Roving Crows journey to Australian Celtic Festival for the first time
As many of you will know if you read the interview with Cape Bryon Celtic Dance, the 2018 Australian Celtic Festival is upon us for another year. So, we decided it would be a great idea to reach out to another performer in a slightly different category to find out how excited they are about the festival, cue Roving Crows!
Roving Crows are a Celtic Folk band made up of four members, from Ledbury in England and formed back in 2009. In total they have released 3 albums, two of which were produced by Nick Brine who has produced for Oasis and Bruce Springsteen. Paul plays the electric and accoustic guitars, as well as singing lead vocal. Caitlin also sings lead vocals whilst playing the fiddle, and pumping percussion by Tim. The last member of the band, Loz, plays a whole host of instruments including electric 5 and 6 string bass, keyboards, guitars and clarinet. The band were awarded the International Artist of the Year Award last year at theAustralian Celtic Music Awards, which resulted in an invitation to perform at the Australian Celtic Festival this year. Read on to see what Caitlin had to say when I caught up with her.
What made you want to form a folk band?
I have been playing the fiddle since I was 5 and love Irish music, having been brought up around it. I met Paul at a festival 10 years ago, I was standing in for a fiddle player in a band and he was playing in a different band. We played together in the jam session at the festival and realised we lived nearby each other. Shortly after that we decided to form Roving Crows, bringing our love of Celtic music and songwriting together.
What has been the most exciting moment for the band?
Winning International Artist of the Year last year and now having the opportunity to visit Australia, performing at the Celtic Festival and the award ceremony as well as several other gigs in New South Wales.
What are you most looking forward to about performing at the festival?
Performing our music to a whole new audience and visiting a new place.
How do you choose what songs to perform at each event?
We choose our set list dependant on what we think the audience will respond to best, this does differ greatly between venues.
Do you have a favourite song to perform?
Personally I love playing White Petticoat which is a traditional tune set, song wise I enjoy New York Love Song which was written by Paul.
Finally, what is your favourite tartan?
Barrett (County Mayo) or Sweeney (MacQueen Modern)!
Roving Crows are performing at the top of their game at the moment so if you're going to the Australian Celtic Festival be sure not to miss the band perform! However, if you aren't able to attend you can keep up to date the band via their Facebook page where they regularly post videos of performances, they are even posting a tour diary while they are in Australia! Keep a look out on the ScotlandShop tartan blog for even more interviews with the Festival Performers.
