The final line-up for this year’s Islay Sessions has now been conf irmed with Hamish Napier and Marc Duff completing the outstanding collection of artists joining us for the weekend of the 16th, 17th, 18th November. The venues are The Islay Hotel, Bridgend Hotel and The Port Charlotte Hotel. Musicians will be scattered between all three and it will be kept a surprise as to which musicians are playing where!

Hamish Napier
Originally from Strathspey in the Scottish Highlands, Hamish Napier plays piano, flute, whistle and sings. He was a finalist in the ‘Young Scottish Traditional Musician of the Year Award’ and was nominated for ‘Best Up and Coming Artist’ at the Scots Trad Awards. For seven years he played with award-winning folk quartet Back of the Moon, touring extensively throughout Europe, Canada, and the USA. Hamish has recorded on over a dozen Scottish traditional albums, with leading Scottish musicians such as Donald Shaw, Martyn Bennett and Eddi Reader. He has collaborated with many of Scotland’s finest folk musicians, performing at major UK folk festivals, and appearing on national TV and radio. As a graduate in Applied Music from the University of Strathclyde, Hamish earned a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music to study jazz piano. He currently lectures in piano, composition, ensemble playing and music theory on the BA Scottish Music course at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. The Hamish Napier Quartet - Hamish’s folk/jazz cross-over group - have performed at Celtic Connections, and Hamish also plays flutes and sings in Scottish folk/funk fusion group Man’s Ruin. Continue reading....

Marc Duff
Born in Ontario, Canada and raised in Argyll, Scotland, Marc was a founder member of the Scottish band Capercaillie with whom he recorded seven albums which have sold over a million copies and included the first Gaelic, Top 40 single. His four year performance degree at the Guildhall School of Music in London added to Marc’s eclectic taste in music. Since leaving Capercaillie in 1995 to pursue his own career, he has worked with many prominent artists. Recently he has toured in Scotland with Dr Fred Freeman, presenting a series of workshops in connection with Linn Records ‘’The Complete Songs Of Robert Burns’’ series. In addition to live performances, Marc is currently researching and teaching. Marc was a nominee for BBC Alba’s Trad Music Awards, ‘Traditional Musician Of The Year’, in 2008.

The Duo - Brace of Whistles
Hamish and Marc first met eight years ago in Glasgow, when Hamish visited Marc’s flat for a whistle lesson! Two self-confessed nerds of Scottish whistle playing, Hamish and Marc put on a show of mighty Scottish traditional tunes as well as original compositions hot off the press! Each whistler take turns to accompany one another on either piano or bouzouki, and there is always scope for the unique chance of hearing a rare thing indeed: a brace of Scottish whistles!

Workshops
Workshops will be held Saturday 17th November at Islay High School 10am - 2pm. Adults and children are encouraged to join us for a rare opportunity to be taugh by some of Scotland’s best musicians. Prices are as follows: Adult £10, Child £3 for tuition and lunch. We will be running classes on Accordion, Song, Guitar, Fiddle, Whistle, Dance and Piano. Please register by contacting info@ islaysessions.co.uk or call Andy on 07742 073650.

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