July 2010 - New nualamusic channel up on youtube - latest addition is a Ruth Barrie video of The Waves of the Silvery Tide - Live at Celtic Connections and featuring AJ Roach on vocals. Do come visit! www.youtube.com/user/nualamusic

Folkworld Review – July 2010
Nuala Kennedy "Tune in"
Label: Compass Records; 2010
Adolf 'gorhand' Goriup

Irish Folk singer, composer and flute player Nuala Kennedy is a brand name in her adopted homeland, Scotland's Folk scene. Having worked live as well as on different albums with some of the best musicians and groups, she released her second solo CD "Tune in" with ten tracks, original songs and tunes and five traditional songs.

Tuned in within a glimpse of an eye (Nuala makes reference to Timothy O'Leary's understanding of the word) it starts off with two original tunes, "Footsteps/Julian and Iwona's". The guitar driven playing together of Alasdair White on fiddle and Nuala on flute is absolutely gorgeous. Nuala's beautiful singing on her love song "All of these Days" is accompanied by guitar and Ryan Quigley's fine trumpet playing and she sings the romantic traditional Irish song "My true Love" in English with Brian Kellock on piano, Oliver Schroer on strings and Lea Kirstein on cello. My absolute favourite is the traditional "The Waves of the silvery Tide".

Guest singer Bonnie Prince Billy from Kentucky sings a beautiful duet with Nuala, the pace accelerates with Julian Sutton on accordion, Mario Caribé on double bass, Mike Bryan on guitar, Donald Hay on percussion and then comes the breathtaking sound of Nuala's whistle, supported by Iain MacLeod's mandolin and White's fiddle and the soft ballad turns into an intoxicating folk song.

Nuala sings the traditional Donegal song, "Thíos cois na trá" (down by the strand) almost a Capella, Nicolas Boulerice playing hurdy gurdy and Nuala replacing her voice at the end with the b flat flute. The final instrumental tunes "Five Mile Town/Cider Street/The New Yorker", two self-crafted and the middle one by Iian MacLeod, are brought forward by a ten piece line up including whistles, flutes, trumpet and flugelhorn as well as guitar, mandolin, bass, fiddle, percussion, piano and accordion. The epic journey starts as a tender air and with rousing rhythm ends with a groovy reel.

Nuala Kennedy is a brilliant flute and whistle player with a hauntingly beautiful voice and she composes terrific tunes and lovely songs. The musicians are first class and the arrangements extraordinary. Have a listen to her modern and creative folk music.

Nuala Kennedy Tune In ‘Dexterous Flautist’
The Musician – Magazine of the Musician’s Union UK

Acclaimed flautist Nuala has garnered glowing press coverage for her peerless playing of traditional Celtic music and rich songwriting. Her debut, The New Shoes, was heartily welcomed and this, her second solo album, features guest appearances by Bonnie Prince Billy, Norman Blake, Oliver Schroer, and jazz notables Brian Kellock and Ryan Quigley. Kicking-off with the fast-paced Footsteps/Julian and Iwona’s, we’re carried along by the sheer dexterity of the playing, then romanced by the sweetness of All of These Days. And that’s just for starters. Hugely recommended.

12 May, 2010
Review - Nuala Kennedy: Tune In
The List

From her early days at Edinburgh College of Art, and nights in Sandy Bells pub playing flute with the capital’s crosssover music scene, young Kennedy’s exploratory curiosity has always led her away from her musical roots in the traditional music culture of her Irish homeland and childhood.

After touring and recording (with singer/guitarist Kris Drever) in the trio Fine Friday, she found her own voice on her well-received solo album, The New Shoes. Her latest release, the product of her ongoing international musical adventures, sees her assemble 20 friends, all leading instrumental and vocal artists. This adventurous and absorbing album covers an exceptionally wide spectrum – from the vocals of Teenage Fanclub’s Norman Blake and Will ‘Bonnie Prince Billie’ Oldham, to top British jazz piano chordings of Brian Kellock, and the stylish string sounds in Mr McFall’s Chamber.

