Kinnaris Quintet on tour in Ulster, 29 June-2 July

Thanks to the Moving On Music (MOM) agency for the news that the Glasgow-based Kinnaris Quintet (above) will play a brief tour in Northern Ireland from 29 June to 2 July.

The quintet comprises Laura Wilkie and Fiona MacAskill (fiddles), Aileen Reid (5-string fiddle), Jenn Butterworth (guitar), and Laura-Beth Salter (mandolin, tenor guitar). They emerged as a band in 2017 with a unique, emotive, energetic, and powerful sound, and won in 2019 the prestigious Belhaven Bursary for Innovation in Music. Their music, combining Scottish and Irish traditional music with bluegrass, classical, Scandinavian, and Appalachian influences, has been described as 'euphoric', 'uplifting, fresh, honest and powerful'. MOM states:

Unable to hide their joy at making music together, the quintet perform with an enthusiasm that is infectious, as anyone who has seen them live will attest.

Their dates in the North are (with links for online booking):

• Thurs. 29th June: The Playhouse, Derry city
• Fri. 30th: Portico of Ards, Portaferry, Co. Down
• Sat. 1st July: Market Place Theatre, Armagh city
• Sun. 2nd: Theatre at the Mill, Newtownabbey, Co. Antrim

Plenty of the Kinnaris Quintet's music can be heard on YouTube, and a playlist on their website includes brief snatches of the John Reischman composition 'Saltspring' and of 'The road to Poynton' by Rob Harbron of the English neo-traditional band Leveret.

© Richard Hawkins