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Celtic Performers

Malinky

www.malinky.com

Malinky“Surely one of the best bands on the scene”
(Rambles.net)

Ranked among today’s foremost young exponents of Scottish song, Malinky combine an array of vocal
talent with a highly distinctive instrumental palette, in fresh yet timeless arrangements of both traditional
and contemporary material. Their fast-track progress on the international Celtic scene, since forming in
1998, has been underpinned by outstanding musical prowess, fruitful artistic evolution and a maturity well
beyond their years.

Malinky first emerged at Glasgow’s prestigious Celtic Connections festival in 1999, as winners of a Danny
Kyle Open Stage award. At a time when most new Scottish bands were focusing on instrumental sounds,
their song-centred repertoire immediately marked them out from the crowd. A further key asset was the
superb original songwriting, by founder members Karine Polwart – now pursuing a stellar solo career – and Steve Byrne, which featured alongside astutely chosen traditional fare.

Six years on, at Celtic Connections 2005 – after two rave-reviewed albums, Last Leaves (2000) and 3
Ravens (2002) – a sellout crowd witnessed Malinky opening an exciting new chapter in their career. That
night marked the farewell appearance of both Polwart and accordionist Leo McCann, together with
triumphant debuts by singer and cellist Fiona Hunter, and multi- instrumentalist Ewan MacPherson.
Following the success of the band's third album on Greentrax Recordings, 2005's The Unseen Hours,
Malinky enter 2008 with a busy international touring schedule in the offing, with dates in the USA, Canada
and Germany beckoning.

The line-up now comprises Hunter on vocals and cello, Byrne on vocals, bouzouki, cittern and guitar,
fiddler Jon Bews, Mark Dunlop on whistles, bodhrán, vocals and uilleann pipes, along with latest recruit,
David Wood on guitar and bouzouki.

Among the five, they share a diverse wealth of influences and backgrounds, including Byrne’s staunch
affiliations with his native Angus region, Hunter’s specialist interest in the songs of Scottish travellers, and
the Antrim-born Dunlop’s roots in Ulster tradition. As a former member of young Anglo-Scots/Irish fivepiece CrossCurrent, (not to mention a graduate of the Newcastle University Folk Music Degree course), Wood brings his extensive knowledge of traditions south of the border to the mix, while Bews, a stalwart of Edinburgh’s lively session scene, has worked with artists as diverse as Basque singer-songwriter Mikel Urdangarin, and Fence Collective star James Yorkston.

Malinky's third album, The Unseen Hours, was released like its predecessors on Greentrax, Scotland’s
leading folk label, in November 2005. A tremendous collection of nine songs and three
instrumental tracks, it embodied a resounding riposte to anyone who’d questioned the band’s future
following Polwart and McCann’s departure.

“I think the key difference from when we started out is that everybody now has an equal part to play, so
the way we work is much more cohesive and integrated,” says Byrne of Malinky’s sound today.
Indeed, most bands would be more than happy with one lead singer to match the richly contrasting
qualities of Hunter, Byrne or Dunlop, let alone all three. Small wonder that Living Tradition magazine
described The Unseen Hours as “almost like getting several bands for the price of one.”

From the first, in tandem with their founding focus on song, Malinky have also steered clear of the folkfusion route pursued by many of their contemporaries, instead retaining traditional idioms and acoustic instrumentation as the bedrock of their sound. “It may be a cliché,” Byrne says, “but our attitude has always been that the song’s the thing – that’s why we started the band in the first place. I see Malinky as being in a similar mould to Planxty – not to put ourselves in their league, but in terms of their approach to creating new arrangements of old songs: that’s where our strengths are. We do bring in outside
influences and contemporary rhythms, and we have used the odd bit of technology on our albums, but
never for its own sake – it’s always to enhance the songs.”

It’s precisely this balance of old-fashioned virtues and youthful vitality, fidelity to tradition and willingness
to move it on, that has paved the way for Malinky’s burgeoning success to date. With recording on a
fourth album scheduled to begin in 2008, a year kicked off by dates in