06 May, 2010
Painting, music and football are set to form a winning team
By Jim Gilchrist, Scotsman

TWO Russian painters, an Irish flautist and a Dutch video artist, in a collision between visual art, music and football? It's an unlikely sounding collaboration, but that's what's on offer at a unique charity event in Edinburgh tomorrow.

The Homeless World Cup has grown from a modest event to one which now includes about 70 nations. Picture: Mark Dadswell/Getty Images

Visitors to the opening of a five-day exhibition at the Roxy Art House by the Edinburgh-based Russian painter and designer Maria Rud and her life-long friend and fellow artist Natalia Kharina will be able to watch the pair creating a new painting on the spot, to a semi-improvised accompaniment from Irish musician and singer Nuala Kennedy. As the painting takes shape – on glass – it will be projected on to a large screen, becoming real-time art. The proceeds from this will help fund another unique event, the Homeless World Cup, an annual international football tournament which helps the dispossessed to change their lives.

The participants have christened the event Art AnimOtion, For Rud – the Moscow-born artist who co-founded the sadly defunct DOM gallery and creative space in Edinburgh's Advocate's Close and its associated retail and design company Kindom – the seemingly disparate strands of painting, music and football aren't so far removed.

She believes that visual art and music have become too divorced from each other, and she points to combined exhibitions and concerts which DOM has run, both in its gallery and in larger spaces such as St Giles Cathedral and York Minster. Both art forms, she suggests, are intuitive, "but they have become very separate, and today we have concert halls and exhibition halls, and it's quite a sterile environment. But my mother was a composer and music was part of my life when I was growing up, so I think the idea of collaborating with musicians is very important."

As for the football charity, established by Mel Young, the Edinburgh-based co-founder of The Big Issue in Scotland, she argues that it has more in common with art than one might think: "They both inspire, enrich and reach out."

Rud, a petite figure with extravagant hair and a penchant for large dogs, has no qualms about painting under the spotlight. She and Kharina, whom she has known since childhood – in fact, she insists, "before we were born", for their parents were close friends – were students together at Moscow's Surikov School of Art and used to sketch on the streets, where it didn't do to be self-conscious: "You were constantly outside painting, with a crowd of people watching you." Rud's distinctive, vividly-hued paintings are inhabited by enigmatic, mythic-looking figures, somewhere between religious icons and the Russian avant garde. She has also worked in animation, as has Kharina, who is travelling from Moscow for the event. As the pair of them paint together on a plate of glass (Rud reckons they know each other well enough to avoid a stylistic car crash), they will be filmed by the Dutch video artist Mettje Hunneman, with the emerging painting projected on to a screen for the benefit of the audience, who will be able to purchase paintings and prints, the profits of which will go to the football charity. Another video maker, Paolo Drusi from Italy, will record the whole event.

For Nuala Kennedy, playing flute and singing as the two Russians paint presents an intriguing prospect, although she also claims a degree of common ground: the Dundalk-born musician first came to her adopted city to attend Edinburgh College of Art. "I've never done anything like this before," she says after a rehearsal with Rud. "It's a really powerful, immediate statement."

The flautist's newly released album Tune In combines traditional music with such contemporary elements as French flamenco guitarist Philippe Guidat, Scots jazz musicians Brian Kellock and Ryan Quigley, and Teenage Fanclub's Norman Blake. But she says she won't be venturing into any contemporary jazz-style improvisation on the night, instead drawing on more traditional repertoire pieces. She adds: "I might remember fragments from an earlier rehearsal and some keys that worked better than others, and at a certain point there's a traditional song about the sea, from Donegal, that I'll sing. At the same time I'm trying not to plan too much."

Kennedy would like to develop the project in the future, possibly using electronics. Mel Young, too, sees Thursday's event as the potential start of something wider. "Involving the artistic community in what we're doing is worth exploring," he says. "I love the idea of Nuala, whose music I really like, and Maria, whom I've known for a long time, collaborating with others. That's what I like about creative people: they're prepared to take risks and see what happens."

