New Celeste are a folk rock band from Scotland, originally formed in 1975, releasing seven albums over five decades, the most recent in 2016.

Background

Early years

New Celeste was formed in Glasgow in March 1975 by guitarist and singer Iain Fergus, with Jim Yule on lead guitar, Marysia Lessnau on lead vocals and Tom Honeyman on violin. Stewart Smith joined the band a month later on bass guitar. They performed weekly gigs every Wednesday night at the Gresham Hotel in Glasgow and started to perform more widely across Scotland in folk clubs, universities and other venues. They were signed by Unicorn Leisure,No time for old pals act, Bernard McGovern, Daily Express, 10.09.1976 a Glasgow company that managed

Billy Connolly Sir William Connolly (born 24 November 1942) is a Scottish actor, retired comedian, artist, writer, musician, and presenter. He is sometimes known, especially in his homeland, by the Scots nickname the Big Yin ("the Big One"). Known for his ...

and

Midge Ure James Ure (born 10 October 1953) is a Scottish musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. His stage name, Midge, is a phonetic reversal of Jim, the diminutive form of his actual name. Ure enjoyed particular success in the 1970s and 1980s ...

's band

Slik Slik were a Scottish pop group of the mid-1970s, most notable for their UK number 1 hit " Forever and Ever" in 1976. Initially glam rock, the band later changed their style to soft rock/bubblegum. It was the first band with whom singer and g ...

in the 1970s and that held the lease for

The Apollo The Apollo Theater is a music hall at 253 West 125th Street between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard (Seventh Avenue) and Frederick Douglass Boulevard (Eighth Avenue) in the Harlem neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City. It is a not ...

in Glasgow. New Celeste played concerts across Scotland in the following year and a half, got to the final of the Melody Maker National Folk/Rock Contest at the Roundhouse in London where they performed in front of

Noel Redding David Noel Redding (25 December 1945 – 11 May 2003) was an English rock musician, best known as the bass player for the Jimi Hendrix Experience and guitarist/singer for Fat Mattress. Following his departure from the Experience in 1969 a ...

, one of the judges that year, appeared on various television programs, including Saturday Night Live and Falkirk Folk on

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: ''BBC Alba'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. It is one of the four BBC national regions, together with the BBC English Regions, BBC Cymru Wales and BBC Northern Ireland. I ...

, and Thingummyjig and a half hour New Celeste in Concert on

Scottish Television Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is the ...

, directed by

Haldane Duncan Haldane Duncan (25 July 1940 – 26 December 2018) was a Scottish television producer and director, best known for his contributions to soap operas. Career Early years In 1958, Duncan left George Heriot's School in Edinburgh to take up a care ...

. This program was part of an In Concert series which was subsequently aired nationally on ITV. New Celeste also toured in Holland and supported

on the Scottish leg of his tour. At the end of 1976, Jim Yule and Marysia Lessnau left the band and were replaced by

Graeme Duffin Graeme Ian Duffin (born 28 February 1956) is a British musician. He has played guitar for the Scottish pop band Wet Wet Wet since 1983.

, a Glasgow jazz guitarist. Iain Fergus took over lead vocals and

Graeme Duffin Graeme Ian Duffin (born 28 February 1956) is a British musician. He has played guitar for the Scottish pop band Wet Wet Wet since 1983.

sang harmony vocals. This line-up supported

on the English leg of his tour and went on to tour in several countries in Europe and recorded two albums, ''High Sands and the Liquid Lake'' (1977) in Holland (with guest drummer Ronnie Goodman and sleeve notes by

) on the Universe label and ''On the Line'' (1979) in Berlin (with guest drummer Christian Evans and guest keyboard player Henry Hirsch, recorded and produced by Ulli Weigel) on the

Hansa Records Hansa Records (also known as Hansa, Hansa Musik Produktion or Hansa International) was a record label founded in the 1960s based in Berlin, Germany. Profile The label's most successful act commercially was the German-based band Boney M. with mil ...

label, mixed at

Hansa Tonstudio Hansa Tonstudio is a recording studio located in the Kreuzberg district of Berlin, Germany. The studio, famous for its Meistersaal recording hall, is situated approximately 150 metres from the former Berlin Wall, giving rise to its former nickna ...

