LORI WATSON THREE, ANNA MASSIE BAND, BACK OF THE MOON
STRATHCLYDE SUITE, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
"The trio, led by fiddler and singer Lori Watson, with guitarist brother Innes and accordionist Fiona Young, were among last year's winners on the Danny Kyle Open Stage. They already boast a highly evolved sound, interweaving Scottish, Scandinavian, American and self-penned tunes, together with songs mostly sourced from Watson's native Borders. Her vivacious, cleanly articulated fiddling was complemented by silvery, beautifully poised vocals and a wealth of inventive accompanying colours and rhythms."
(Sue Wilson, Scotsman, 23rd Jan 2006 )
LORI WATSON THREE
THE FIDDLE TREE, Birnam
"There is a splendid crop of talented young musicians to ensure the future of traditional music will flourish for future generations. Top of the tree is Lori Watson, who certainly has this talent and youth, topped by a delightful personality and highly infectious giggle.
And when she and her fiddle were joined by younger brother Innes on guitar and Fiona Young on accordion as the Lori Watson Three for the first Fiddle Tree session of 2007 in the Birnam House Hotel they set a high benchmark for others to attain over the coming months.
Lori is now based in Glasgow, but maintains and nurtures her Borders roots and the traditions from the area, while also happy to cast her musical horizons to all corners of the world.
It was an uncharacteristically sparse Fiddle Tree audience (February weather and St Johnstone on TV possibly to blame) which enjoyed and appreciated this young trio’s varied set of tunes and songs, old and new.
There was a tentative start by Lori, but soon into her stride she showed why she is widely recognised to be one of the finest fiddlers in the country. This lucky lady also has the voice of a lark, which sang out some beautiful interpretations of traditional songs from the Borders.
The trio’s repertoire of tunes included a sizzling triptych represented by England Denmark and the USA, while Lori looked to Cape Breton [Brittany] to close this thoroughly enjoyable Fiddle Tree session, which had been very nicely warmed up by Irish wandering minstrel Kieran Halpin…"
Alison Anderson, Perthshire Advertiser
9 March 2007
Twin pack at Folkherbst
Two competition concerts : from Transylvania to Scotland
Freie Presse / Roland Barwinsky
"… Then, late on Saturday night the 26 year old frontwoman from Scotland, Lori Watson (fiddle and vocals), was only allowed to leave the stage after giving three encores. Along with her brother Innes Watson (guitar) and Fiona Young (accordion) she kidnapped the audience and led them on a tour of Scottish folk history. The audience were treated to mainly acoustic songs and tunes from the lowlands of Southern Scotland. This newcomer trio (only formed in 2004 and havin already won several prizes in their young career) were highly acclaimed and celebrated by the Malzhaus audience for a truly refreshing / fresh approach to their music, placing particular emphasis on the interpretation and adaptation of traditional songs and tunes. Afterwards the band were delighted with the audience reaction, given that they had only stepped in at the very last minute to replace the previously nominated band which had split up seemingly overnight. Around 200 people attended this concert at Malzhaus."
Translation : Keith Melville / Oktober 2007
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Malzhaus / Scottish band Lori Watson Three enters the fray in the 4th competition concert
Jürgen Preuss / Vogtland Anzeiger
"Plauen – no International Folkherbst would be complete without the Scots. Which is exactly why, last Saturday night, Malzhaus boss Ute Gotter took to the stage to announce the trio Lori Watson Three, who were nominated for the final stages of the competition as replacements for fellow Scottish band Back of the Moon, who only recently ceased to exist.
The three young musicians from Southern Scotland, now based in Glasgow, formed the trio in 2003 Fiddle player and singer Lori Watson is the leader of a young band which plays mainly the folk music of the Scottish Borders. The repertoire of this talented trio is also Scandinavian influenced. They have played at festivals in Scandinavia (Falun) and France ( Brittany). In Glasgow they were presented with the coveted Danny Award for up and coming young bands. A promising young band from whom we shall no doubt be hearing a lot more in future.
The audience in Malzhaus were held spellbound by the virtuoso fiddle playing and singing of their frontwoman. With his sensitive guitar playing Lori`s younger brother Innes provided gentle rhythms. These were further enhanced by the variety / variabilility of the playing of Fiona Young on accordion. The dialogue between guitar and accordion was particularly lovely on “Merl” from the CD. A pity that the Archie Fisher song “Haul Away”, which appeared early on in the set featuring impressive three part harmonies , has not yet found its way onto disc. Lori Watson Three brought freshness/ a breath of fresh air to the Folkherbst.
There is of course a lot of scope for maturing, but then again, the band is only at the very beginning of what has been a remarkable career up to now.
