Shooglenifty

Formed in Edinburgh in 1990, Shooglenifty brings together musicians from the Scottish traditional scene, the Highlands and Orkney in a band format where fiddle, mandolin, guitar, bass and percussion make folk repertoire, folk rock and electronic influences converse. Shooglenifty early described this aesthetic as “acid croft,” a way of blending Scottish melodies, contemporary rhythms and stage energy without abandoning the trad root. After beginnings in Edinburgh clubs, the band established itself on the folk and world circuits, in Scotland and internationally, with appearances at Celtic Connections, the Shetland Folk Festival and Glastonbury, and a contribution to Afro Celt Sound System’s first album. Shooglenifty’s discography includes Venus in Tweeds (1994), A Whisky Kiss (1996), Solar Shears (2001), The Arms Dealer’s Daughter (2003), Radical Mestizo (2004), Troots (2007), Murmichan (2009), The Untied Knot (2015), Written in Water (2018) and Acid Croft, Vol. 9 (2020). After the death of founding fiddler Angus R. Grant in 2016, Shooglenifty continued with a new lineup, notably marked by the arrival of Eilidh Shaw.