, known then as Hansa by the Wall. Both New Celeste albums were also released on the Arfolk label in France. New Celeste performed at the

Festival Interceltique de Lorient __NOTOC__ The (French), Emvod Ar Gelted An Oriant (Breton) or Inter-Celtic Festival of Lorient in English, is an annual Celtic festival, located in the city of Lorient, Brittany, France. It was founded in 1971 by . This annual festival takes ...

in August 1977, and were invited back to perform at the festival again on the main stage in

Stade du Moustoir The Stade du Moustoir - Yves Allainmat, known as the Stade du Moustoir, is a multi-use stadium in Lorient, France. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of FC Lorient. The stadium can hold up to 18,110 with the ...

in August 1978. Thereafter they were managed in France by Gerard Bono of Arfolk and toured heavily in Brittany and throughout France. At the end of 1978 Tom Honeyman left the band and was replaced by two violinists, Rod Dorothy and Ronnie Gerrard. In the summer of 1979

Graeme Duffin Graeme Ian Duffin (born 28 February 1956) is a British musician. He has played guitar for the Scottish pop band Wet Wet Wet since 1983.

left the band to join

Wet Wet Wet Wet Wet Wet are a Scottish soft rock band formed in 1982. They scored a number of hits in the UK charts and around the world in the 1980s and 1990s. They are best known for their 1994 cover of The Troggs' 1960s hit "Love Is All Around", which w ...

and was replaced by Nigel Clark, another Glasgow jazz guitarist. At the same time, it was decided to add a drummer to the band and Iain Bayne joined the line-up. New Celeste continued to tour Europe and recorded a third album ''New Celeste Live'' (1980) in Brittany on the Hexagone label, after which the band broke up, with Iain Bayne joining

Runrig Runrig were a Scottish Celtic rock band formed on the Isle of Skye in 1973. From its inception, the band's line-up included songwriters Rory Macdonald and Calum Macdonald. The line-up during most of the 1980s and 1990s (the band's most succe ...

shortly afterwards and Nigel Clark joining

Hue and Cry In common law, a hue and cry is a process by which bystanders are summoned to assist in the apprehension of a criminal who has been witnessed in the act of committing a crime. History By the Statute of Winchester of 1285, 13 Edw. I statute 2. c ...

. Iain Fergus reformed the group in the summer of 1981 and New Celeste continued to tour Europe until the summer of 1983, with a variety of different line-ups. Jim Yule and Marysia Lessnau returned for one tour and various past members like Iain Bayne, Stewart Smith and Ronnie Gerrard also rejoined for short tours, as well as several new musicians, including Iain Aitken, Steve Donnelly, Jack Johnson, Andy Munro, Ian Telfer, Alastair Webster, Barclay Rae and Joe O'Donnell. The band finally broke up at the end of August 1983.

Recent years

1990s

After a long period of inactivity, Iain Fergus reformed the band in 1990 and recorded an album ''The Celtic Connection'' (1991) on Lismor Records. This line-up included former members Rod Dorothy on violin and Iain Aitken on electric and acoustic guitars and guitar synthesizer, as well as new musicians Steve Reid on electric and acoustic guitars, Jerry Soffe on bass guitar, Brendan Ring on uilleann pipes and low whistle and Jeff Helmsley on drums. New Celeste performed at the

Cambridge Folk Festival The Cambridge Folk Festival is an annual music festival, established in 1965, held on the site of Cherry Hinton Hall in Cherry Hinton, one of the villages subsumed by the city of Cambridge, England. The festival is known for its eclectic mix of ...

in the summer of 1991, with Pete Haggarty replacing Jeff Helmsley on drums, on Stage One on the Saturday night just before top of the bill act

