Shooglenifty

With their “acid croft” fusion of lively Celtic tunes with the driving beats of dub and electronica, Shooglenifty has been revitalizing Scottish folk music and filling dance floors for over 30 years.

Originally formed in 1990 by musicians from the Scottish Highlands, Orkney Islands, and Edinburgh, this outfit has travelled the world, playing everywhere from small village community halls to huge festival stages. 

The band’s lineup changed with the passing of the charismatic fiddle player Angus Grant, but the music remains the same enticing mix of “hypno-folkedelic ambient trance” that drives audiences to dance. The group now has two female members: Gaelic singer Kaela Rowan and ace fiddle Eilidh Shaw, as well as Malcolm Crosbie on guitars, bass guitarist Euan McLaughlin, Ciarán Ryan on tenor banjo/mandolin, and propelled by the drumming of James Mackintosh.

The Independent wrote that the music of Shooglenifty “marries traditionally based tunes—primarily Scottish in style, but featuring a wealth of other world-music flavours —with the rhythmic energy, inventiveness and sophistication of contemporary dance music. Such a description, though, hardly begins to capture the dazzling multi-layered intricacy, exquisitely jewelled lyricism and intoxicating, coruscating grooves that are Shooglenifty’s hallmarks.”

After a long absence, Shooglenifty makes a welcome return to ʔəy̓alməxʷ Jericho Beach Park—let the dancing begin!

– EM