ONE of the most hotly anticipated debuts of the year is set to be released next month.
Free One will be the first offering from Kinnaris Quintet and features five of Scotland’s finest traditional musicians together for the first time.
Fiona MacAskill (fiddle), Laura Wilkie (fiddle), Aileen (Reid) Gobbi (five-string fiddle), Laura-Beth Salter (mandolin) and Jenn Butterworth (guitar) came together at the end of 2017, and since then the hype surrounding them has been intense, due not only to their musicianship but to the dynamism of their style when they play together.
“As a band we all came together quite organically through other work we were involved in,” explains Gobbi. “After playing informally we realised our music was developing a sound of its own and we decided we would like to take it further.
“Making this debut album is our way of capturing the energy, intricacy, harmony and grooves that so inspired us to play together and after gigging this material a couple of times we knew there was a demand for it from our listeners.
“All five of us have spent most of our careers adding to other people’s musical outputs, colouring projects with our individual styles – with Free One we all feel like now is our time to make our mark on the musical landscape.”
Butterworth adds: “What we play on the album is exactly what we play in our live gigs. The music hasn’t been overproduced or scrutinised to the point of self-destruction in confidence, vibe or energy – it’s raw, driving and exciting music with a real journey throughout each track.
“It’s been written, arranged, produced, driven and managed entirely by us – five musicians who just happen to be women at a time when there is an ongoing debate about a lack of female instrumentalists on the folk scene.
“With these ongoing conversations, we feel that music created by women is in danger of being seen as a genre of its own and so with our musical output we really want to help forge new attitudes, encouraging female musicians to be recognised first and foremost for the music they create and the musician that they are.”
Free One is released on September 20
For more information on Kinnaris Quintet go to: www.kinnarisquintet.com
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