Sunday night's concert always closes with a sing song, and you're in incredible company this year with the fantastic Rachel Walker & Aaron Jones and Jack Badcock.

Rachel Walker & Aaron Jones
One of Scotland’s finest Gaelic singer / songwriters with one of the country’s foremost folksingers and accompanists, Rachel Walker and Aaron Jones celebrate songs from both the traditional and contemporary repertoire with a focus on sensitive arrangements with beautiful vocal harmony. Extensive touring in UK, Canada and Ireland saw them nominated as ‘Folk Band of Year’ at the Scots Trad Awards 2023 and named on The List magazine’s 'Hot 100' for 2023, recognising their contribution to Scottish culture.

As two of Scotland’s most highly regarded performers, Rachel and Aaron bring a wealth of skills, knowledge, musicianship and experience to this exciting new duo. After years of writing, touring and performing with many of traditional music’s finest, Rachel and Aaron have joined forces to create one of the scenes most exciting collaborations. Their combined passion for song and the exploration of the wide repertoire across the tradition, blended with beautiful and heartfelt original songs, ensure an evening of captivating live music and song with two of Scotland’s finest singers & musicians.

Their performance at this year's festival, where they will be joined by some very special guests, will see them sing songs from their brand new album 'Amongst the Wild Rowans'.

Jack Badcock
Singer and guitarist, Jack Badcock is a hugely experienced performer, having toured throughout Europe, North America, Asia and Australia, both as a solo act and as frontman and founding member of his multi-award winning, internationally renowned world-folk band 'Dallahan'. Raised in Co. Kilkenny, Ireland and later Yorkshire, England, before moving to Scotland as a teenager, Jack has a split national identity shared between the three countries. A previous finalist in the BBC Young Traditional Musician of the Year Award, his 2021 EP, The Driftwood Project was nominated for Original Work of the Year at the BBC Scots Music Awards. He was invited to write, arrange and perform the prestigious New Voices commission at Celtic Connections in 2022 and in Autumn 2023, went on tour throughout the UK as the support act for Eddi Reader.

In May 2024, Jack released his critically acclaimed debut album Cosmography. Described as “a glowing galaxy of songs” and affirming him as “a first class songwriter”, the album was nominated in the German Music Critic’s Choice Awards and also earned him a nomination for Composer of the Year in the Scots Trad Music Awards.

Jack is a singer whose solo material reveals an astute songcraft exploring enormously wide ranging subjects delivered with a musical sensitivity clearly influenced by American folk, funk and soul music as much as the traditional music of Britain and Ireland and all served with a healthy dose of storytelling and humour.

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