Run, don't walk, to your ticket outlet and make sure you do not miss Capercaillie. They're a great band that has been at the forefront of modern Celtic music for almost 20 years now. It is thanks to efforts of artists like them and Donal Lunny that the traditional music of the islands and highlands has a chance to survive.

For anyone who questions the band's trad credentials, I quote from angel-voiced singer Karen Matheson's biography:

"Her father played accordion, grandfather played fiddle, her mother's family came from the Isle of Barra in the Outer Hebrides, where the Gaelic language and tradition survives to this day. It was literally at her grandmother's knee that she learned many of the traditional songs which later appeared on Capercaillie albums.

"At primary school in the Argyll village of Taynult, Karen's Gaelic roots were fostered by a teacher called Morag Robb from Ardnamurchan, who Karen says `was solely responsible for the revival of Gaelic singing in the area...'"

And eminent musicologist Sean Connery had this to say:

"Karen Matheson's throat has surely been touched by the hand of God."

Cheers,
Michael