The Cast

Artist Information

Biography

Mairi Campbell and Dave Francis are a Scottish duo known as The Cast. Their three albums, Greengold, The Winnowing and Colours of Lichen, have attracted generous critical acclaim. They bring a fresh approach to the most respected traditional material through their inventive use of vocal and instrumental harmonies and their own songs stand strong alongside the traditional material.

Since the release of their third album in September last year, The Cast are being recognised for their subtle and deep approach to the tradition, ( See Press ):

The Casts version of Auld Lang Syne was recently used in the feature film,'Sex and the City'.

SCOTS SINGER OF THE YEAR '08, Trad music Awards.
BURNSONG WINNERS, 07 ( Smile of Cry)
FEMALE MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR '08- Liveireland
COMPOSITION OF THE YEAR '08- Liveireland

Mairi works in Scotland as a session musician, she has her own dance band ( Bella McNabs), teaches at home and runs a community folk choir.
She also enjoys free improvisation.
She and Dave have two daughters.

Dave is an eloquent writer and has written many lyrics, namely 'The Piper and the Maker' ( The winnowing), and Song for Cove (Greengold) and 'Smile or Cry'(Greengold), which are well loved works.
Anther main strand of The Cast's work has been their commitment to teaching and encouraging Scottish traditional music and dancing in schools and Dave’s outreach programme of songwriting in schools in Banff has been nominated for Community Projects of the Year 2007.

Dave co-founded and directs a course of professional development for adventurous traditional musicians looking to develop their ideas in music. This is in it’s seventh year and goes from strength to strength in both England and Scotland.

Mairi runs her own fiddle courses on the island of Lismore. Since 2006 both Dave and mairi have been tutors at the Coast String Summer music school in B.C

Instrumentation

Mairi Campbell - Voice, fiddle, viola
Dave Francis - Guitar

Discography

August '07 - GREENGOLD (Greentrax Recordings, and on iTunes and Amazon)
1996 - COLOURS OF LICHEN ( iTunes, Amazon, Greentrax)
1994 - THE WINNOWING ( iTunes, Greentrax, Amazon)

Audio

• Smile or Cry- award winning song
  Listen  
• Remember my love
  Listen  
• Auld Lang Syne- Burns
  Listen  
• Jean Yelland-Composition of the Year , air
  Listen  
• The good life
  Listen  
• O'Man Jock Tamson
  Listen  
• Remember my Love
  Listen  

Lyrics

• Smile or Cry

Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• Two extraordinary musicians [+ Show ]
  

  The Cast is two extraordinary artists from Scotland. Mairi Campbell and David Francis. Mairi has a...The Cast is two extraordinary artists from Scotland. Mairi Campbell and David Francis. Mairi has a gorgeous alto of a voice, a plays a wondrous fiddle and viola. Let us repeat. Gorgeous. Francis remains on the cutting edge of trad guitar playing. This album may show us the Female Vocalist of the Year, as well as Composition of the Year, 'Jean Yelland'. This is the group's third album. It is terrific. Great technique meets real soul. Highly recommended.

• 'best of the year' [+ Show ]
  

  If a clear indication of talent is the ability to turn the maudlin and mundane into the exceptional,...If a clear indication of talent is the ability to turn the maudlin and mundane into the exceptional, then this Scottish duo is endowed with more than their share of musical aptitude.... Campbell's singing is always emotive, Francis provides precise and thoughtful guitar accompaniment which both respects and reflects the spirit of the lyrics...one of the best of the year.

• '..timelessness.' [+ Show ]
  

  In Scots, "cast"has implications of fate, or the divining of it, and of course, it's also what you d...In Scots, "cast"has implications of fate, or the divining of it, and of course, it's also what you do with a spell. They may not put themselves about much, but when The Cast work their own particular magic they manage to invoke a very particular sense of timelessness, of music emerging from shadows and, naturally, into light.

• 'Campbell is an exemplary fiddler' [+ Show ]
  

  Campbell is an exemplary fiddler. Her mastery of Cape Breton style jigs and reels marries well with...Campbell is an exemplary fiddler. Her mastery of Cape Breton style jigs and reels marries well with Francis's guitar playing which at times chimes like a bright clarsach.

• ..'one of the great sounds of Scottish folk'..
  

  Campbell's voice, warm and beguiling is one of the great sounds of Scottish folk music today.

• ..'relaxed masterwork'.. [+ Show ]
  

  A regal grace pervades their work and eye for creating moods and melodic textures remain their ace c...A regal grace pervades their work and eye for creating moods and melodic textures remain their ace card. Colours of Lichen is a relaxed masterwork.

Setlist

We play a mix of our own songs, Burns' songs, and traditional ballads, and instrumental sets of strathspeys, reels, jigs, marches and slow airs.
We are experienced teachers and can provide tuition or workshops in fiddle, stepdancing, singing, groupwork, guitar, ceilidh dancing (we have a repertoire of around 50 dances), teaching folk to play for dancing. Mairi's fiddle teaching style is a mix of tradition and technique, allowing her students to uncover natural good tone and ease in the bowing and left hand.

Basic Requirements

Calendar