Lau
Winner of 2010 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards - Best Group
Returning to Orkney after a four-year absence, Lau is the powerhouse trio of Orcadian Kris Drever (guitar and vocals), Martin Green (accordion) and Aidan O’Rourke (fiddle).
Since last visiting the festival, in 2006, they have released three albums – Lightweights and Gentlemen (2007), Lau Live (2008) and Arc Light (2009). A host of accolades have also been bestowed upon the trio, including the Best Group honours at both the 2008 and 2009 BBC Folk Awards. Lau have been described as a formidable union of three of the fines and most innovative exponents of modern traditional music in Scotland today, and, individually, you can see why:
Kris Drever has been in high demand as a full-time band member, and session musician, since moving to Edinburgh in 1995. Some of the groups and musicians he has worked with include: Eamonn Coyne, Heidi Talbot, Session A9, John McCusker and Roddy Woomble, Fine Friday, The Battlefield Band, Roseanne Cash, Kathie Ryan, Harem Scarem, Clare McLaughlin, Kate Rusby, and his father, Ivan Drever.
Martin Green grew up playing English and Irish traditional music in the south of England. He has played and collaborated with many of the great English singers and musicians including Martin Carthy, Norma Waterson, Kathryn Tickell, Linda Thompson, and Eliza Carthy. A keen composer and experimental performer, Martin can also be seen and heard indulging his musical fantasies heading up his own project – The Green Machine.
Hailing from Oban, on the western coast of Scotland, Aidan O’Rourke is one of the country’s finest modern-day fiddlers. He has been performing constantly since the tender age of 15, and has toured extensively throughout Europe and North America, cementing his reputation as one of the most expressive and dynamic musicians in the country. Audiences will recognise Aidan from Blazin’ Fiddles, however he is also a sought-after session musician, having featured on over 60 albums ranging from Runrig to Michael McGoldrick and Karen Mathieson.
Over the last four years Lau have become one of the most sought-after Scottish acts on the UK and worldwide festival scene – make sure to see them in Orkney and find out why.
more @ www.lau-music.co.uk
www.myspace.com/laumusic