Having set up The Big Issue in Scotland with Tricia Hughes in 1993, Young was in Cape Town in 2001, attending a conference of the International Network of Street Papers, of which he's president, when, over a few beers, he and an Austrian colleague came up with the improbable-sounding idea of an international football league for homeless people. "We were looking at the possibility of exchanging vendors, but then we thought there could be problems with visas, employment law, language… then we thought, well there is an international language, and its called football."

The first Homeless World Cup championship was played in Graz, Austria, with 18 countries participating. Since then the event has expanded phenomenally, with more than 70 countries now involved, According to the organisers, more than 70 per cent of the participants have come off drug and alcohol habits and moved on into employment and settled lives.

This year's final will be played in Rio de Janeiro in September. Young adds: "Our main fundraising effort is to get the teams there, but the event we're doing with Maria and Nuala is to support projects on the ground, in Africa and South America and other places which don't have any money whatsoever. Some of the people don't even have shoes or footballs."

Of the Roxy Art House event, he says: "It may seem a crazy idea, but when I started the Homeless World Cup, people said I'd finally gone completely mad, yet it's been a great success."

&149 Art AnimOtion is at the Roxy Art House, Edinburgh, from tomorrow until 10 May. For further details: www.mariarud.com, www.homeless, www.worldcup.org, www.roxyarthouse.org
(0131 6290039)

20 April, 2010
Album review: Nuala Kennedy, Tune In
By NORMAN CHALMERS

****
Compass Records CD745342, £12.99 (BUY)

Singers such as Teenage Fanclub's Norman Blake and Bonnie Prince Billy share frequencies with great jazz pianist Brian Kellock, and driving ex-Shooglenifty mandolin master Iain MacLeod joins with most of Mr McFall's Chamber in the densely crowded variety of musicianly style. Quietly expressive, cheerfully brash, complex or simple, Radio Kennedy is never static.

(This article first published in The Scotland on April 18, 2010)

12 April, 2010

Nuala will be on the radio WFDU New York's Ceol na nGael on Thursday. 4:00pm New York Time and 9:00pm UK Time - Tune in to hear some tunes from Tune In!

Aother program just recorded and available online for the next two weeks is her interview with RON OLESKO for 'Traditions' a radio show by WFDU, New Jersey.

Nuala Kennedy : Tune In
By: Le Canard
(Compass Records 7 4534 2)

Cette flûtiste – chanteuse irlandaise établie à Edimbourg sort des
sentiers battus en proposant ses compositions, principalement
chantées. Virtuose de la flute irlandaise, elle utilise les
techniques traditionnelles pour sortir du genre de répertoire habituel.
Accompagnée d'une bonne vingtaine d'invités, sa voix au timbre
légèrement enfantin aime la nostalgie et traverse les genres avec
aisance. Les paroles des chansons et ses commentaires figurent dans
le livret, de quoi apprécier la sincérité de sa démarche. N'hésitez pas à la découvrir (www.nualakennedy.com, www.compassrecords.com).

English Translation:

This flautist Irish singer based in Edinburgh goes out of the box by offering her compositions, mostly vocal. Virtuoso of the Irish flute, she uses traditional techniques to leave the kind of standard repertoire. Accompanied by two dozen guests, her voice timbre slightly childish loves nostalgia and crosses genres with ease. The lyrics of the songs and comments contained in the booklet, is what gauges the sincerity of her approach. Don’t hesitate to discover – Nuala Kennedy!

Animation of All of these days from TUNE IN (by Dave)

IRISH MUSIC MAGAZINE
APRIL ISSUE 2010
article by Eileen McCabe

Do you ever feel like the lethargy of January is increasingly difficult to surface from? ‘Not so!’ says the energy and enthusiasm that is Nuala Kennedy! The Dundalk born flautist and singer, adopted by her homeland of Scotland, began the New Year with an exorbitant schedule that included a whistle stop tour of New York followed by a return to Celtic Connections and the launch of her exciting second album ‘Tune In’.

Nuala and her band consisting of recognized jazz bassist Mario Caribé  from Brazil, top percussionist Donald Hay, Newcastle accordionist Julian Sutton (back from touring with Sting) and guitar maestro Mike Galvin, travelled to New York to showcase ‘Tune In‘. They played live for WFMU, a hip radio station based in New Jersey as well as Zebulon in Brooklyn.

