Cantrip is a quartet of Scottish traditional musicians that has been stunning audiences on several sides of the Atlantic since the end of the last century with its driving blend of twin fiddles, pipes and guitar. The name is an Old Scots word meaning a charm, magic spell or piece of mischief and it aptly describes the unexpected twists and turns in their musical arrangements likewise the compelling potency of their musicianship. In its aspect of mischief it also nicely sums up the character and sense of humour of most, if not all, of the constituent members.
The band formed itself rather organically from a Thursday-night session in a pub at the top of Edinburgh’s Royal-Mile where Jon, Cam, Dan and occasionally Gav began playing together on a regular basis, variously under the names ‘The Spare Tools’ or ‘The Cracksmen’. Cantrip’s music whilst firmly rooted in the Scottish tradition takes influences from, and excursions into, music from the Scandinavian, Balkan, Basque, Breton and Québécoise traditions.
Their first album, Silver, was released on the Footstompin’ label in 2002 and in 2005 the long awaited second album, Boneshaker, issued forth on the Mischief label. In the last few years Cantrip’s engagements have included concerts at:
· The Orkney Festival (Stromness)
· The Galway Festival (Galway)
· The Edinburgh Fiddle Festival (Edinburgh)
· The Ceilidh Culture Festival (Edinburgh)
· Festival Interceltique de Lorient (35, FR)
· The Ligonier Highland Games (Ligonier, PA, USA)
· The New World Festival (Randolph, VT, USA)
· Various venues throughout Western Europe and the US.
