Summer 2016
June 16, 2016
Summer 2016
I am delighted to be home after a fantastic year at Berklee College of
Music, back just in time for another fantastic Orkney Folk Festival and
some beautiful Orkney sunshine! (The best kind..)
I was really chuffed to have achieved a full set of A’s for this
semester and I feel I’ve learned so much in the past 8 or 9 months there
and met so many fantastic people. I am really excited to say that I
have just been awarded repeat funding from the Robertson Scholarship
Trust and I’m awaiting decisions from a couple other trust funds as to
whether they might help me for another year also. I am excited to return
and am working hard to make it possible. Being able to work as a
photographer for Berklee’s marketing department has been a huge help, so
I hope to be able to continue doing so in September. I have signed up
for some great classes and will continue to learn from Bruce Molsky, as
well as Darol Anger and technique expert Sandy Kott. Exciting times!
It has been so lovely to be back home in Orkney, as well as catching up
with people in Glasgow. I had a lovely photo shoot with fiddler Eilidh
Firth the other week and have a couple more lined up in the coming
months, which I am looking forward to. I had the chance to photograph a
beautiful Orkney wedding at the St Magnus Cathedral a week or so ago and
I’m looking forward to one in Hoy at the end of July. We were
incredibly lucky the have the beautiful Poppies display up at the
Cathedral, which made a beautiful backdrop for the group photos.
France
This week I am just outside of Paris, catching up with my English ‘twin’, the lovely Elly Lucas,
getting ready to photograph a French-Russian wedding in
Saint-Germaine-En-Laye. We are both a bit giddy with excitement, having
taken a peek at the venue and the couple’s plans for the day! We then
have a couple of days to explore Paris, before we head back to Sheffield
and work with the equally lovely Rosie Hood, on photography for her upcoming album.
Last time Elly and I got together for a photographic adventure, we hiked
to the Whangie, in the Kilpatrick Hills, near Loch Lomond, and we also
spent a lovely day in the Glasgow Botanic Gardens.
Take a look at Elly’s photos from the day here: https://ellylucas.wordpress.com/2016/06/14/from-gardens-to-mountains-the-glasgow-adventures/
July Tour
I’m really excited to say that I’m going to be playing some concerts all
round Scotland this July, with some great friends! Galen Fraser and I
met at his father’s fiddle camp Valley of the Moon
in California, in 2013 and have been great friends since. During the
past year in Boston, we often got together and played music, at home and
in various Irish pubs, along with lots of great musicians and friends.
Galen has just finished making his debut album ‘Mischief Managed’ (we
had a great time taking photos in Boston for the artwork!) and if we are
lucky, he may have a few copies with him! Take a look at his website
here: www.galenfraser.com
We are excited to play music from both of our album projects, as well as
lots of our favourite tunes from Scotland, Ireland, America (I have
really enjoyed lessons in Old Time fiddling with Bruce Molsky at
Berklee!), Scandinavia and beyond, as well as tunes learned at Valley of
the Moon. We will be joined by lots of friends along the way and are
really looking forward to getting out and about and playing our music.
1st Gable End Theatre, Hoy, Orkney
5th Graand Owld Byre, Westray, Orkney
7th Woodwick House, Evie, Orkney
8th King St Halls, Kirkwall, Orkney
9th Orkney Brewery, Sandwick, Orkney
11th Carnegie Hall, Sandwick, Shetland
12th Bixter Hall, Bixter, Shetland
14th Carnegie Hall, Portmahomack
16th Braemar Hall, Braemar, Aberdeenshire
19th The Big Shed, Aberfeldy, Perthshire
21st Astley Hall, Arisaig
22nd Red Roof Cafe Gallery, Skye
I shall also be doing a concert with some friends and support from the Feis Chataibh Ceilidh Trail:
27th Sutherland Sessions The Pier Cafe, Lairg
Full details and ticket links here: http://www.louisebichan.co.uk/live
We are delighted that NorthLink Ferries are helping us out with some discounted travel, thank you to them for their sponsorship.
Out of My Own Light
I am chomping at the bit to release my album, though shall have to
remain patient, as the plan is for an official release on the 2nd of
December! I am currently looking to book a release tour in January, so
will have more updates on that in a couple months time.
I am still working my way through the list of donators to make sure that
have sent out all the rewards for my Indiegogo campaign, please do get
in touch if you haven’t yet received your CD etc. I have had some really
lovely feedback so far, so I am really delighted about that - I have
been excited and nervous to hear what folk think, so it’s lovely to hear
such positive things about it! Thank you once again to all who helped
me to make it to Berklee, by helping me with my Indiegogo fund-raiser,
it is so much appreciate.
Thanks for reading and all the best,
Louise