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Wow!!!! what great service Annabel S. UK

Keep it Up

by Keep It Up

This band came about when Simon Thoumire noticed that there were not enough bands playing purely Scottish traditional music. After a few phone calls and one lineup change the band was Simon (concertina), Eilidh Shaw (fiddle, voice), Malcolm Stitt (bouzouki, bagpipes) and Kevin MacKenzie (guitar). There was a conscious effort when putting the CD together to use only Scottish material. The band looked back through all the old tunes books and memories to find old march’s, strathspey’s, reels that had never been heard for years. The final result was a CD that really grooves! It features old material performed in new ways with lots of variations that bring the music right back into the present. My favourite track is Charlies Hunter’s Jig because of the middle tune “The Duck”. This classic Donald Macleod pipe jig soars between the keys and just makes me want to dance. There are beautiful moments in Carron Side, a little known Robert Burns tune that closes the CD and also in the song Mo Chaoin Challin (My gentle girl) that is sung by Eilidh.

Media Reviews

There is plenty of evidence of traditional music’s buoyant vitality in a sparkling set from the four-piece Keep It Up, who bring a marvellously expansive spontaneity - as well as tremendous technical flair - to their repertoire of traditional and traditional-style tunes. The vibrant, luminous pairing of Simon Thoumire’s mercurial concertina and Eilidh Shaw’s perpetually restless fiddle seemed to be goading each other on to ever greater heights of semi-improvised invention, while guitarist Kevin Mackenzie and Malcolm Stitt on bouzouki cleanly but forcefully underscored their playing’s muscular lift and swing

	There is plenty of evidence of traditional music’s buoyant vitality in a sparkling set from the four-piece Keep It Up...
	There is plenty of evidence of traditional music’s buoyant vitality in a sparkling set from the four-piece Keep It Up, who bring a marvellously expansive spontaneity - as well as tremendous technical flair - to their repertoire of traditional and traditional-style tunes. The vibrant, luminous pairing of Simon Thoumire’s mercurial concertina and Eilidh Shaw’s perpetually restless fiddle seemed to be goading each other on to ever greater heights of semi-improvised invention, while guitarist Kevin Mackenzie and Malcolm Stitt on bouzouki cleanly but forcefully underscored their playing’s muscular lift and swing

	A well-chosen selection of tunes played with flair and arranged with the freshness of mountain spring water, Keep it Up are a band from Scotland’s premier division.

	Keep it Up play with a verve, style and lightness of touch that few can achieve.’

	Keep it Up have musical maturity and ability in bucketloads’

	Keep it Up already rank among the most inventive and exciting interpreters of traditional Scottish music. Their sparkling form and transparent relish for the tunes communicating itself vividly throughout the performance.

	Top class musicianship’

Customer Reviews

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Tracks

Listen

1.	Charlie Hunters Jig/ Miss Ann Cameron of Balvennie/ The Duck/ Tom Wards
	Charlie Hunters jig was written by the famous (and great) mull accordion player Bobby Macleod
2.	Men of Argyll/ Captain Horn/ Struy Lodge
	The Men of Argyll was taught to Simon by PM Neil MacPherson of the 65th Company Boys Brigade.
3.	Lango lee/ The Bee Sting/ Donald Willie and his dog
	Lango Lee is another tune that comes from the Gow Collection of Scottish Dance Music
4.	Just for Gordon/ Willie Murray/ Duntroon Castle/ Alan Henderson's Reel
	This beautiful march, Just for Gordon was written by Eilidh for piper Gordon Duncan.
5.	Barbara's Jig/ Old woman's dance/ The St. Kilda Wedding
	We learnt Barbara’s Jig from the Scot’s Guards Book of Piping Volume 2.
6.	Mo Chaoin Challin (My gentle girl)
	This beautiful gentle song was written by Niall Brownlie.
7.	Simon Bradley's Strathspey/ Alec C. MacGregor
	Simon Bradley – a great fiddler from Rochdale – taught us this beautiful strathspey.
8.	Tail Toddle/ The Canongate Twitch/ Jock Wilson's Ball/ Captain Lachlan McPhail of Tyree
	This is a set of fast reels.
9.	Battle of Waterloo/ Carron Side
	The first tune comemorates the battle which took place on the 18th June, 1815.