Boo Howerdene will be entertaining you at Celtic Connections this month.
By Lizzie Healey, entertainments reporter
One of the UK’s finest singer-songwriters, Boo Hewerdine, is set to bring his 2019 release ‘Before’ to life for Celtic Connections audiences this month as part of a special performance involving a variety of vintage instruments.
A naturally gifted raconteur, Boo will take fans at The Tron Theatre on a journey through the body of work which captures songs at their earliest, arguably purest point of creation: before too much thought creeps in.
He will be joined on stage at Europe’s largest winter music festival by Swedish musical polymath Gustaf Ljunggren who will play Dulcitone, Indian harmonium, Mellotron, langspil (a traditional Icelandic zither) and other antique instruments, helping express the album’s fragility and beautiful simplicity.
Audiences will have the chance to enjoy the stark emotive honesty of Boo’s lyricism through his captivating live performance.
Boo said: “Celtic Connections is such an iconic event, bringing together talent from across the globe and it’s fantastic to join the world-class line up for the 2020 winter festival.
“This album, ‘Before’, was an opportunity to go back to the source – the way a song might spring into being almost fully formed and I hope the live show will feel similarly organic.
“I’m delighted to be joined at this performance by talented multi-instrumentalist Gustaf Ljungren who will bring the host of vintage instruments used on the record into a live setting for Glasgow audiences.”
For over 30 years Boo Hewerdine has been considered one of the UK’s finest singer-songwriters. As lead singer of seminal band, The Bible, through his subsequent solo work and his long-time collaboration with the incredible Eddi Reader he has become something of a national treasure.
Since Swimming in Mercury was released in 2017, Boo has been writing, recording and touring with Eddi Reader, pictured right, Chris Difford, Kris Drever and Emily Barker among others. He is in demand as a writer, producer and performer.
Boo will also perform songs from his impressive back catalogue and support will take the form of Katherine Priddy, who since releasing her debut EP Wolf back in September 2018 has been quietly gaining notoriety and turning all the right heads – amassing radio plays from an array of DJs including Gideon Coe, Mark Radcliffe, Janice Long and Tom Robinson.
Boo joins musicians from across the world taking part in over 300 events in venues throughout Glasgow from Thursday 16 January to Sunday 2 February 2020.
Catch Boo Hewerdine at Tron Theatre on 24 January as part of Celtic Connections. Tickets: www.celticconnections.com/event/1/boo-hewerdine-gustaf-ljunggren-before-and-katherine-priddy