17-19. A highlight of the popular festival will be “Showcase Scotland” in the main marquee on Saturday, July 18 – featuring a triumvirate of hot property Scottish artists.
Taking to the stage will be Dumfriesshire-based 2008 Scots Singer of the Year Emily Smith and the melting pot of outrageous talent that is Kris Drever, John McCusker and Roddy Woomble who will be joined by two special guests – acclaimed English singer songwriter Boo Hewerdine and Ireland’s Heidi Talbot, former lead singer with Cherish The Ladies.

Now Brampton has announced that Fife’s Fence Collective supremo King Creosote (Kenny Anderson) will complete the unmissable line-up. King Creosote’s new album Flick the V’s has proved a real hit with the critics whilst a single from it, Coast on By– was a BBC Radio 2 Single of the Month.
The Edinburgh-based Scottish Arts Council has confirmed it will be supporting “Showcase Scotland” to the tune of £3,000. Says festival founder and director Ken Bradburn: “We are thrilled that the Scottish Arts Council are giving us their generous backing so we can go ahead and stage the first ever Scottish showcase in our 15-year history – and what a line up!”

Tickets for the showcase event, which starts at 8pm, are available online, price £25 (£20 concessions, £9 youth ticket and £5 child ticket), at the new look festival website www.bramptonlive.net and also from Carlisle’s Tullie House Museum & Art Gallery on 01228 618700, where tickets can also be bought in person. Under 5’s go free.

The showcase artists complete probably the strongest ever Scottish contingent to be seen at the festival.  Another Fife-born artist, the award-winning singer and West End actress Barbara Dickson will be the Sunday night headliner while high octane festival favourites, The Peatbog Faeries (far left) will get the joint jumping across at Stage Two.
Says Ken: “Some might think Barbara’s a more mainstream performer than they’d expect to see at Brampton Live, but she has impeccable folk credentials from her early career in the folk clubs of Fife and she’s increasingly returning to her roots.”

Brampton is now going full steam ahead, returning to its home at Brampton’s William Howard Centre and offering music on three stages as well as lively workshops, camping, children’s events and a festival market.

But its future had looked in doubt earlier this year until eleventh hour news of a successful £35,000 Lottery-funded Grants for the Arts award from Arts Council England signalled a new era for the event. The grant is supporting the festival’s migration from Carlisle City Council management into ownership by a newly formed independent company, Brampton Live Festival Ltd.

Among past Brampton performers who welcomed the news is Glasgow-born singer Eddi Reader who says: “I signed the petition to save Brampton Live and am delighted to hear that Arts Council England stepped in to save this fantastic festival which, in my opinion, is the highlight of the folk/roots calendar in the UK, second only to Cambridge.”

Other artists include BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards Best Duo winners Chris While & Julie Matthews, the indefatigable Oysterband, Andy Fairweather Low, The Spooky Men’s Chorale (Australia), Mary Gauthier (USA), Eliza Gilkyson (USA), Annabelle Chvostek (Canada), Nancy Kerr and James Fagan, Chris Sherburn and Denny Bartley, Merseyside’s Elbow Jane, comedy folk band The Lancashire Hotpots, the offbeat and hotly-tipped Mr and Mrs and Wales’s favourite Celtic music export, Mabon.
Full details at www.bramptonlive.net