Size is not an issue for acclaimed Indie folk group Admiral Fallow who are quite happy to play it small on the road to the big time.
The Glasgow-based six-piece are earning a growing reputation and have picked up some influential supporters in the likes of Elbow’s Guy Garvey and Guillemots’ Fyfe Dangerfield.
The band, formed in 2006, have also notched up some successful festival gigs, including Glastonbury, and this summer will make their debut at the award-winning Hebridean Celtic Festival which runs from 11-14 July and based in Stornoway in the Isle of Lewis.
Louis Abbott, the group’s frontman, said: “It’s been a slow but steady progression for us. There’s perhaps a curveball or two on there but I don’t want to give much away.
“We’re currently on tour and we’re playing a good bunch of the songs from the second record so people at shows can hopefully come and hear for themselves.”
This year’s summer festival schedule sees them playing at Rockness, the Insider (Aviemore), Solas (South Lanarkshire), Downhill Downtown (Fort William) and Speyfest as well as HebCelt.
The 17th Hebridean festival will see the band return to Lewis where they played earlier this year and are expecting another great reception: “Having recently played a show in Stornoway we can expect a hearty reaction at HebCelt all going well.
“It was a very fun night and we were well looked after.
The Hebridean Celtic Festival is held in the unique island setting of Stornoway in the Scottish Outer Hebrides. It attracts fans from the USA, Australia, Germany, France, Spain and Norway every year.
HebCelt was voted Best Large Festival at the 2011 Scottish Event Awards, beating Edinburgh’s Hogmanay and Glasgow’sCeltic Connections. The festival has twice won the Best Event of the Year award at the MG Alba Scots Trad Music Awards.
It was named as one of the UK’s top 50 festivals by the Daily Telegraph, one of the top five by The Scotsman, one of the TopTen summer festivals by Songlines Magazine two years running and The Times called it one of the top eight cultural events inScotland. The Big Issue said the festival was the Number One Best Thing to Do in Scotland for summer 2011.
The main stages enjoy a spectacular setting in front of Lews Castle in Stornoway, with performances also in An Lanntair andthroughout the rural community.
The Waterboys, The Proclaimers and Kassidy are to headline the award winning HebCelt this year.
Prices for a main arena weekend ticket (Thursday to Saturday) are £70 per person (£55 concession). Daily tickets range from£25 to £33 (£19 to £25 concession). A large quantity of children under 14 will be able to attend concerts at the Festival Arena each night for free if accompanied by someone who is 18 or older.
Audience numbers far outstrip Stornoway’s 10,000 population. Festival-goers inject over £1.5 million annually into the local economy.