The collaboration between The View, The Law and Luva Anna, known as The Lavvie Wall Nun, will long live in the memory — just as will the concert itself.

The spectacle of seeing so many talented musicians, all born and bred in the city, coming together on one stage was a joy to behold and reinforced what a wonderful period for local music we are enjoying.

Other highlights included Michael Marra, giving a special performance with The Hazey Janes, and an impromptu collaboration between Sheffield six-piece Dead Like Harry and the Cairn String Quartet.

The two acts met for the first time at the venue that day, but managed to put together a lovely string score for one of the band’s new album tracks, Cross The Water.

The Glasgow contingent — Tommy Reilly and Roddy Hart — were also a great addition to the show, individually wowing the crowd on the level one stage and leaving screaming teenagers in their wake.

Other musical highlights included Revolver, Miami Vince and Lost Todorovs, while comic relief was provided by Italian/Scots singer songwriter Roberto Cassani and BBC’s spoof camp soldier Gary Tank Commander.

Hosts Jim Gellatly and Martel Maxwell also deserve praise for their witty and entertaining introductions to each act and for managing to deflect attention from the organised chaos going on around them.

But the most poignant moment of the night came when former Dundee man Angus Keith, who works as a regional security officer for the UN in Haiti, and his Haitian wife Martine (the couple are pictured below) described how the country is coping in the wake of the disaster.

“The immediate aftermath was chaos,” said Angus. “No infrastructure, water or food. People wandered about in a daze, stunned.”

His words were a sobering reminder of why everyone was there, and why so many people put in so much effort to make it happen.

I personally would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who helped out, no matter how big or small their role.

The final financial tally won’t be ready until later this week, but we are hoping to match the around £15,000 raised by the tsunami fundraiser in 2005.

Well done, Dundee.

Hey girls,
Just a wee note to say a huge thanks for helping to make last night such a fantastic success, it really was a joy seeing you on stage and in the VIP bit having such a good time.
You were a big hit with all the bands and the audience really enjoyed your stuff too.
Thanks for being such good sports and I hope you all enjoyed yourselves as much as we did.
It was great meeting you all and hopefully I’ll catch you playing somewhere in the near future and say hello…looks like we raised just over £14,000 for the cause…
Thanks again for everything and good luck with the quartet, sure we’ll be seeing you on Telly on the main stage at Glastonbury or T in the Park soon.

Cheers again, Alan.

A string quartet and a fake-tan wearing camp soldier are the unlikeliest partners, but it could come to pass after Greg (Gary Tank Commander) McHugh and the Cairn String Quartet were last night added to the bill for the Dundee Concert for Haiti.

Whether the two acts actually set foot on the same stage at the same time matters little, as they set the seal on a tremendous line-up of talent appearing at the concert at Fat Sam’s on Saturday, February 20.

Greg, whose cult BBC 2 show as the camp tank commander on spoof operations at home and in Iraq has endeared him to thousands of Scottish viewers, was delighted to say yes when contacted yesterday.

“I was actively looking to do something for the fund-raising effort because it’s a good cause,” Greg said.
“I haven’t been doing many live shows because I have a lot of work on at the moment but this is something I am very keen to do.

“My mum’s from Dundee so I know it well and it looks like a fantastic night at Fat Sam’s next week.”

Meanwhile the Cairn String Quartet are keen to hook up and add strings to whoever will have them on stage, having already performed with two of the concert’s other acts, Tommy Reilly and Roddy Hart.

It is a huge boost for the concert, which also features the cream of Dundee’s musical talent, including The View who are joining up with pals The Law to perform as LavvieWall, while Michael Marra and the Hazey Janes will perform together and the likes of Luva Anna, Lost Todorovs, Boogalusa and Sheffield band Dead Like Harry join the line-up.

Meanwhile Snow Patrol and Belle & Sebastian are also represented, with Tom Simpson and Richard Colburn providing DJ sets, and with hilarious Italian/Scots singer songwriter Roberto Cassani and Fife ska band Root System also on the bill, there will be laughs galore.

The event—organised by The Courier and sister paper the Evening Telegraph—has also been praised by charity partner Oxfam, who will collect the proceeds from the concert for their fund-raising effort for the tragedy, which happened a month ago today.

“Oxfam Scotland thanks Dundonians for their continued support for Haiti Earthquake Appeal,” said head of Oxfam Scotland Judith Robertson.

“The support shown so far by the people of Dundee for the Oxfam Haiti Appeal has been crucial in helping us carry out our life-saving work in the Caribbean Island.

“All the money raised so far has helped us distribute water, shelter and build toilets for thousands of people left homeless as a result of the devastating earthquake that hit one month ago today.

