Aswell as our own original songs, we also cover artists including Elvis, Gillian Welch, Gordon Lightfoot and Tim Buckley among others.
Other influences:
Dock Boggs, Louvin Brothers, Delmore Brothers, Stanley Brothers, Nick Drake, Roscoe Holcombe.
BLUEFLINT Interview and playing on STVs 'THE HOUR'- FRI 30th OCT 5PM
Blueflint appeared on Ricky Ross's 'Another Country' show on BBC Radio Scotland, Tuesday 6th October.
LIVE REVIEW
The List 5 Stars *****
"Stories of heartbreak, revenge and plenty more drama besides pepper the lyrics of ace Edinburgh bluegrass banjo duo of Deborah Arnott and Clare-Louise Neilson...Their sublime delicate vocal harmonising adds a layer of achingly melancholy beauty to every song...their wonderful take on Americana could warm the coldest of hearts."
Edinburgh Launch night 30th Sept 09,
Emma Newlands,
The List
, 2nd Oct 09
CD REVIEWS SO FAR:
'One of Scotlands Finest:'
"One of the most charming Bluegrass CDs of the Year...This is a Scots triumph...
Excellent songwriting...Arnotts I like the way has hit written all over it."
Keith Bruce-
Review, Sunday Herald
4th Oct 09
4 Stars ****
"Claire-Louise Nelson and Deborah Arnott have produced an impressive album
featuring some lovely melodies and tuneful harmonies...Plaintive and engrossing."
Graham Caldwell
Scottish Daily Express
9th Oct 09
"Wholly engaging to anyones ears...Great songs..taking them beyond any Bluegrass pigeon holes...High Bright Morning arrives this month and conveys the magic of their songwriting in ten emotive often dark tales...the songs have a special atmosphere of their own."
Mark Robertson-
Preview, The List
24th Sept 09
"You'll love High Bright Morning."
Rick Fulton
Daily Record
2nd Oct 09
"These sublime original songs cannot fail to move you, cannot leave you untouched...‘Takes More Than A Little Time,’ the album’s opener, sets the stall, as one future classic after another follows...Get your hands on this album. It’s one that you’ll want to hear again and again."
Ed Jupp
17 Seconds
"This is a great album of original music... Buy, play and smile." Taplas
Trefor Patten
Nov 09 edition
RADIO PLAY for 'High Bright Morning'!!
Tracks from the new CD have had radio play on the Iain Anderson show on BBC Radio Scotland [10th and 19th August]
Archie Fisher's 'Travelling Folk' show BBC Radio Scotland on 27th August.
'Another Country' show with Ricky Ross on Tuesday 15th September- BBC Radio Scotland
The Late Show-BBC Ulster Wed 16th with Cherrie McIllwaine
Heartland FM
Tracks from the CD will also be played on 'Going North from Nashville' on Monday 12th October
OTHER NEWS:
Please find launch details and tour dates above.
THE LIST previews 'High Bright Morning' CD:
"The banjo toting duo on their Edinburgh Americana.
Sometimes the path less travelled isn’t as peculiar as you might think. Admittedly on paper, Blueflint’s story isn’t an entirely conventional one, but the result is something wholly engaging to anyone’s ears: great songs.
‘Clare [Louise Neilson] and I were friends in our teens but lost contact’, begins Deborah Arnott, the other founding half of the Edinburgh band. ‘By bizarre coincidence years later, I found out that she was learning to play the banjo and so was I. We got back in touch and I was expecting her to be playing trad Scots style but it turned out she was into the whole old time country and bluegrass thing that I was. We met up, had a few bottles of wine and plucked up the courage to play for each other and have been together ever since.’
The pair share the songwriting duties of a now expanded Blueflint which includes bass, percussion and fiddle, broadening out their sound in glorious fashion, taking them beyond any bluegrass pigeonholes.
‘Americana is a useful word as it draws in a million different influences,’ says Arnott. ‘It can encompass us as well as people like Bonnie Prince Billy or Iron and Wine.’
What is essentially the band’s debut album proper High Bright Morning arrives this month and conveys the magic of their writing in ten emotive, often dark tales. Their sound enjoys sonic conventions from the past that only a band driven by two banjo players could, but the songs have special an atmosphere all of their own."
Follow Blueflint on Twitter
Follow Blueflint on MySpace
PREVIOUS REVIEWS:
"...beautiful ballads of love and revenge with fantastic harmonies......what's not to love?" [Scotland on Sunday Review]
"Blueflint play haunting bluegrass shot through with a yearning sadness and soothing harmonies. Influenced by old- time Americana they have added a full backing band that play with them from time to time giving their music even more depth." [The List]
"A female banjo bluegrass duo you just have to hear.....Deborah Arnott and Clare-Louise Neilson are sublime as they sing ballads of love and loss. Blueflint deserve your attention." [Rick Fulton, Daily Record]
“The sweet-toned banjo duo Blueflint.” North Devon Journal
"Deborah Arnott and Clare-Louise Neilson weren't afraid to play around with the genre, exceptional harmonising. Their version of the old Elvis classic That's All Right breathed new life into a tired old warhorse." The Scotsman
BLUEFLINT BIOGRAPHY
Touted by the Scotland on Sunday Review as one of the top ten acts to watch, Blueflint played various festivals throughout 2008 including Edinburgh's Hogmanay Street Party, The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Dunstaffnage,Traquair Fair the Cornish Bluegrass Festival and Dunmore East International Festival, Ireland.
Blueflint are based around the banjo duo of Deborah Arnott and Clare-Louise Neilson. They subtly intertwine the three-finger picking and clawhammer styles of banjo playing to accompany smooth vocals and harmonies in original songs and ballads of love, loss and revenge.
The band also boasts an excellent lineup of talented and versatile musicians including Roddy Neilson on fiddle, Ian Stoddart on drums, and Hugh Kelly/ Joey Sanderson on double bass.
Blueflint are in the finishing stages of recording their next CD - with the renowned composer and producer Jim Sutherland (Aberfeldy) in the producer’s chair - which will be released in spring 2009.
Their self-titled debut album has received radio play through out the UK and has included Blueflint playing a live set on BBC Radio Scotland’s ‘Travelling Folk’. They have also received radio play on many Internet radio sites worldwide.
Blueflint have toured extensively throughout the UK to venues including What's Cookin' and The Green Note, London; The Greenman Festival, Devon; the Loch Lomond Festival; The Grand Ole Opry and The Goat, Glasgow; Leith Folk Club, Edinburgh; The Lemon Tree, Aberdeen; Hootenanny, Inverness; The Showroom, Sheffield and many more.
Hope you enjoy the tour as much as we enjoyed having you play in the shop on Saturday. Many thanks and love to you (and your number 1 fan who is always welcome in the shop!). xxx
yesterday your in the herald, today I'm reading The scotsman and there you are again! good to see your in the quality broadsheets and not the redtop gutter press! eat your heart out rupert murdoch! teach jordan to play the banjo!!!!!
