Edinburgh harp player joins celebrated folk band on the Fringe
A musician who has been described as a “one-woman harp festival” will be appearing with the long-established Scottish folk band the Whistlebinkies when they play at artSpace@stmarks on the Edinburgh Festival Fringe on Saturday 10th August.
A musician who has been described as a “one-woman harp festival” will be appearing with the celebrated Scottish folk band the Whistlebinkies when they play at artSpace@stmarks on the Edinburgh Festival Fringe on Saturday 10th August.Edinburgh-based Karen Marshalsay’s solo concerts involve four harps, hence the description, but with the Whistlebinkies she’ll be concentrating on just the one instrument, her recently acquired gut-strung clarsach made by Kevin Harrington in Cork, Ireland.“It’s a real honour to play with the Whistlebinkies,” says Karen. “They’ve been around since the 1970s and were the first band to combine pipes, fiddle and harp, the “three graces” of Scottish traditional music, in performance. We’ve played quite a few concerts together now and it’s a lovely sound, very stirring.”The Whistlebinkies were record label mates with the legendary Irish band the Chieftains back in the early days and they have played all over the world, including America and China.Karen’s music has also taken her to various countries, including Germany and Australia, and she has appeared on both the Edinburgh International Festival and the Fringe previously. She was part of the Gaelic song and piping authority Allan MacDonald’s award-winning Pibroch concerts at the official festival and she has played solo and with Irish music icon Cathal McConnell, of the Boys of the Lough group, on the Fringe.She was also invited to arrange and perform her own compositions with the internationally acclaimed Russian String Orchestra during their concerts at Old St Paul’s Church in Jeffrey Street and at Surgeons Hall during the Fringe in 2019. “Playing with the orchestra was an incredible experience because they were all such brilliant musicians,” she says. “The way they worked together so closely was like an expanded string quartet and they enveloped you in this beautifully warm sound. Unfortunately, with the current international situation not helping Russian musical exports, it’s unlikely they’ll be back here in the foreseeable future. Hearing them playing my music was special, though.” With the Whistlebinkies, Karen will be playing tunes from the Scottish tradition, many of them arranged by the group’s flute player, Eddie McGuire. She might also slip in a solo piece from her solo album, The Road to Kennacraig, which was produced by the traditional music specialist Robin Morton, producer of acclaimed albums by singer-guitarist Dick Gaughan and the globe-trotting Battlefield Band.“I have solo concerts coming up, starting with St Peter’s Church in Linlithgow in September,” says Karen. “But I always look forward to playing with the Whistlebinkies. They’re a great bunch and it’s wonderful to be part of a group with such a long and distinguished history.”