“But the needs in Haiti are still great. We now need a surge in effort to improve and increase shelter and sanitation facilities for people ahead of the rainy season, due to start in six weeks.”

She continued, “We’d like to thank the organisers—the Dundee Courier and Evening Telegraph—all the bands taking part, the businesses involved and the public who have bought tickets, for their amazing support.

“Around 230,000 people lost their lives on January 12. It is Oxfam’s priority to make sure that we don’t let that number grow.”

So far, Oxfam has provided assistance to about 100,000 Haitians and continues to scale up operations, planning to reach at least 500,000 people by the end of July.

Scots have contributed over £6 million to the Disasters Emergency Committee Haiti Earthquake Appeal, of which Oxfam is a part.

People can donate by calling 0300 200 1999.

Tickets for the Dundee show are on sale from Groucho’s and Ticketmaster priced £15/£10 (over-14s).

There is also a Twitter page at twitter.com/dundee4haiti.

We are delighted to announce that we will be performing our next live showcase at Arta, Glasgow, on Thursday 25th February starting at 7.30pm!

This is a great chance to come and hear us play some fantastic music, meet the quartet and ask us any questions you might have. The entire programme is picked by YOU to help you chose the perfect soundtrack to your day, so please send us all your requests by no later than Sunday the 21st February to ensure they are included on the night.
Our showcases are open to both our clients and the general public, so why not come and enjoy a cocktail while listening to our eclectic and vibrant mix of music absolutely FREE!

Also perfroming will be our 2nd group of players, for those who have booked our 2nd quartet. This is the ideal opportunity to come and meet the quartet that will be playing at your event, as well as hear them perform live.

We will be joined on the night by 2 singers that we work with regularly, Gail Ritchie and Barry MacAleer, who will each be performing a song with us. Gail, a jazz, pop and blues vocalist, and Barry, a classically trained singer, will add a spine-tingling touch to your evening, and will be available for bookings on the night.

Doors will be open from 7pm, so please feel free to come early to ensure you get a drink and a seat!

Other Upcoming Events

We will be performing live at Celtic Connections with Scottish artist Roddy Hart at Glasgow City Halls Recital Room on Friday the 22nd January, 8pm. For more information about Roddy Hart and how to get tickets, go to www.myspace.com/roddyhart

We will also be joining singer/songwriter Aaron Wright on stage at Stereo on the 3rd February – for more info go to www.myspace.com/aaronwrightmusic

Wedding Shows

In the next few months, you can catch us exhibiting and playing live at…

The Scottish Wedding Exhibition – Braehead Arena, Glasgow on the 6th and 7th of February
The Scottish Wedding Show – SECC, Glasgow on the 20th and 21st February (exhibiting only)
Thee Wedding Show – Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh on the 20th and 21st March

Although not a wedding show, we will also be performing and exhibiting at ‘The Main Event’ on Thursday the 11th March at the SECC Glasgow, where we will be launching our all new electric quartet set, complete with live band!

And to keep you updated on what we’ve been up to in the last few months….

We joined the ‘Orange Unsigned Act’ 2008, Tommy Reilly, on stage at Glasgow’s ABC1 in September to play to a sold out crowd of 1400 screaming teenage girls….
We appeared as special guests to Camera Obscura at the Barrowlands, Glasgow in October, and received rave reviews
We recorded with upcoming band and friends of ours, The Brother Louis Collective on their album which is released this year
We recorded some music to appear on the Celtic album
We are the faces of the Scottish Institute of Enterprise’s current marketing campaign
We played The Royal Scottish Variety Show in October at The Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow
We played at the Homecoming Scotland after gig at Oran Mor, and as well as our own set, were invited to join on stage with The Bluebells, King Creosote and Eddi Reader, and then later on, Attic Lights
We finished off the year as special guests to The Herald’s ‘One to Watch’ Pearl and the Puppets at King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut
As well as the many, many weddings and corporate events we play for
…..so all in all, it’s been a very good (and busy) finish to 2009, with lots more planned for 2010!

If you would like any information on any of the above events, we are, as always, available to answer any questions, just drop us an email or give us a ring! If you do come along to any of the events we have mentioned, please do not hesitate to come and introduce yourself and have a chat.

Hope to see you soon!

Annemarie and Fiona
Managing Partners
Cairn String Quartet Ltd
www.cairnstringquartet.com

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The Cairn String Quartet
6 Holyrood Crescent
Glasgow
G20 6HJ
07968783440
cairnstringquartet@googlemail.com
www.cairnstringquartet.com

www.vowsawards.co.uk – vote for your favourite wedding suppliers and have the chance to win a second honeymoon!

