Mec Lir with Kinnaris Quintet

Please note this show has moved to Saint Luke's.

Genre-busting quartet Mec Lir exploded onto the Celtic music scene in 2014 with their debut release Not An EP, launched during their first appearance at one of the world's largest Celtic music festivals, Festival Interceltique de Lorient in Brittany. They have spent the last three years quietly writing and recording new material for what is their first full length album, Livewire, released in December 2020.

This bold and exuberant Isle of Man/Glasgow based band has a stellar line-up, consisting of virtuosic Manx fiddle player Tomas Callister (Ímar), along with fellow Manx musicians Adam Rhodes on bouzouki (Ímar), David Kilgallon on keyboard (Chronicles), and Scotland’s Greg Barry on drums (Elephant Sessions).

Winners of the 2019 Belhaven Bursary for Innovation in Music – the most significant prize in Scotland, matched only by the Mercury Prize, Kinnaris Quintet burst onto the scene in 2017 with a unique, highly emotive, energetic, powerful sound. Their music has been described as ‘euphoric’ and combines Scottish and Irish folk with Bluegrass, Classical, Scandinavian and Appalachian influences. Unable to hide their joy at making music together, the quintet perform with an enthusiasm that is infectious as anyone who has seen them live will attest. Kinnaris Quintet have become the folk band to see, with sell-out shows at Celtic Connections, and appearances at most other major folk festivals, including Shetland Folk Festival, Celtic Colours (Cape Breton) and Cambridge Folk Festival. In 2018 the band released their debut album, Free One, to great acclaim.