Plauen was an important milestone, and the musicians thoroughly enjoyed their appearance here. Above all, Fiona Young, in Germany for the very first time, was totally enraptured with Malzhaus."
Translation : Keith Melville / October 2007
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LORI WATSON
“Elegant, expansive, natural, undulating, unspoilt and beautiful. Lori Watson’s music and singing imbues the senses with a tangible feeling of the Border areas of Scotland. It is parochial and universal all at once, and for a traditional musician there can be no higher attainment. Talent in abundance and respect for the tradition are the fundamental reasons why you listen feeling that the future of Scottish Borders music and song is in very, very safe and assured hands.”
(John Morran, TMSA)
ALBUM REVIEWS
LORI WATSON :THREE
FOLK
"Borders fiddler Lori Watson has been tipped as a name to watch for a wee while now, and her debut CD bears out that perception in fine style. She is accompanied by accordionist Fiona Young and two guitarists, Innes Watson (her brother) and Barry Reid (of Croft No Five fame), in a sparkling mix of traditional, contemporary and self-composed tunes.
The fiddler revealed a more experimental side to her music in a recent composition for the Distil project concert in Stirling. She takes a more traditional but no less inventive approach here. Her lucid and expressive fiddle playing illuminates the instrumental material (including a solo set using alternative A-E-A-E tuning), and she is a fine singer as well, as demonstrated on ‘When Maggie Gangs Away’ and ‘What Can A Young Lassie?’"
Kenny Mathieson, The List
Issue 567 17 January 2007
"A rich slice of assertive contemporary Scots tradition from the fiddler/singer composer Lori Watson and her two accomplished partners, accordionist Fiona Young and guitarist Innes Watson.
Old songs are set to new melodies as in the prettily harmonised, gently fingerpicked 'When Maggie Gangs Away' by her fellow Borderer James Hogg, and if the unaccompanied song collected by Burns is less successful, there's another Hogg, and a ballad lit up with sound effects.
Thirled to her native traditions but sometimes leaning towards the continent, her highly skilled playing powers the fast dance tunes, but the group's musical originality shines most in the wide variety of slower airs."
Norman Chalmers, Scotland on Sunday
"BORDERS fiddler Lori Watson revealed a more experimental side to her music in a recent composition for the Distil project. This debut recording finds her in more traditional but no less inventive vein in an attractive set of tunes and songs. She is a beautifully articulated fiddle player, and a fine singer as well, as shown by When Maggie Gangs Away and What Can a Young Lassie?"
Kenny Matheson, The Scotsman
Since their inception in late 2004, the Lori Watson Three have been one of the Borders’ hottest musical properties, winning a prestigious Danny award at the 2005 Celtic Connections festival. An impressive start for a new band, and their first CD, released on family label ISLE Music Scotland, does not disappoint.
While there is a clear group dynamic in the performances, the project is Lori’s, intended as “a personal statement that introduces the band”, and the first impression of this album is one of diversity, both in style of arrangement and in choice of songs and tunes. These young musicians are clearly equally at home with their own traditions and their desire to invent and move those traditions forward, always sympathetic to the material but never restricted by it.
The album opens gently with a mellifluous pair of mazurkas (‘Little Robin’ and ‘The Treaty’). These are followed by the song ‘When Maggie Gangs Away’ which, while set to Lori’s own melody, has an age-old feel about it, and Lori’s self-penned tune ‘Border Gaitherin’, accompanying it here, puts a much more contemporary spin on things as it slides languidly in and out of the arrangement so seamlessly you could easily think it had always been there.
By this point, the listener has been well and truly lulled by the gentle, flowing sound issuing forth from the stereo, a fact which makes the lift of the ‘European Set’ (Knit the Pocky/Danish/Kas-ha-bas/Bransle d’Ecosse) all the more pronounced. An up-tempo set, these reels are, in fact, mostly not reels but a variety of tune types from around Europe. My knowledge of Danish dance forms is limited, but I do know that a Bransle is a French dance (as well as being French slang, although not in this instance I would guess) and ‘Kas-ha-bas’… your guess is as good as mine, but I’ve certainly learned this catchy little tune and you’ll want to as well.
‘What Can a Young Lassie Do With an Old Man?’ isn’t a question often asked in polite society, but this haunting unaccompanied song is, for me, one of the highlights of the album. Thus far in the recording, fiddle, voice, guitar and accordion have all sparkled, flowed and rolled, but in this mournful song of a girl trapped in a mismatched union, Lori’s voice rises from the darkest places of the soul, a crushed keening of despair which never fails to raise the hairs on the back of my neck.