In September, we launched a new bank note for Clydesdale bank. Then we hopped off to ABC to play for Tommy Reilly at his sold-out gig where we were joined by our new violin senorita Marta who has the worlds teeniest feet, and the worst luck with footwear. Twice that weekend Marta lost her shoes.

WANTED – A Roadie to carry our bulging suitcase of music, to make sure Marta has her shoes and to pick up everything that I have knocked over as I am officially the clumsiest of Cairns.

We had our second gig with the lovely Camera Obscura at the Barrowlands Ballroom in October, who received a great 4 star review in the Herald. It was all we could do not to burst out singing along in French Navy, but we controlled ourselves and mantained an air of sophistication until we were finished – then we ran and joined the crowd for the encore, …you can’t beat a bit of dancing to Razzle Dazzle Rose.

We joined the new Glasgow band The Seers at the Fruitmarket in October, and did a wee recording session for them in Terminal Music Studios.

We also performed at the Royal Variety Show at the Royal Concert Hall, welcoming everyone to the concert with a few of our more contemporary numbers. (Quick change of playlist when the Sugababes cancelled)

Then November brought us Yvonne Lyon’s beautiful concert at the RSAMD as part of the Big Guitar Weekend where we performed 4 songs with Yvonne and her husband DL. Katie wrote the most gorgeous string part for her song The Reckoning. Goosepimples all around.

Last weekend we popped back to Terminal Studios to record some string bits for the new Celtic album due to be released before Christmas.

We also performed an electric set for Scottish Care last week at the Hilton for over 600 people. We choreographed it to enter, playing our instruments from 4 different points in the room and we had everyone clapping and bopping along.

Last Wednesday, we played an extra exciting OCTET performance at the Forth Radio Awards, and had to let Spandeau Ballet down gently when they thought we had magically appeared to play with them – though I don’t think any of us would have turned down the chance to play a little “Gold”.

Fiona and I had a wee onstage busk with Will Hanson at King Tuts last week. Keep your ears peeled for his tunes – we had a ball!

And with all of this, we have been playing for lots and lots of beautiful weddings, played a couple of numbers for the Lord Provost and have added some incredibly great tunes to our playlist including Barry White “My First, My Last, My Everything”,  and Brittany Spears “Toxic” (courtesy of Elspeth McKay our 2nd cellist)

Watch out for us at King Tuts next month with Pearl and Puppets – get your tickets early for that one………

PS. We’re planning a showcase for January – watch this space!!

xxx

Annemarie

You stood apart when I was selecting a quartet. There was no competition once I heard you. That plus the way you played “modern” in the classical style. Absolutley brilliant. We could listen to you play all night. And thanks for playing Sweet Child of mine. Not the obvious choice, but it worked brilliantly.
On the upside for us, my cousin has said he is “stealing” you to play his wedding. We hope he is tellign the truth, because this way we can be guests and listen to you.
As I say, if you can keep us on your mailing list so we can hear you play when again.
And yes of course we shall vote for you on the Vows Awards.
We wish you every success in the future and look forward to hearing you play again.
You will have no problem getting a crowd. All our party will be there.

Thanks and Lynne will be sending our thanks properly.

Steve and Lynne – 31st july 2009

Kilbirnie Auld Kirk and Moorpark House Hotel

Hi Fiona/Annemarie,

Just a quick email to say a huge thank you to all of you for playing on our wedding day. From walking down the aisle to Pachelbel, to “Secret Wedding” from Braveheart during the signing of the register, the music was played beautifully and really made our wedding ceremony extra special.
At the reception, unfortunately we didn’t get a chance to hear you play, due to being whisked away for photographs,but we have been told by all our guests that you were delightful and well appreciated! We look forward to seeing our wedding DVD so we can enjoy it too!!

Michelle and Peter - 29th July 2009

Aberfoyle Parish Church and Glenskirlie Castle

Hiya Girls,

Hope you are all well.

Kirsty & Fraser Robb x x  - 6th August 2009

Glenskirlie Castle

Hi,

Just a little note to say thank you so much for the excellent performance at our wedding yesterday at Dundas Castle.  I apologise for not being able to get a chance to meet with you.  The music was just incredible at the ceremony.  Unfortunately, Michelle and I were not able to fully appreciate your playing at the drinks reception due to getting our photos taken, we did hear the music through the doors from outside!

Many thanks again.  It really added to a truly special day.

Craig and Michelle

Dundas Castle

On Friday night we will be playing for the reception of the Rugby Union Dinner at the Mansfield Traquair Edinburgh – it’s all feeling a bit sporty this week, with lots of testosterone filled men!

And right in the middle of the 2 events, on Wednesday we will be playing for an event in the diamond shop in Newton Mearns. I wonder if they’ll be giving out any freebies…

All in all, a good week for the Cairn’s!

Hope to see you there!