The latest Croy Live night of music comes to Croy Village Hall on Saturday with fiddle group RANT. Below, the line-up's Anna Massie talks about what might come after current album The Portage, playing live again and highlights of the year so far ...
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Q For people who might not know, I think Jenna Reid left the line-up of four fiddle-players after 10 years and you have now welcomed Gillian Frame from Arran returning you to a four-piece (RANT completed by Bethany Reid and Lauren MacColl) ?
A Yes, Gillian is the latest addition to our number, and her first gigs with us were at the end of last summer. She's a fantastic musician: it's been brilliant to welcome her to the band and we're enjoying exploring how our sound changes with the addition of her style.
Q Have you had the chance to record anything new since The Portage, a few years ago now – I know Covid etc might have put some of your plans on hold?
A The Portage came out in January 2020, so although we didn't get much of a chance to tour the album when it was new, the music still feels quite fresh to us because of that! We haven't been in to the studio yet, but we're working on new material and there are plans afoot for some recording in the next wee while.
Q Looking at all your dates this year, it looks as if you have been pretty busy–- are things back to normal for RANT in terms of the amount of dates you are getting to play together live?
A We're really enjoying being back to gigging, and it's starting to feel like we're back to normal, yes. Due to family and other work commitments, RANT has always tended to work in smaller chunks of time, rather than longer tour periods: weekend tours like this one where we do a small run of gigs are the way we tend to work, and it's really encouraging to see those back in the diary! We're really looking forward to all the venues on this run.
Q I just wondered if you have had the chance to do more of your 4/4 immersive musical experience for 12 young fiddle players, where each member of the band mentored three young players in their parts, and worked over a weekend to create a performance?
A We've no specific plans at the moment, but we would love to do more of the 4/4 workshops and gigs: they're such a joy, and so rewarding for everyone involved. It's fantastic to hear how the young players develop and come together over the course of a couple of days. Hopefully we can do some more of that soon!
Q What's been the best thing about 2022 for RANT so far, either together or individually?
A In May this year we played at the Baltimore Fiddle Fair in Ireland. Rather than a flying overnight visit, we stayed for the whole weekend and had an absolute ball. We played in sessions, heard some absolute legends of the fiddle performing, caught up with some old friends and had a brilliant time performing. The atmosphere was superb, and we really felt like we'd been welcomed into the heart of the community and the festival. Some of us enjoyed a Guinness or two, some of us swam in the sea... we all came back from that trip re-energised and raring to go!
RANT play Croy Village Hall on Saturday as part of the Croy Live series, the night starting at 7.30pm. Croy Live promotes traditional concerts in the village hall which is nine miles east of Inverness. Audiences get to enjoy an evening of music, home-baking, teas and coffees and – a Highland raffle! For tickets, phone: 01463794823 or 07751588395. More on RANT: https://www.rantfiddles.com/