"It made the whole showcase experience so much more satisfying for us as we also got to perform our show to live audiences  in New York. The highlight was performing live at Banjo Jim’s in the East Village. It was very relaxed and there was great feedback from  the audience there.”

Subsequent to rave reviews of her debut album ‘New Shoes’ which received the accolade of traditional album of the week by The Irish  Times and traditional highlight of 2008 by Hot press, the Celtic Connections launch of the new album ’Tune In’ also exceeded  expectations:

"The night itself went by in somewhat of a blur though! I was so busy with organizing everything…the concert was recorded, and the album was being launched, and it was also my birthday, which we celebrated the next (more peaceful) day! We had lots of interest from festivals after the show, which was great, and the response from the public was terrific. There were a lot of people in the audience who  were linked in someway to the album, whether supporters from my home  in Edinburgh, friends from around Scotland who made thetrip down to Glasgow, friends and family from Ireland, musician friends, Keith Macintyre who drew the artwork on the cover was there, Dave Morrow, an animation artist I am working with, Keith Bird, one of the studio engineers... It was a very emotional and special night.."

I was intrigued to learn that ‘Tune In’ was inspired by an old radio dial that Nuala discovered in a vintage shop. Living in a vibrant area of Edinburgh, she enjoys perusing musical curiosities:

"One particular day I came across an old circular radio dial on the floor of the shop closest to my house. I didn’t actually realize what it was for a moment… and when I did, I contemplated the whole wonder of radio, the power of connectivity... for me, a radio visually represents the ability to communicate in a non-obtrusive way with people and places. I wanted to make my new album reflective of that idea, that it would bring together lots of different musical friends I have been working with over the past few years, and make each track a different experience for the listener."

Recorded in Glasgow at Parklane Studio, Nuala tells me that whilst some of the album included her touring band, she also welcomed some special guests.

"Will Oldham performed with me as part of ‘Astar‘, a commission I wrote for Celtic Connections in 2007, and he sings on ‘The Waves of the Silvery Tide. It is so exciting to me, to have his distinctive voice on that song. Brian Kellock who is an old friend fromEdinburgh, is one of the finest jazz pianists around, he was absolutely phenomenal in the studio. There’s also Norman Blake from Teenage Fanclub, who sings on ‘The Books in My Library’. I wrote that song during a ‘Burnsong’ residency for singer/songwriters, which is also where I met Norman, so it seemed appropriate to get him back to sing on that! Nicolas Boulerice of Le Vent Du Nord plays hurdy gurdy – I’ve been a friend of that band since our touring paths began to cross several years ago in Canada. Another award-winning jazz friend Ryan Quigley plays an amazing flugelhorn solo at the beginning of the last track- I could go on…. I am blessed to be in such great musical company on this album."

With such a diverse range of talent on the album, what did Nuala ultimately wish to accomplish? ‘I wanted to present a mix of things with this album, to try and reflect my own interest in different aspects oftraditional music, and just to reflect my own personality more. Iwanted to keep things sounding fresh and live, and yet at the sametime, have more of a studio feel to this, than in previous albums I’ve been involved in. I gained the freedom to take control of aspects of the production and recording which I was previously not able to do.’

With all of the instrumentals on ‘Tune In’ composed by Nuala herself, bar a resounding ‘Cider Street’ reel by mandolinist Iain Macleod, she tells me how she initially composes the tunes and then contemplates the overall flow of the piece, developing musical arrangements which are interesting from a compositional point of view, but at the same time loose enough to allow for spontaneity on the part of the musicians involved.

"Things really come alive when I meet up with the guys and we play through the music. At that point it is very much a collaborative approach. I value the opinions of the musicians I work with veryhighly,and I take into account what they have to contribute. I love to see the music evolve and develop, and venture down unexpected alleyways, where I might not have thought to go. I think working in this way is more akin to having an interesting and dynamic conversation, as opposed to being told (in the nicest possible way) exactly what you want to hear."

