Folk World EU [Website link]
November 2009

Jamie McClennan is best known as the guitar player of the Emily Smith Band. However, he also is an awesome fiddle player.

A short biography: Jamie grew up in Hamilton, New Zealand, where his parents run a folk club and folk festival during the seventies and eighties. He got interested in the violin and took up classical lessons, later forsaking it for folk and blues music.

In New Zealand’s capital Wellington he formed a traditional Celtic group called The Last Drop, featuring Gerry Paul (guitar), Andy Laking (bass) and Alan Doherty (whistle, flute). Whereas his bandmates left for Ireland and formed the band Grada, Jamie moved to Scotland and eventually joined Emily Smith and became her lead guitarist.

On his debut solo album "In Transit" Jamie is back at the fiddle. It is a collection of original tunes written while on the road (hence the album title). The CD kicks off with "Emily's Wee Tune," a nice swinging jig, leading into the title tune "In Transit," a reel positioned somewhere mid Atlantic with some jazzy, bluegrassy interludes.
The next set of tunes ("The Sunspot/Fun With Colin/Tune for Eilidh") would fit into any traditional Irish session, including some distorted twin whistles (one by Jamie himself). And so forth, there's fiery dance tunes as well as bucolic airs. Highlights are the funky "Demon Ducks of Doom" (not just because of the title), the poignant "Road to Bennan" with Jamie on fiddle, mandolin and guitar, and the final air "Horizontal Living" (another interesting title, Jamie generally give no hints about his nomenclature).

The selection and performance draws on both traditional Scottish and Irish fiddle music and Jamie's fondness for American blues and bluegrass. He is accompanied by his former bandmates Gerry (both acoustic and electric guitar) and Alan, plus double bass player Duncan Lyall of Emily's band, Emily herself on piano on one track, percussionist Fraser Stone of Old Blind Dogs fame, Canadian newgrass mandolinist Andrew Collins and cello player Adelaide Carlow. If we're lucky, the voyage has only just begun ... www.jamiemcclennan.com Walkin' T:-)M

Tom Keller