Kinnaris Quintet & Saltfishforty, Scots Fiddle Festival, Pleasance

Led by well the well established Highland fiddler Adam Sutherland, the Youth Engagement Project featured a dozen or so fiddlers in their early teenage years, combining to form a band that plays interesting tunes in interesting arrangements.  Clearly overawed by the size of their audience at first, they became more relaxed in response to the genuine applause, and their third and final number was free flowing and really well played.  Some stars of the future in that line up?

The Kinnaris Quintet released their first album, Free One, earlier this year, and it's the best new music I've heard this year.  Their live performance is even more exhilarating.  I knew what to expect, having seen them at Celtic Connections earlier this year, and they fully lived up to those (very high) expectations.  5-string fiddler Aileen Gobbi is a lively and entertaining personality, and she took the lead in introducing the tunes and the stories behind them.  They have some memorable melodies (June's Garden is a thing of simplistic beauty, led by Mary-Beth Salter's mandolin) and imaginative arrangements, played by a band who are clearly having a great time playing for us and with each other.  It's a joy to watch their interactions, and the music ranges through a variety of styles in tempoes, from heart tugging delicacy to driving rhythms driven by Jenn Butterworth's guitar and foot stomping.  A superb set.

They were followed by Orkney duo Saltfishforty, with Brian Cromarty on vocals and guitar and Douglas Montgomery playing fiddle.  Traditional music, modern compositions, songs of death and songs of love, with a common Orcadian theme throughout.  Cromarty doesn't have the greatest of voices technically, but sings well to his limitations and does so with a distinctive style and a sense of humour.  Whereas there's no faulting the musicianship of the pair.  From slow airs to blisteringly fast and exciting reels their technique, interplay and mutual feel for the music produces constant surprises and delights.  They're funny guys too, even when playing, and both can tell a good story and get the crowd laughing.

The evening ended with Kinnaris and the Project joining the duo on stage for one big final number that got us clapping along and must have given the youngsters a memorable end to their big stage experience.