Suzanne Vega Suzanne Nadine Vega ( Peck; born July 11, 1959) is an American singer-songwriter best known for her folk-inspired music. Vega's music career spans almost 40 years. She came to prominence in the mid-1980s, releasing four singles that entered the ...

and as the final act on Stage Two on the Sunday night and the highlights were played on BBC Radio 1 in December that year. New Celeste toured and performed at various European festivals over the next few years and recorded ''It's a New Day'' (1996) for Iona Records. This album mostly featured the same musicians as ''The Celtic Connection'', but with Iain Copeland on drums and additional electric and acoustic guitar by Willie Logan and with

Capercaillie ''Tetrao'' is a genus of birds in the grouse subfamily known as capercaillies. They are some of the largest living grouse. Taxonomy The genus ''Tetrao'' was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his ...

guests

Charlie McKerron Capercaillie is a Scottish folk band, founded in 1984 by Donald Shaw and led by Karen Matheson, and which performs traditional Gaelic and contemporary English songs. The group adapts traditional Gaelic music and traditional lyrics with modern ...

on fiddle and

Fred Morrison Fred Morrison (born 1963 in Bishopton, Renfrewshire) is a Scottish musician and composer. He has performed professionally on the Great Highland Bagpipes, Scottish smallpipes, Border pipes, low whistle, Northumbrian Smallpipes and uilleann pipe ...

on Highland Pipes and low whistle and Jim Sutherland on percussion.

2000 to 2010

New Celeste released ''Best New Celeste'' (2004) a compilation CD on

Park Records Park Records is an independent British record label based in Oxford that specializes in British folk music, traditional music, and acoustic music. The company began in 1989, with singles and albums by Maddy Prior but has grown to include many ...

featuring tracks from all their previous album releases and including a new recording of "Rosemary", as well as two new bonus tracks "Copper and Gold" and "The Pool". The band continued to tour, as both New Celeste and New Celeste Acoustic, although much less frequently than before and performed at various European festivals including the

in 2005, Folkest in Fruili, Italy in 2008, and Festival de la Saint-Loup in Guingamp, Brittany in 2009, to promote the compilation CD.

2010 to date

New Celeste performed at various European festivals including the

Festival de Cornouaille The Festival de Cornouaille (or just Cornouaille Kemper) is an annual festival taking place in Quimper, a city in the south-west of Brittany, a western region of France. The festival begins on the third Sunday of July and lasts for one week. It has ...

in Quimper, Brittany in 2013, the Great British Folk Festival in 2014, and in 2016 released the album. ''A Perfect Sky'' on

. This CD features long time members Iain Fergus, Steve Reid and Jerry Soffe, but with new fiddler Gavin Marwick and new drummer Max Saidi. It also includes guest appearances from ex members

Graeme Duffin Graeme Ian Duffin (born 28 February 1956) is a British musician. He has played guitar for the Scottish pop band Wet Wet Wet since 1983.

, Iain Copeland and Willie Logan and includes the singles "Such a Lovely Day" (with backing vocals by Rachel Button) and "Love and Freedom". Colin Cunningham plays bass and Wily Bo Walker sings backing vocals on "She's Got No Heart". This new CD was made 'album of the week' by

Celtic Music Radio Celtic Music Radio is a Community Radio station in Scotland, broadcasting to the Greater Glasgow on 95.0 FM, Edinburgh on DAB+ and also worldwide via the internet. Celtic Music Radio is a Scottish Charity, registration number SC041172. The ...

in July 2017.

Discography

New Celeste's discography is as follows: * ''High Sands And The Liquid Lake'' (1977) * ''On The Line'' (1979) * ''New Celeste (Live)'' (1981) * ''The Celtic Connection'' (1990) * ''It’s A New Day'' (1997) * ''Best New Celeste'' (2004) * ''A Perfect Sky'' (2016)

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Scottish rock music groups Celtic music groups Celtic rock music British folk rock groups Hansa Records artists