Bio's
RUTH LEE MARTIN is a Scottish born Australian singer/songwriter of original and traditional songs and tunes with roots in the Scottish tradition. Ruth has a passion for all things Gaelic and sings songs of the Hebrides and Highlands of Scotland in Scots Gaelic. Energetic mouth music and waulking songs mix with slow, lyrical love songs and songs of longing. Her songs and tunes have a strong contemporary flavour reflecting her diverse musical influences, while still retaining a sense of the Scottish tradition.
BILL WILLIAMS is a young jazz bass student studying upright bass with Eric Ajaye at the Australian National University. Bill is a diverse performer who is in great demand in a wide variety of musical styles, including jazz, blues, folk, rockabilly and avant-garde. He has performed in many parts of Australia including Southern Queensland, Northern NSW, NSW South Coast, and Victoria. He plays several gigs weekly across the ACT/Southern NSW region and has performed at the National Folk Festival, the Sydney Opera House, the Australian Blues Festival, the National Press Club and the National Celtic Festival.
CATHERINE FRASER has gained a reputation as a leading Scottish fiddler, after many years of performing and teaching in Australia, Scotland, North America, and New Zealand. Catherine has performed with Alasdair Fraser, Hanneke Cassel, Laura Risk, Catriona MacDonald, Duncan Smith, Muriel Johnstone, Susie Petrov and Paddy League, and is acknowledged for her ability to combine a high level of technical skill with a rare depth of emotional expression. Catherine is the founder and director of the Southern Hemisphere International School of Scottish Fiddle, an annual event attracting top international performers and teachers.
BILL GROSE has been backing Irish and Scottish singers and tune-players in Australia on guitar for many years. His first release in this field was 1994's "Fiddling Around" with Australian-Scottish fiddler Catherine Fraser. After ten years in Darwin absorbing tropical music in Australia's sweaty north, playing with Papua New Guinea fusion band 'Drum Drum' and collaborating with Balinese musicians, Bill moved to Canberra, returning to the mainstream of Celtic music in Australia.
ED RODRIGUES is studying Jazz Drumming at the Australian National University, where he is drummer with the ANU Big Band and the ANU Commercial Ensemble. Still in his early 20s (like his regular rhythm section partner, Eilean Mor bassist Bill Williams), Ed is in demand in Sydney and Canberra for jazz, blues, rockabilly, avant-garde, rock, metal and folk groups. Ed has performed with Don Burrows, Mike Price, Miroslav Bukovsky, John Mackey, and at numerous top venues including the Sydney Opera House and the Midwinter Nights Summer Dream Festival in South Korea.
