Siobhan Miller is bringing the works of Adam McNaughton to Glasgow Royal Concert Hall as part of Celtic Connections

Celtic Connections returns for 2025 with a full programme of musical events.

Transcript

00:00Hello, I'm Siobhan Miller and I'm here in the concert hall in Glasgow.

00:05It's the very start of Celtic Connections and this year we're celebrating this wonderful city.

00:11And on Saturday we are going to be celebrating one of Glasgow's finest singers, writers, performers

00:19called Adam McNaughton. We're in the new auditorium.

00:22And I've been listening to Adam's songs since I was really wee.

00:27I think he kind of captures the essence of Glasgow and is somebody who's very, very closely related to the city

00:36and has given loads to the traditional music scene over the years.

00:41He was also an English teacher at Rutherglen Academy where my dad went

00:45and he kind of was somebody who was the catalyst of getting my dad interested in traditional music

00:51and in turn he passed on those songs to me.

00:54So there's a lovely through connection there and I just really wanted to bring together

01:01lots of different singers who have recorded Adam's work over the years,

01:06who have been listening to him for a long time to all come together and sing his songs.

01:13He's written many songs, he's also collected lots of traditional songs

01:18and he explores many themes that are very relatable.

01:23He does this through humour, he talks about the city, its struggles,

01:29but also all the wonderful things about it.

01:33And I think so many of the themes in his songs are, they're still relatable today,

01:38they're very much relevant and they are being handed down through the generations.

01:43He wrote the Julie Peace song, which is just such a well-loved song,

01:49so much nostalgia for people, but that's been sung in playgrounds throughout the primary schools.