Guest Writer: Stephen Bogle from We See Lights

We See Lights playing Solas 2010

I've been asked to contribute to this blog. I play and sing in We See Lights. We played at last year's Solas Festival. If you've heard of us you’re either related to a band member or a friend of the band (hello friends and family). Speaking of friends of the band, Stanley Odd are friends of the band. They are playing at this year's festival. I'd very much recommended that you go and see them. They are doing something very different in Scottish music. They are "like totally hip hop and Scottish 'n' that."

As a friend of Stanley Odd, We See Lights know a secret: Stanley Odd use psuedo names. Yup. True. The names used are: Solareye (MC), Veronika Elektronika (Singer), T-Lo (piano), Scruff Lee (guitars), Ad Mac (bass) and Samson (on drums). This is a scoop for the Solas Festival blog. (I wanted to start with a bang). 

Come home and fall in love with Julia and the Doogans

I have to confess to not knowing much about Julia and the Doogans. So I'm doing a bit of pre-festival revision to get up to speed.

According to Favourite Son, last year's EP entitled Coming Home reassures you that "everything is still going to be OK as tales of love and loss are brought to life with cello, piano, flute and acoustics."

Now mix that thought with a long summer's evening, the smell of fresh grass and a small tin of M&S gin and tonic.

(sigh.)

Alex Cornish Album Review

"Call Back, by Alex Cornish is a true serenade of the senses that calmly but surely journeys through a troubled, yet fragile mind. Although it has a comforting quality to its words, be warned – you're going to need to keep the tissue box nearby."

So says, The Music Fix, about one of Solas Festival's most exciting signings this year.

Read that article in full here and have a little listen here.

Emily Smith Folk Radio Review

Solas Festival does a good line in mixing the old and new, bringing together the young and the young at heart. And Emily Smith is perhaps one of those acts which just epitomises those efforts.

Her new album 'Traivellers Joy' - which you can listen to here - was reviewed to great acclaim on Folk Radio. Emily re-interprets old folk songs and poems and pens her own insightful and moving lyrics.

Take a read at the Folk Radio review for yourself. I don't know about you, but I can't wait to hear her live!

What's in a name?

Depending on which free online dictionary you consult late on a Saturday night the word ‘solas’ could lead you to:

• “an indian shrub” 
• “the upper layers of a soil profile in which soil formation occurs” 
• “the Gaelic word for light”.

I think the last one is my favourite.

However ‘Solas Festival’ means something different to everyone involved. Whether we have been there from the start, planned and developed the programme or whether we just came along to enjoy the weekend in 2010, we all have our own experiences of it and our own understanding of what gives the festival its unique and exciting identity. That’s one of the many delights of joining in with a festival that has so many different elements, offering something for everyone.

There has been lots of discussion at Solas Festival HQ of late about how we define those two words. How we capture all the different ideas and motivations and make them accessible, how we turn them into a vision for Solas that we can all share.