Nuala conveys that she is becoming increasingly interested in writing longer pieces. After working on an hour long composition for Celtic Connections and following this with an eight minute set on her debut album, she has now included a eleven minute vibrant set named ’Five Mile Town’ on ’Tune In’. ’ I’d like to record an hour long piece like ‘Astar‘….something which flows and which is probably totally un-radio friendly and unmarketable! I’d like to do more live studio recording with my six piece line-up. It was great fun doing the tracks on ‘Tune In’ so I’d like to build on that and see what we could achieve together for a whole album.’

Following a Canadian tour in the Summer, Nuala will be showcasing ’Tune In’ with a tour of the U.K. and Ireland later in the year and also plans to spend time playing gigs in the U.S. with Brooklyn-based A.J. Roach. A special project release though will be that of a duo album of original compositions with the late Oliver Schroer entitled ’Enthralled’. They worked previously on the ‘Astar’ project and completed ’Enthralled’ in May 2008.

"Oliver passed away in July of that year, so that album is very close to my heart. It was the last project he worked on and the dawn of a new era for me, in terms of taking more control over the technical side of recording and also in developing the way I like to work with my own band. Oliver inspired me to consider more deeply what I was doing in my musical life and to give direction more clearly about what exactly it was I wanted."

‘Tune In’ comprises ten scintillating tracks and is justifiably deserving of a listen! To learn more of the album and future tour dates, take a look at www.nualakennedy.com or her MySpace page and lose yourself in the enchantment that is Nuala Kennedy!

March 5, 2010
Tune In Review (Compass Records)
SIOBH�N LONG, Irish Times

Some albums reveal themselves in all their glory on first listening; others unpeel their layers with repeated exposure. Nuala Kennedy's latest collection takes her flute, whistle and voice on a picaresque adventure that's ideally summed up in its title.

A delicious mix of influences abound, without ever sacrificing musical identity to the mix. From the samples on the opening track, Footsteps, to the Miles Davis- style nonchalance of Five Mile Town, Kennedy's intense hunger for musical exploration is everywhere. Her duet with Bonnie Prince Billy on The Waves of the Silvery Tide is a beauty, both voices entwining with vine-like ease.

Other collaborators include guitarist Philippe Guidat and vocalist Norman Blake. Kennedy's original tune compositions are as cerebrally stimulating as they are melodically and rhythmically challenging.

A delight. See nualakennedy.com

February 2010
Nova Scotian Traditions Tour

Nuala will feature in a tour by NOVA SCOTIAN TRADITIONS, a collaboration featuring Andrea Beaton, Troy Macgillivray, Kimberley Fraser (all on fiddle, piano, stepdancing) and Nuala Kennedy. This is the fourth year of the collaboration, which has had audiences rocking in their seats, and out of them for the past three years!

Info on NovaScotianTraditions:

Andrea Beaton grew up to the rhythm of generations. Her father is one of the leading fiddle players of his generation, her mother, an accomplished pianist. So were her grandfather and grandmother. In fact, her grandfather, Donald Angus Beaton, was just awarded the 2009 Stompin' Tom Award by the East Coast Music Association (ECMA) for significant contributions to the east coast music industry. Her uncle, Buddy MacMaster, is revered in Cape Breton. Andrea Beaton continues the rhythm in her own dynamic style. www.andreabeaton.com 

Troy MacGillivray's heritage is equally impressive. For generations, the MacGillivrays and MacDonalds have been keeping the Gaelic tradition alive in Lanark, Nova Scotia. His parents are talented musicians, his sister Kendra is a two-time East Coast Music Association award-winning fiddler, and his sister Sabra is a skilled dancer and percussionist. His grandfather, Hugh A. MacDonald, is a member of the Nova Scotia Country Hall of Fame. www.troymacgillivray.com 

Kimberley Fraser was born on Cape Breton Island, and nurtured within its rich musical heritage. She first began to impress audiences at the age of three with her step-dancing talents. Soon after that she took up both the fiddle and the piano. Like many in Cape Breton, music is not new to Kimberley’s family. She proudly owns the fiddle of her great great grandfather, spanning the musical tradition within her family over a hundred years. www.kimberleyfraser.com 

February 2010
Music in Solidarity for Haitian Relief Tour
[Click to view PDF flyer]

Benefit concert bringing together the diverse communities and music styles in the North East and Scotland. Two exciting evenings of live Bands featuring African drumming, retro-psyche-rock’n’roll, Folk music, and DJs spinning Latin House and Techno.

