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The POOZIES began their career in 1990 after Patsy Seddon and Mary Macmaster, aka the Scottish harp duo, Sileas, had been working with singer Sally Barker on a solo album. They all agreed that a new women's group was a good idea and when Sally met the all-Ireland accordion champion, Karen Tweed, at the Hong Kong Folk Festival, the band was born.
During the last 10 or so years, the band has enjoyed great success wherever they have travelled, due largely to the spirit of joy in their music which is at their core, whatever changes are on the surface.
With Sally there was an element of rock music present - she was once descrived as "the only person I've heard SCREAM in tune", (Shetland Folk Festival). When Sally left to start a family, the "voice of the nineties", Kate Rusby, joined.
With Kate came a more traditional flavour and a blossoming of the harmony singing that is such a trade-mark of the POOZIES. However, Kate's meteoric rise to stardom, via the Mercury Awards swept her away from the band to concentrate on solo work and a new metamorphosis occured.
Joining old-timers, Patsy, Karen, and Mary came the truly delightful EILIDH SHAW, a great young west coast (of Scotland) fiddler with a healthy and impressive musical pedigree. Eilidh grew up playing fiddle in her parent's ceilidh band, The Highfield Band, which is in demand over the whole of Britain because it is one of the best Scottish Country Dance Bands around.
The musical chemistry between Karen and Eilidh is stunning. The exquisite accordion and the delicate interweaving fiddle create a magical world of harmony and counter-melody, decorated and melded by the nylon and metal strung harps of Patsy and Mary. The fabtastic Camac electro-harp underpins the unfolding arrangements, and Patsy's twinned fiddle casts beams of rhythm into the mix.
POOZIES are masters of arranging and both their instrumnetal sets and their songs can take you on a journey through a sometimes fantastical landscape.
Perhaps even more spine-tingling are the close vocal harmonies which intensify the songs which are drawn not only from the rich vein of traditional Scottish Gaelic culture but also from any enticing genre.
The success of the POOZIES is evidenced by their continued popularity with audiences. They play to packed houses where ever they go and they are constantly in demand at festivals throughout the summer months.
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