The GiveWay Girls rule!
By Mary-Ann Brandon
HUERFANO- It’s been hard not to notice the striking photograph adorning the posters for the Celtic Festival that are plastered around our county. The image of four beautiful young women strolling down a cobblestone street is eye catching for sure. What the photograph does not tell is that these four young women are very accomplished musicians who also happen to be siblings.
Many of us are old enough to remember a time when “girl bands” were considered pure novelty. Women historically have been stand up singers and with a few notable exceptions, have not been listed amoungst the monster “players” in the music business. Based on their recordings, I can tell you, with confidence, that this is no novelty act.
The band is comprised of Fiona (fiddle/guitar/ whistles/backing vocals), Kirsty (accordian/lead vocals), Amy (drums/percussion/backing vocals) and Mairi (keyboards and backing vocals). Thanks in large part to Amy’s powerful drumming, the band has a solid base on which to build their sound. All the girls are proficient on their instruments and their vocals are sweet and pure with a youthful innocence. Thankfully, they are not following the pop sensibility of tarted up young women who are image over substance. These are four serious musicians.
At a tender age, they already have three CD releases under their belt. The first “Full Steam Ahead” (released in 2003) shows the promise of what is to come. Their second CD entitled, “Inspired” contains a recording of a lovely version of “Maggie. This CD, released in 2005, shows a tremendous maturation as recording artists. 2009 brings the release of “Lost In This Song”. This recording fulfills the promise of young musicians who are growing artistically with each release.
What I find so refreshing and charming about this music is that, while it’s perfomed by very young women who clearly bring a modern approach to their work, the sound is unpolluted by American culture that tends to color many young bands around the globe. While being modern, this music remains true to its origins. Don’t get me wrong, I love American hybrid music, without it we wouldn’t have bluegrass, jazz or blues. What GiveWay offers us is a chance to hear pure Scottish roots music
It is to the credit of the organizers of the Spanish Peaks International Celtic Music Festival that GiveWay will be the headliners for this weekend’s events. It shows great vision that they organized a concert, (scheduled to take place at the Fox on the Rocks Theatre on Wednesday at 1 pm) to provide a show for school children around the county. I personally want to thank the organizers for this gift to the community. Perhaps some child’s life will be positively changed by the experience?
To see GiveWay for yourself, be sure to check out the Celtic Festival schedule. Their headline concert is scheduled to take place at the Fox Theatre on Saturday, September 26 at 7:30 pm. For a small sample of their sound, be sure to visit their myspace page at www.myspace.com/givewaymusic.