19 February
Newcastle University
Union, Basement 1
Starts at 7:30 pm

26 February
Roxy Art House
Edinburgh
Starts at 7:30 pm

Featuring:
Hannabiell & Midnight Blue UK
The Din
Nuala Kennedy, Alasdair White (Battlefield Band) Donald Hay and Friends
James Bligh
DJ Alex, Salsa y Merengue
DJ Miguel Garcia, Latin House
DJ Nick Bligh, Techno

Tickets:
Advance: £5 Students, £ 7 Adults, £ 15 Families
At the door: £ 7 Students, £ 10 Adults, £ 18 Families

All proceeds will go to Doctors Without Borders and
United Haitians in the UK

For more information:
please Contact Hannabiell Sanders
at nell.sanders@gmail.com or 0793 922 2762

January 2010
TUNE IN album launch!

Hi Everyone,

You are cordially invited to a grande soireé of music celebrating
The Launch of 'TUNE IN' on Saturday night 30th January. I am very excited to be able to present a big band line-up showcasing music form the new album. We are filming the evening with Barriefilms so watch this space for more on Tune In.

The magically mercurial Irish flautist and singer Nuala Kennedy returns to Celtic Connections International Festival in Glasgow with her forthcoming second solo album TUNE IN
(Compass Records 2010)

Inspired by an old-fashioned circular radio dial she found in a junk shop, Tune In features many of her long-time musical collaborators, as well as guest appearances from friends around the world. For sure this is a party which is not to be missed!

Nuala Kennedy, although rooted in the Celtic music of her native Ireland and adopted homeland of Scotland, is increasingly recognised for her eclectic cross-genre work. She has recently worked and recorded with artists such as Will Oldham, Norman Blake (Teenage Fanclub) Euros Childs (Gorky’s) the late great Oliver Schroer and Ziggy Campbell from the band FOUND.

‘Kennedy doesn't so much imbibe or inhale as swallow, whole and unadulterated, melodic and rhythmic influences from beyond her kith and kin. She is not only an exceptional interpreter of the tradition; her own music glistens with freshness’ **** THE IRISH TIMES

'exceptional’ **** IRISH TIMES 'Breathtaking' ****UK HERALD 'utterly beguiling' SONGLINES

TUNE IN Launch:
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
Strathclyde Suite
Saturday 30th January 2010 at 8pm
Nuala Kennedy and Band
Support by Majorstuen, a fantastic fiddle band from Norway

Nuala Kennedy and Band Featuring:
Nuala Kennedy, Ireland/Scotland (flute, voice)
Julian Sutton, Newcastle (melodeons)
Iain Copeland, Scotland (percussion)
Mario Caribe, Edinburgh/Brazil (double bass)
Mike Bryan, Glasgow (guitar)

plus guests:
Norman Blake, (Teenage Fanclub) Scotland/Canada (vocals)
Iain Macleod, Scotland (mandolin)
Dana Lyn, New York (fiddle)
Brian Kellock, Edinburgh (piano)
AJ Roach, New York (vocals)

Celtic Connections info

January 2010

We are performing on Rob Weisberg's Show on WFMU!
You can see the promo for the radio show posted here:
www.wfmu.org/upcoming and www.wfmu.org/playlists/tp

People will be able to listen live online via www.wfmu.org although it will be a pretty late hour in Scotland. But they will also be able to listen to the archive afterwards. There is also an optional downloadable archive http://freemusicarchive.org/

Looking forward to our New York gigs!
See tour page for details...

