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David Francis
I’ve worked in traditional music since the early 80s, taking in performance, teaching and work as an animateur in several contexts.
As a musician:
- I play guitar and writing with Mairi, and working with Bella McNab’s
- as a dance caller and musician, I did a lot of work in the 80s on re-energising Scottish music for dancing, in line with the increased interest in more sociable forms of entertainment among young people at that time. It might be argued that the loud, energetic sound we made in bands like Desperate Danz Band and the Reel Aliens (silly punning names obligatory) helped that popularity along. Along with folk like Colin McLennan and Bob Blair I was one of the early dance callers in Scotland
- performance highlights with the Cast would include playing the Kennedy Awards at Kennedy Centre, Washington DC as part of tribute to Sean Connery, Celtic Connections, Towersey Festival, Orkney Folk Festival, the Scottish Folk Festival Tour of Germany and Folkest in Friuli, Italy. This last one provided one of my favourite ever gigs, in a church in San Daniele, one of those times when everything came together the way you’d want it to.
As a teacher:
- I teach guitar with the Adult Learning Project Scots Music Group in Edinburgh, and for Edinburgh’s Youth Gaitherin with young people in Niddrie and Craigmillar
- I’ve been director of traditional music summer school at Aberdeen International Youth Festival since 2000. In 2006 I started a young musicians’ trad music big band (Ceol Mor) as part of my work with AIYF
As an animateur I’m:
Other significant work includes working as director Edinburgh Folk Festival 1996-1999, and writing ‘Traditional Music in Scotland’, a comprehensive report for the Scottish Arts Council, which was published in 1999.
I’ve done a bit of everything really, trying to understand the entertainment business from different angles. I’ve done some sound engineering, worked as a humper for gigs in Aberdeen, stage management, acting and directing, written a couple of plays and shows, done agency and promotion work, fund-raising, was an Old Blind Dog for a bit. But what I like best is performing, writing, teaching and running projects.
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