Spirit of Blas 2015 captured on first weekend

• The 2015 programme

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One of the highlights of the opening weekend of the Blas 2015 festival will be the appearances of renowned Scottish musician and songwriter Dick Gaughan, whose performances are sure to capture the spirit of Blas 2015 and set the tone for what follows in nine great days of musical entertainment across the Highlands and in Argyll.  

Amongst Scotland’s greatest performers the guitarist, singer, songwriter, composer and record producer from Leith is the only person to hold the dual honours of a Lifetime Achievement award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards and induction into the Scots Traditional Music Hall of Fame.   

He was described by the late John Peel as “one of the five or six great voices of our time” and his performances have exhausted the vocabulary of reviewers over the last few decades.  Perhaps less well-known in Gaughan’s extensive biography and list of achievements is his Gaelic background, his mother having been a native speaker from Lochaber who, in her younger days, won a silver medal for Gaelic singing at the Mòd.  

Kingussie and Plockton are the two fortunate venues to have secured the Gaughan performances by the maestro on the opening two nights of the festival, when he will be appearing with Macanta on Friday September 4 in Badenoch and with the Mairi MacInnes Band the following evening in Plockton.  

Bring in the Spirit featuring the incomparable, sophisticated vocal abilities of Rod Paterson and Kirsten Easdale, the sublime, sensitive accordion playing of Gregor Lowrey and the extraordinary multi-instrumental talents of Marc Duff, have been assembled for Blas 2015 to bring an entertaining and memorable performance of Scots song and verse, full of warmth and humour.  

They will be appearing on Tuesday September 8 along with Cape Breton’s J. P. Cormier in Lochcarron, the following evening in Gairloch, in Resolis on Thursday 10th and finally in Arisaig on Friday September 11.  

Established 11 years ago as a result of The Highland Council’s desire to create a festival that would match the vitality of Cape Breton’s Celtic Colours, the Blas festival is now an international event showcasing Highland culture and its continuing success has been welcomed by the Scottish Government and Highland Council.  

Blas 2015 will take place at venues across the Highlands and Argyll between 4 and 12 September.  

Tickets for all Blas events can be bought online, or by phone, with details on the festival’s website blas-festival.com where further information is available on the full programme of events.