Posts for February, 2025

Come and join us for this extra special music event – home-grown folk music, local heritage and good company, in the Talla nan Ros in the heart of Kingussie, in Badenoch.

Local musicians Hamish Napier (flute, whistles, harmonium, vocals) and Jordan Neil (guitar, Scottish small pipes), a brand new all-Strathspey musical duo, will present a programme of folk music themed on River Spey, surrounding hills and local heritage.

★★★★★ “Napier has the composer’s gift of painting a picture with sound, more evocative that an artist. Superb.” FATEA Magazine

Come and join us for this extra special music event – home-grown folk music, local heritage and good company, in the beautiful surroundings of Boat of Garten Community Hall in Strathspey.

Local musicians Hamish Napier (flute, whistles, harmonium, vocals) and Jordan Neil (guitar, Scottish small pipes), a brand new all-Strathspey musical duo, will present a programme of folk music themed on River Spey, surrounding hills and local heritage.

★★★★★ “Napier has the composer’s gift of painting a picture with sound, more evocative that an artist. Superb.” FATEA Magazine

Come and join us for this extra special music event – home-grown folk music, local heritage and good company, in the cozy atmosphere of Edinvillie Community Hall, near Aberlour.

Local musicians Hamish Napier (flute, whistles, harmonium, vocals) and Jordan Neil (guitar, Scottish small pipes), a brand new all-Strathspey musical duo, will present a programme of folk music themed on River Spey, surrounding hills and local heritage.

★★★★★ “Napier has the composer’s gift of painting a picture with sound, more evocative that an artist. Superb.” FATEA Magazine

Come and join us for this extra special music event – home-grown folk music, local heritage and good company, in the cozy atmosphere of Laggan Village Hall in Badenoch.

Local musicians Hamish Napier (flute, whistles, harmonium, vocals) and Jordan Neil (guitar, Scottish small pipes), a brand new all-Strathspey musical duo, will present a programme of folk music themed on River Spey, surrounding hills and local heritage.

★★★★★ “Napier has the composer’s gift of painting a picture with sound, more evocative that an artist. Superb.” FATEA Magazine

Jenn Butterworth & Laura Beth Slater
Live at Glenbuchat Hall
Saturday 19th July 7.30pm
Entrance £15

Jenn Butterworth and Laura-Beth have each been a presence on the UK folk scene for a number of years. Although both originally from England, they were brought together by the close-knit and progressive Glasgow folk music community, spending lots of their time jamming an eclectic mix of folk music from across the globe, particularly the UK, Scandinavia and America. The years of playing together brought a deep affinity between the two artists; their rhythms lock tightly, their voices blend so closely that it’s often hard to tell them apart. They have developed a natural telepathy: two musicians bound together. Their first duo album ‘Bound’ named in recognition of this enduring connection was released in November 2016, and Jenn and LB are currently working on material for their second album

Jenn Butterworth is one of the UK’s leading folk accompanists, and was awarded ‘Musician of the Year’ at the Scots Trad Music Awards, and nominated for the same category in the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.

Laura-Beth Salter takes influence from the Oldtime and Bluegrass music that her parents played whilst she was growing up in Lincolnshire. After spending time studying a Traditional Music Degree in Newcastle she became heavily involved in the folk scene. She is a founding member of The Shee and her most recent collaborations involve Shooglenifty and The MacLean Project led by the world renowned Perthshire singer Dougie MacLean.

As well as touring with their duo, Jenn and Laura-Beth are also members of Kinnaris Quintet, brand new, five-strong band of vigorous, driving, high-spirited musicians who are appearing at festivals

Annual village gathering of Clubs and groups within Nethy Bridge, promoting ‘what’s on’ throughout the year. Together with village crafts people showcasing their wares there will be a spit roast, food stalls and tea tent with home baking, musicians, children’s events and activities

Family fun day with trade fair, bouncy castle, pony rides and more. Finishes with a duck race at 3pm followed by a pipe band parade through the village.

A family fun day on the village Greens in the centre of Ballater on Royal Deeside involving over 50 trade, craft and food stalls, with entertainment for children including hook-a-duck, merry-go-round, bouncy castle and slide.

The Ballater Pipe Band and a 20-piece brass band will play throughout the afternoon, culminating in a giant inflatable duck race on the River Dee at 3pm and a Tote operates if anyone fancies a ‘flutter’ on one of the ducks

Arboreal By Liz Green explores the iconic Highland woodland types made by Pine, Birch and Oak trees as well as plantations. These paintings are a feast of colour, pattern, texture, season and botanical identity distilled to depict the character and atmosphere of uniquely different woodland places.
‘I hope these paintings immerse the viewer in arboreal realms that I have found to be awe-inspiring, grounding and uplifting. Knowing trees can span several human generations and support an intricate wealth of other life is endlessly fascinating at every scale of observation’.
Liz Green is a self-taught artist based at WASPs Inverness Creative Academy and living in Inverness since 2003. Working in both oils and acrylic, her paintings include a mixture of realistic detail and stylised abstraction at differing scales. Her previous life strongly informs her art. With a degree in Botany and career as a plant ecologist, then environmental campaigner Liz has a deep understanding of ecosystems, the value and jeopardy of habitats and the complexity of trying to influence policy. Doing garden design work to suit places and people, then working in schools embedded her interest in visual communication. It was worsening arthritis that propelled her to start painting more in 2010 and she has not looked back.

WENDY GROSVENOR
BA(Hons)Fine Art

AN INTENTION – A stretching or bending of the mind toward an object; closeness of
application; fixedness of attention.

You are invited to view an artist’s exhibition of intention, process and outcome. And to take a tiny glimpse into the world of a sensory practice.
Semi-figurative artist Wendy Grosvenor uses a variety of different mediums to explore and respond to sensory connections and the sensory places that she inhabits.
‘My artmaking always begins with an intention.
My practice embraces tactile markmaking :- paint, water, charcoal, graphite – spoken word, sounds, found objects and three-dimensional form.
My process takes me to unexpected places and invariably, regardless of my intent, my painting seems find a life of it’s own. This is the explorative part for me.
It is exciting to visit a ‘different place’- an unexpected place – on a canvas. There is the gambler’s thrill in the unknowing, together with pure happenstance, which is quite addictive. When this overrides the intention – well, then I am delighted.
Wendy Grosvenor

“Who owns Strathspey”. Fascinating insight into this oft pondered question from Will Anderson, Chief Executive of Seafield & Strathspey Estates. Hosted by The Grantown Society (NOTE change to normal venue: this talk is in Grantown YM/YW Community Centre Cinema).