Cantrip is a quartet Scottish traditional musicians that positively crackles with energy. The name itself, which is an Old Scots word meaning a charm, magic spell or piece of mischief, aptly evokes both the unexpected twists and turns in their musical arrangements and the inherent and compelling potency of their native Scottish traditions.
By interweaving the individual elements of dual fiddles provided by Jon Bews and Gavin Marwick; Scottish Bagpipes and flute by Dan Houghton and Guitar, Bouzouki and Banjo by Cameron Robson, Cantrip creates a musical fabric of the finest colours and textures. It is a sound that is driving and inspiring in the reels and jigs, sensitive and contemplative in the slow airs and never without a touch of humour. This skill and enthusiasm radiate out in their live performances as well as their recorded material.
Cantrip began it’s existence as a collection of friends/musicians who kept crossing paths at one or another of Edinburgh’s traditional music sessions or at the flat of mutual friend George. The four original members, Jon, Dan, Cammy and, former percussionist, Ian Willis played together for a time in sessions and small concerts including Edinburgh’s now famous Wee Folk Club. Then in September of 1999, after a string of engagements in Galway and a week of recording at a friend’s cottage in Drumelzier the band produced its first CD recording, The Night We Had The Goats.
With this CD, self produced though it was, Cantrip became a viable entity. Airplay of the CD on Radio Scotland and appearances on Celtic Connections’ Open Stage and later Festival Club began to give the band momentum. Concerts for Scottish International at the Edinburgh Festival and at the Highland Festival followed soon thereafter. May of 2001 brought a booking at the Orkney Folk Festival, initially with Mr. Marwick filling in for Mr. Bews at one of the engagements. When Jon arrived at the festival a 6:00 AM. band meeting was called around a bathtub full of beer where upon it was decided that Mr Marwick should be initiated into the order.
Given the range of its members’ previous experiences, musical diversity has been intrinsic to Cantrip’s identity from the outset. “The basic idea was to integrate music from as broad a base of European cultures as possible,” explains Jon, “played within a Scottish, acoustic context, but with other influences from our various tastes and backgrounds mixed in. We’re aiming for a sound that won’t grate on the traditional ear, but at the same time can be taken in lots of different directions.”
Jon Bews is an Edinburgh born violinist of the highest pedigree and a full time musician. He began playing at the age of four and undertook many years of classical training at the RSAMD in Glasgow before he discovered the joys of playing Scottish traditional music. Jon has toured with rock-folkers Bùrach and Gallus, has recorded extensively with Basque singer Mikel Urdangarin and spends some of his time fiddling with Malinky, the acclaimed vocal-led Scottish band.
Dan Houghton was born in Ghana and grew up in various locations around the edges of the North Atlantic, immersed in traditional Scottish music. He began fingering the chanter whilst living in the New York area and later served as piper and bouzouki player in the Irish band Blackthorn and as a piper in the City of Dunedin Pipe Band in Dunedin, New Zealand. Returning to Scotland, he performed with several ensembles including the Drumalban Folk Ensemble, before entering Cantrip for the long haul. Dan has also toured in the States with the Celticfusion Irish dance company and plays occasionally with the Edinburgh based fusion band Bag o’ Cats.
Gavin Marwick, also from Edinburgh, has been a fiddler on the Scottish folk scene for as long as anyone can remember. He too is a Bùrach survivor and was a founding member of the landmark Scottish folk band Iron Horse. He has toured, for musical purposes, in more countries and played with more musicians than any of us have bodily appendages upon which to count them all. Gavin is also a prolific composer and has recently scored a few numbers in several theatrical productions.
Cameron Robson is from Denholm in the Borders and comes from a very artistic as well as musical family. He began playing music at the age of five on the piano and gradually worked himself up through the harmonica, tin whistle and trumpet before coming upon the guitar and then the bouzouki. Cameron has toured quite successfully as a guitarist in several rock bands and much of his style and drive were learned from playing around in R&B, and Jazz sessions. He has also recently played with Scottish power-folk group Deaf Shepherd.
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