Voyage De Nuit Excerpts from the Scottish Arts Council Tune-Up Summer 2009
[See videos below]

Bass: Mario Caribe
Guitar: Philippe Guidat
Flute: Nuala Kennedy
Percussion: Diego Landivar

The Scotsmand Jazz Review: 'Flamenco Supremo Dancing to a Different Tune Thanks to Luck of the Irish and all that Jazz'
Published Date: 27 May 2009. By Jim Gilchrist.

THE ROLLING fluidity of Irish flute and the staccato flicker of flamenco guitar… distinctive sounds both, though perhaps not the most readily compatible. Yet both are about to hit the road together – not to mention more than a few island ferries – courtesy of the Celtic-flamenco fusion of Voyage de Nuit.

The ensemble, embarking on a Scottish Arts Council-sponsored Tune Up tour, features the Edinburgh-based Irish flautist and singer Nuala Kennedy with Azulejos, the flamenco-jazz outfit led by the French guitarist and composer Philippe Guidat. For the purposes of the tour, Azulejos features a cosmopolitan line-up of Guidat's regular percussionist, the young Bolivian Diego Landivar; Kennedy's frequent collaborator, the English accordionist Luke Daniels, and the ubiquitous Scots-based Brazilian double-bassist Mario Caribe.

The project has its origins in a first encounter between Kennedy and Guidat in 2007 at the International World Music Residency in New York, where their initial sparrings led to a fruitful playing and writing partnership. "We lived for two and a half weeks in this upstate New York artists' colony in an amazing location," recalls the flautist. "It was very open-ended, and open-minded. "In late 2007 and 2008, Philippe came over and we did a few small concerts in the Highlands as a duo, trying out ideas and seeing how people took to the combination of flamenco and jazz and then the old-fashioned traditional music.

They seemed to like it, and it was then that we thought we might develop it into something bigger." Kennedy, originally from Dundalk, has been living in Scotland for some time now, first emerging as a talent as flautist in the vivacious trio Fine Friday, with fiddler Anna-Wendy Stevenson and singer-guitarist Kris Drever. Her first recording under her own name, The New Shoes, met with a warm reception, and became an Irish Times album of the week when it came out two years ago.

Ask her what the Voyage de Nuit collaboration sounds like, and she replies candidly that so far as the tour is concerned, she is not exactly sure yet.

"When we started working together we were working from a rhythmic basis because Philippe's from a flamenco-jazz background and I'm from a Celtic background, but we both play dance music. We're writing stuff that is quite structured, but with areas for improvisation."

Are there any concerns about the fine and sometimes wobbly line between creating the white heat of inspired fusion and subsiding into what ethnomusicologists sometimes describe as cultural grey-out?

"I know what you mean," she says, "but I don't feel that with this. It's not like we're diluting traditional Irish music, or jazz, or flamenco. "We're really trying to start again. It's been a very honest exchange between two musicians who both do their own thing, writing our music from very different backgrounds but both trying to communicate very openly with each other."

She laughs: "Philippe said to me when we first met, 'Celtic folk music? Sorry, it's not for me (puts on ham continental accent]." He's so dramatic, and I said, 'What do mean it's not for you?' and we started talking, then working together, and now he's really interested and excited at being involved on this level with folk music. He's playing on the new album I'm working on and I played on his last one." A case, perhaps, of voyaging in the dark to reach enlightenment.

September 2009
MISLAID (Featuring Norman Blake, Euros Childs, Nuala Kennedy and Caoimhin O’ Raghallaigh) embark on Irish Tour October 2009

27 May 2009
Flamenco supremo dancing to a different tune thanks to luck of the Irish and all that jazz
THE ROLLING fluidity of Irish flute and the staccato flicker of flamenco guitar… distinctive sounds both, though perhaps not the most readily compatible. Yet both are about to hit the road together – not to mention more than a few island ferries... [Read News Item]

Press Articles:

Divide and conquer (Jan/08)
Three of Celtic Connections' bright stars started out in the same band. They tell Susan Mansfield about how Fine Friday helped shape their music... [Read Article]

Fanfare Ciocarlia: OLD FRUITMARKET, GLASGOW (Jan/08)
The impressive opening set from flautist Nuala Kennedy's New Shoes ensemble also featured brass, in the shape of guest trumpeter Colin Steele adding a certain carnival flavour... [Read Article]

