Irvine Folk Club's 2010 programme starts

Jan 1 2010 by Lorraine Howard, Irvine Herald

IRVINE Folk Club kicks off its 2010 programme on Wednesday, January 13.

The good news is that the first guests of the year are Claire Mann and Aaron Jones. The even better news is that the current club info flyer shows that this quality of guests just keeps on coming at Irvine Folk Club.

Claire and Aaron are an exciting musical combination. Individually they are well established musicians on the folk scene and together they demonstrate a great joy in what they do backed up by their technical brilliance. Claire on flute, fiddle, whistle and vocals is a highly regarded tutor in traditional music.

Aaron is a master of the bouzouki and does vocals too. They met on the Edinburgh folk scene several years ago and play a mixture of traditional and contemporary Scottish and Irish music and song.

They have formed a strong affinity with Stuttgart in Germany and such is this affinity that they teamed up with a duo from the German city to release an exciting new CD ‘Until The Cows Come Home’.

Listening to Claire Mann and Aaron Jones on Wednesday, January 13, at Irvine Folk Club is an excellent way to start 2010. The club meets in Vineburgh Community Centre. It’s BYOB and starts at 8pm. Joyce can provide all info on the club on 01294 551047 or go to the club’s website – www.irvinefolkclub.co.uk

Elsewhere, the annual Celtic Connections Festival starts on January 14 with a Torchlight Parade through George Square to Buchanan Street and 300 events later, finishes on January 31. There are concerts, ceilidhs, workshops, talks and sessions across 14 Glasgow venues.