Brìghde Chaimbeul at Rozz-Tox -- April 18.
Friday, April 18, 8 p.m.
Rozz-Tox, 2108 Third Avenue, Rock Island IL
Hailed by BBC Radio 2 as "mesmerizing" and by The Quietus as "unique, exciting, and forward-thinking," experimental Celtic musician Brìghde Chaimbeul headlines an April 18 concert at Rock Island's Rozz-Tox, the artist revered for her exceptional playing of the traditional Great Highland bagpipe and the revived Scottish smallpipes.
Born in 1998 and brought up in Sleat on the Isle of Skye, Chaimbeul is a native Gaelic speaker who learned the fiddle and piano before taking up the pipes at the age of seven, having been inspired to learn the pipes after hearing Rona Lightfoot at the age of four. She received tuition from Niall Stewart, and competed successfully in solo competitions on the Great Highland bagpipe from a young age. Along with her four siblings, she attended St Mary's Music School in Edinburgh, where she received tuition from Iain Speirs.
In 2014, Chaimbeul took up the Scottish smallpipes, being gifted a set by Hamish Moore, and received tuition on them from his son Fin Moore. A bursary from the Saltire Society allowed her to visit Bulgaria to study the piping tradition there, and her music has been influenced by Bulgarian, Irish, Scandinavian and Cape Breton traditions.Chaimbeul has worked extensively with Aidan O'Rourke, as well as Ross Ainslie, John McSherry, Paul Meehan, Martin Green, Carlos Núñez and Allan MacDonald. She appeared on Caroline Polachek's single "Blood & Butter" from Polachek's 2023 album Desire, I Want to Turn Into You as a soloist.
In 2016, Chaimbeul won the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award, as well as the "Horizon Award" at the 2019 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. Her debut album The Reeling was recorded in 2019 in the Cromarty East Church,and featured contributions by Aidan O'Rourke, Radie Peat from Lankum, and Rona Lightfoot. She has played at events including Celtic Colours, Celtic Connections, and Piping Live, and is today a leading purveyor of Celtic experimentalism and a master of the Scottish smallpipes – the bellows-blown, mellower and more emotive cousin to the famous Highland bagpipes. Chaimbeul draws inspiration from the world of interconnected piping traditions, and her most recent album brings in influence from ambient, avant garde, and electronic music. Her music haunting, entrancing, breathtaking, and beautiful, this open-eared, understatedly virtuosic performer is transforming and creating new definitions for Scottish folk in the 21st century.
Brìghde Chaimbeul performs her headlining engagement in Rock Island on April 18 with an additional set by Ground Water, an ambient pedal-steel, field recording, electronics project from Iowa City-based artist Dustin Busch. Admission to the all-ages 8 p.m. concert is $10-15, and more information and tickets are available by calling (309)200-0978 and visiting RozzTox.com.
