Patsy Reid
Scottish Fiddle Player and Teacher
Patsy Reid
Scottish Fiddle Player and Teacher
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"At the time of recording 'With Complements' Patsy Reid was nineteen and in her third year at Strathclyde University studying Applied Music. Her playing on the said CD is of such maturity and sheer class that one wonders what heights she will achieve in the future, the highest without doubt. She has already won the Glenfiddich Fiddle Championship at Blair Castle in 1998 and 1999.
Patsy is from the village of Knapp in Perthshire. She started to play at the age of eight and when she was ten attended a Natalie MacMaster concert, the effect of this experience was to fire her interest in different fiddle styles. The results of this interest manifests itself on 'With Complements' with beautiful performances of tunes from all parts of Scotland as well as Cape Breton, America and Ireland. She is also a very gifted composer. It is my opinion that it is a sign of great talent and a complement to the composer if modern/self composed tunes do not stick out like the proverbial sore thumb in the overall program, on this score Patsy wins hands down.
With Complements is a CD of the finest fiddle music played with elegance and a deftness of touch second to none. From the delicate and intricate slow airs to lively reels, jigs, strathspeys and marches. Patsy places great importance on appropriate accompaniment to emphasise the different fiddle styles. She is of course correct in thais and could not have chosen better musicians for the task. On different tracks she is joined by Declan Hegarty - Irish Harp, Harvey Beaton - Piano (and one track step-dancing), Gill Simpson - Piano, Keith Morrison - Piano and Guitar and Alasdair White - Bouzouki and Mandolin. WIth Complements is Patsy Reid's debut album and I hope there will be many more. Wonderful stuff and highly recommended."
The Living Tradition
"And what complements they are! Patsy's own skills on fiddle, viola and piano are deservedly well to the fore, but the accompaniments played by her friends really make this a special project. Harvey Beaton from Nova Scotia plays piano - and feet - for the Cape Breton numbers; Alasdair White joins in on bouzouki and mandolin; Keith Morrison points up the piano and guitar, Declan Hegarty plays gorgeous Irish harp, and Gill Simpson tickles the ivories in slow and quick time. Pan-Celtic fiddle superbly played and accompanied; Shetland, New England, Irish, Highland, Orkney Cape Breton....tunes from all over."
tradmusic.com
"Born and bred in Perthshire, Patsy Reid won two Glenfiddich fiddle titles before starting a music degree in Glasgow. Here she's joined by several friends who have shaped her style: Irish harpist Declan Hegarty, Battlefield fiddler Alasdair White on bouzouki here, and pianists including Cape Breton's Harvey Beaton, Dundee's Gill Simpson, and Keith Morrison from Lewis who doubles up on guitar. Patsy plays fiddle and viola, and takes over at the piano for one track just to show the others how it's done.
The overall sound on this debut CD is fairly traditional, fiddle with piano on most tracks, and the North East repertoire is well represented with tunes by Gow, Marshall and Skinner. There's more than a hint of Cape Breton music too, with a couple of lovely Brenda Stubbert tunes (not the ones everyone plays) and several traditional medleys with that scintillating Maritime piano style. Add a good couple of Irish tunes, many learnt from Martin Hayes, and a stonking Shetland set, and the CD is starting to fill up. Patsy still squeezes in a couple of New England fiddle tunes, plus two of her own compositions; the lovely waltz 'Fiona', and the spirited reel 'Midnight Cruise to Inverie'.
The most impressive thing about this recording is the way Patsy can change the sound of her fiddle. At times her tone is exquisite: on 'Hector the Hero', a tune trotted out by everyone from Tommy Peoples to Wolfstone, the sweetness is almost unbearable. At other times, tone takes a back seat while rhythm and energy do the driving: listen to the snap in 'Athole Brose', and the power in 'Da Ness O' Soond'. Other memorable moments are the lively versions of 'Cooley's Jig' and 'Miss Sarah MacFadyen', the perfectly placed rendition of that great reel 'The Otter's Holt', and the glorious combination of fiddle and harp on the slow air 'Archibald MacDonald of Kepoch' which bravely opens this album. My warmest compliments to Patsy on a very impressive debut."
Alex Monaghan
"This is the debut CD from talented fiddler Patsy Reid from Kanpp in Perthshire. Declan Hegarty (Irish Harp), Harvey Beaton (piano and step-dancing), Gill Simpson (piano), Keith Morrison (piano and guitar) and Alasdair White (bouzouki and mandolin) accompany her on the various tracks.
On this recording Patsy takes us on a musical journey of tunescrossing over to Cape Breton, America, Ireland, Shetland, Orkney and back to mainland Scotland. There are thirteen tracks with varied tempos. Patsy demonstrates her affinity with other Celtic styles and shows her natural talent and ability to pick up and play tunes like a "local". She has a great ear for music and she is not a bad composer either, with a couple of good tunes, one of them called 'Fiona', a relfective slow air where Patsy plays piano and multi-tracks the fiddle and viola parts. (Makes us mere mortals sick with envy at this teenager's massive talent.)
This is a fantastic recording, as it shows Patsy in a totally different light. She is not only a good dance band fiddler, she is a superb all round musician."
The Box and Fiddle
"With Complements is not a spelling error; it's how Perthshire fiddler, composer and Strathclyde music student Patsy Reid acknowledges the guest musicians on her debut album who complement her own music. These are her fellow student at Strathclyde, Declan Hegarty, who plays harp on three tracks, Dundee-based Gill Simpson, who plays piano on another three, and Nova Scotian step-dancing teacher Harvey Beaton, for whom Patsy plays at his step-dancing classes in Sabhal Mor Ostaig on Skye. Here Harvey offers piano and step-dancing, the latter on the same track as he tickles the ivories - no small feat (no pun intended!) - unless of course I'm a bit behind in e-technology as applied to music.
Patsy is a new talent, equally at home with Scottish, Irish, HIghland and Cape Breton idioms, and on this showing will have no trouble remaining an established but nevertheless exciting talent for as long as she cares to. Incedentally, as so many place names from this magazine's heartland have been mentioned, I might as well go the whole hog and say the record was produced in the heart of the kingdom of Fife."
The Scots Magazine
"Perthshire fiddler Patsy Reid's home-produced release, available on her own website, sees the 19-year-old demonstrate why she was named Glenfiddich Fiddle Champoin two years running. She dips into Lowland, Irish, Highland and Cape Breton idioms with all the assurance of a native. The eponymous "complements" include Battlefield Band's Alasdair White, harpist Declan Hegarty and various pianoists, among them Nova Scotian Harvey Beaton who adds a spot of step-dance percussion with his flying feet - but their contributions just highlight Reid's Skills."
The Inverness Courier
"With Complements, the debut album by the young Scottish Fiddler Patsy Reid, is all about juxtapositions, of instruments and musical styles. Patsy takes lead on all tracks, playing all fiddle and viola parts, and one air on piano, using a number of different accompaniments to complement the different tunes."
Green Man Review