Irish Music Interview
Flute player and singer, Nuala Kennedy, has recently made her first solo CD, The New Shoes. Aidan O’Hara talked to her about herself and the new recording that has been hailed as ‘a dazzling debut’... [Read Article]

Rambles.net Interview
Nuala Kennedy doesn't get a lot of sleep. Nuala, a native of Dundalk on the northeast coast of Ireland, is a music industry all on her own. Now living in Edinburgh, Scotland (where she moved to complete a degree in ceramics and art history), she is a talented Gaelic singer and flute and whistle player... [Read Article]

The New Shoes – A Perfect Fit
The New Shoes is the debut album from Irish flute player and singer Nuala Kennedy. I caught up with her in her charming cottage in the Scottish highlands... [Read Article]

Rogue Albums of the Month: The New Shoes (Nov/07)
Nuala Kennedy was born and raised in Ireland, has spent the last decade in Scotland playing music with a variety of groups, and is currently a member of Anam... [Read Article]

NetRhythms Review: Nuala Kennedy - The New Shoes (Oct/07)
Co. Louth (Dundalk)- born, now Scotland-based flute/whistle player and singer Nuala has had an illustrious career so far, touring and recording with the bands Fine Friday and Harem Scarem and recently receiving acclaim for her Celtic Connections... [Read Article]

The Scotsman review: Nuala Kennedy - The New Shoes (Jul/07)
FLAUTIST Nuala Kennedy is probably best-known for her part in Fine Friday, but her own recent projects have included a New Voices commission for Celtic Connections in January... [Read Article]

The New Shoes Launch Party Review (Jul/07)
The Bongo Club 20th June 2007. FLAUNTING IT: Nuala Kennedy's beautiful playing was matched by her outstanding band. Sunny tunes brighten up a dreary day... [Read Article]

Scotland On Sunday Review (Jun/07)
The Scots-domiciled Irish lassie's first 'solo' album is a real beauty, due in no small part to the superb musical partnerships with fellow flute player and singer Claire Mann... [Read Article]

Rambles.Net Interview (Jun/07)
Face it, we know most musicians solely through the music they produce. (Unless, of course, the tabloids and paparazzi take notice, but that's  more of a factor in the pop-tart genre than Irish folk music.) But in Nuala's case, I had the pleasure... [Read Article]

Rhythms Magazine (Australia) Article (Jun/07)
Nuala Kennedy is an all-round musician par excellence. Her voice is as luminous as her flute and whistle playing. She imbues the album with a freshness that’s palpable... [Read Article]

Irish Times Interview (May/07)
Spellbinding songs and a floating flute. Louth flute player and singer Nuala Kennedy trades in a subtlety that's all too rare among debutantes eager to flounce and shimmy when they come within shouting distance of the recording studio... [Read Article]

New Shoes and a New Album from Nuala Kennedy (May/07)
It's difficult to describe Nuala Kennedy in one word as she is active in many areas of music, as a teacher, composer, session musician, as a  singer and a flute player! ...  [Read Article]

Hot Press Ireland Review (May/07)
Singer and flute/whistle player Nuala Kennedy was born in Dundalk, Co. Louth, but she's been living in Scotland. There's certainly a Scottish influence in her clear voiced-singing... [Read Article]

All Music Review (May/07)
Given all she's done in the past, it's hard to believe this is Nuala Kennedy's debut CD. Born in Ireland and now residing in Scotland, the flutist, whistle player... [Read Article]

Irish Philadelphia Review (May/07)
With all due respect to Forrest Gump, "The New Shoes" is like a box of chocolates. We're not talking about Whitman's from Walgreen's, with the nonpareils that are anything but. No, this is all grand cru, like the artisan indulgences... [Read Article]

Irish Music Magazine Review  (May/07)
Out of Dundalk via Edinburgh, Nuala has already graced recordings by Fine Friday, Harem Scarem (a "folk-pop band") and others. Her solo debut shows immense talent and experience, with flute and vocal pieces from across the Irish... [Read Article]

Press Quotes:

The year in Review: