JENNY STURGEON with PATSY REID with support from SHIRLEY BARR
Hilltop Live, The Loft, Kinloss – Wednesday 10th September, 7.30PM
JENNY STURGEON with PATSY REID
Award-winning Scottish folk singer-songwriter and sound artist Jenny Sturgeon, is highly regarded for her observational, contemporary songs that combine field recordings with sonic and lyrical imagery. Having previously worked as a seabird
ecologist, her songs are bound together by threads of nature, folklore and our inter-connectedness with landscape. Jenny’s songs are “moving and meditative, and the sharply-observed, engaging lyrics are like geo poems, telling of exploration and wonder of the natural world” Folk Radio UK.
As a solo artist, Jenny has released two acclaimed albums. ‘The Living Mountain’ was nominated for the 2021 Scottish Album of the Year awards and won Best Acoustic at the 2020 Scottish Alternative Music Awards. Musical collaborations include writing and performing in the critically acclaimed alt-folk band Salt House and in the bird and kitchen-disco inspired band Birdvox.
Jenny is a supporter of rewilding charity, Trees for Life, and in 2020 set up The LivingMountain grove, which has supported the planting of 337 trees.
Jenny is joined by stellar musician Patsy Reid, on fiddle and viola. Patsy combines skills and techniques from both traditional and classical backgrounds to create her distinctive, and highly lauded sound. She is one of the most admired fiddle and viola players in the UK, having performed alongside Dougie Maclean and Kylie Minogue at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Closing Ceremony, with Zakir Hussain at the London 2012 Olympics and having worked with Mark Knopfler, Flook, Kathryn Tickell and Georgia Cécile, to name but a few!
“Combining found sounds and a musical ethereality to create a wholly unique experience and atmosphere…quality music from a master of the craft” – Folk At The Barrier
“A representative of avant-garde folk music in which the lines between music, scientific observation and aesthetics blur, rendering categorisation inconsequential.” – London Folk Review
“One might argue it’s only when moulded in the hands of artists like Jenny Sturgeon that powerful messages of the wilderness have the potential to move all our lives in a green direction” – Irish Music Magazine
“Patsy transcends simply being a folk musician. She has an understanding of what to play and when and how to play it that rivals the best of any genre.” – Jim Moray
“She’s a fantastic musician, a lovely fiddle player and a joy to be with. No wonder
everybody wants to work with her.” Kathryn Tickell
Touring 10th-14th September 2025:
10th – The Loft, Kinloss for Hilltop Live
11th – Rogart Mart for Sutherland Sessions
12th – Tullynessle Hall, Alford
13th – Brewery Arts, Kendal
14th – Dundreggan Rewilding Centre, Glenmoriston
Support on 10th September comes from SHIRLEY BARR
Shirley is a Moray based singer songwriter who creates songs which are quirky, insightful, and sumptuously layered, melding beautiful melodies with novel lyrics to create soundscapes that leave you wanting more. She finds herself drawn to writing about people and place, often taking inspiration from poetry, folklore, and the natural world.
2024 saw the release of her debut EP, Begin Began Begun, produced and engineered by Ewan MacPherson (Salt House, Hushman, Shooglenifty) at Universal Hall, Findhorn.
Begin Began Begun has been well received, gaining airplay from BBC Radio Scotland’s Iain Anderson and Travelling Folk shows, alongside many other independent stations.
The track Little Thief won the Paul Tonberg songwriting shield at the 2024 Ardersier Folk Festival and appeared on FATEA Showcase Sessions Winter 2024 Album, Bone.
She will be performing with acclaimed songwriter and former McNaires bandmember Nigel Sleaford.
“What a fabulous record by Shirley, and the matching video! Beautiful.” – Mike Scott, The Waterboys
“Shirley’s songwriting is intricate and understated. Her delivery is gentle and genuine; her sense of musicianship makes it hard to believe she has only been in the business for a relatively short time.“ – Ewan MacPherson