This type of song could so easily colour the listener’s perception of the tracks which follow, but the skilful arrangement of the ‘Lowlands Set’ allows us to ease gently into the instrumental mode once more, beginning with old Borders favourite, the waltz ‘Auld Graden Kirn’, brightening the mood with the jig ‘Lasses o’ Hawick’ and dancing off with the reels ‘Lowlands of Scotland’ and ‘Untitled’ which more than makes up for what it lacks in name with its swing and groove.
Ghosts of hopelessness thus banished, the stage is set for ‘Merl on the Tree’, a beautiful song of requited love (as opposed to the unrequited variety which is more common in Scots song). This is followed by bouncy jig set ‘Ursus’ (Mr James Boswell’s/Rule of Three/Ursus, Philosopher/Summer on the Tweed), fine tunes all, and set to become standards if I’m any judge, but unfortunately placed in the running order for my taste, coming as they do immediately before my other highlight of the CD, the creepily atmospheric ‘Three Riddles’.
Songs about the Devil visiting the unsuspecting and attempting to steal their souls by the most treacherous means are not uncommon across Europe, often making them difficult to tackle in an original fashion. No bother to the likes of these youngsters, I assure you. While keeping a driving, up-tempo feel, this arrangement maintains its sense of forbidding and mystery right up to the dying of the last fiery ember, a lovely touch of production, although I do wonder how they re-create this classy ending live without setting fire to the stage.
The ‘Capon Tree set’ (Capon Tree/The Physicist/The Hot Trod) consists of a lovely air, strathspey and reels, and features a particularly special lift from strathspey into reel tempo, a strong contender for Best Arrangement Moment on the CD.
Gentle song ‘The Three Healths’ begins the warm-down towards the end of the album, bringing the mood full circle to the sense of contentment and relaxation felt at the outset, and would have made a very successful finishing number.
Lori has one final trick up her sleeve, however – scordatura air and reel ‘The Dreamer’. You would be forgiven for not recognising the term ‘scordatura’, being as it is so rarely used these days. In case it’s not a term you’ve heard, it means that the fiddle has been tuned differently from its standard G,D,A,E tuning (in this case to A,E,A,E) for purposes of creating different drone effects from those normally at a fiddle player’s disposal. The effect here is an almost Scandinavian sound, most evocative of the tune’s title and a delightful way to bring the listener gently back to earth after the technical and emotional hi-jinks of the album.
An absolute winner in every way. Envy your humble reviewer – you have to wait until its August release to hear this CD.(Jon Bews, What’s On)
Photos:
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Biographies:
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Lori Watson Three:
Lori Watson is an exciting young performer and recognised 'tradition bearer' of Borders music. Joined by Fiona Young and Innes Watson, they form a dynamic musical three-piece of fiddle and voice, piano accordion and guitar.
Here is a fresh approach to some of the best music Scotland's heritage has to offer alongside Lori Watson's own wonderful compositions. Danny Award Winners at Celtic Connections 2005, this is a band that gets your feet stomping one minute, plays with heart-rending emotion the next and leaves the audience uplifted. Music of the highest order.
Lori Watson
Currently a PhD student at the RSAMD, Lori grew up in the Scottish Borders playing traditional music from a young age. A BBC Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year 2002 and 2003 Finalist, Lori has performed extensively throughout Britain and Europe . She has broadcast on radio, television and the internet throughout Europe and in the USA . Performing with artists such as Brian McNeill, Aly Bain, Cathal McConnell, Dick Gaughan, Duncan Chisholm, Karine Polwart, The Unusual Suspects and Scottish Women has solidified Lori's reputation as a leading traditional musician of her generation.
Fiona Young
Fiona does not comply with any of the usual accordion stereotypes. At once sensitive and light of touch, driven and exciting, she has an exquisite feel for the music. From Roybridge, Fort William , Fiona learned from Ronnie Douglas of Black Isle. As her musicianship advanced she soaked up the influences of Sharon Shannon, Donald Shaw, Phil Cunningham and Ian Lowthian. Fiona has performed at many major international music festivals including Celtic Connections, Festival Interceltique de L'orient, Pan Celtic Festival and Falun Folk Festival.
Innes Watson
Innes Watson is another rising star of the Scots music firmament. Here he plays guitar in sensitive and robust accompaniment to Lori's fiddle and voice. Innes has chalked up performances at many of the best Scottish music Festivals on the Calendar. Among them are The Scots Fiddle Festival, Aberdeen International Youth Festival, The Highland Festival, The Border Gaitherin, Gigha Festival and Celtic Connections. In 2004, Innes contributed to the Greentrax Guitar Compilation Album 'The Clear Stream'.
Lori Watson Three technical requirements and stage plan:
Download the stage plan: Word Document | PDF
