click HERE for information on previous recordings / reviews / concerts / compositions

by Catriona McKay & Chris Stout

more information about the individual artists can be found through these websites

www.catrionamckay.co.uk

www.chrisstout.co.uk

for information about the 7-piece Shetland fiddle band they are members of please visit

www.fiddlersbid.com

Catriona McKay is widely recognized for her unique style, vision and spirit for the harp. She has an enviable understanding, mastery and skill which is blended with an infectious enthusiasm and love for exploring. While satisfying her own obsession for the instrument she is both inspiring and influencing the next generation of harpers through her recording, teaching and inspirational performing.

A musician and composer of integrity and depth who has a dynamic rhythm harp style developed through her playing in Shetland band Fiddlers’ Bid.

Chris Stout is a hugely dynamic and charismatic fiddle player, composer and producer from Fair Isle in the Shetland Islands. His diverse background, deeply rooted in both traditional and classical styles, has brought him to collaborate with musicians across the globe. He is a founder member of Fiddlers’ Bid. Chris is an astute character, an incredible performer and has a genius which allows him to communicate his profound relationship with music.

Catriona McKay is from Dundee on the east coast of Scotland and Chris Stout is from Fair Isle, one of the Shetland Islands. Catriona & Chris have their roots in Scottish traditional music. They are driven to use this grounding as a starting point to challenge their instruments and to develop and explore new music. The result is a dynamic and adventurous sound that retains the identity of their traditions yet allows the music to have a freedom and connection to other musical styles they are drawn to.

They have performed, explored and sculpted their musical identities together for 15 years. Through a respect for tradition and a spirit of experimentation they continue to evolve and create a sound sensation and style “operating at a rarefied level of expertise” (The Herald newspaper, Scotland). They recorded their first duo cd “Laebrack” in 2005 and in 2010 they present their self-penned album white nights. As trustworthy collaborators they have been part of many projects and are both members of the internationally acclaimed band Fiddlers’ Bid.

And so they merge together background, traditions and fresh vision to make their own space. Music celebrating the freedom shared by two diverse and dynamic musicians. Emotional music, music of stark beauty, using vulnerable tactile sounds.

It’s a soundworld that they own, one they have created with a driving energy and a clear direction. It allows them to find those magical, elusive emotions that connect to the soul, share a freedom, a feeling of abandonment, of letting-go. They cultivate an atmosphere of trust in which they can set sail. It is an intense sensation of witnessing the creation of something immediate and essential that is so captivating for them and for their listeners.

"operating at a rarefied level of expertise" The Herald

The crafting of their voice as a duo which blends "elemental intensity with graceful eloquence" The Herald has drawn them to explore new music and new ideas for this partnership of traditional instruments - "sensual, throaty fiddle lines...harp is deliciously angular and haughty" Irish Times

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