Berlin, Berlin, Germany
IAN MELROSE From Celtic Roots to New Acoustic Guitar https://ianmelrose.com https://www.youtube.com/@ianmelrose Ian Melrose has appeared on over 130 CDs and has toured internationally as a soloist and with very diverse projects. He was lead guitarist with the Irish cult band CLANNAD from 1996 – 1999 (world tour 1996) and can be heard on “Clannad:Live” and the grammy-winning album Landmarks. In 2004 he produced a CD (“Rubicon”) in Dublin for the Duggan brothers of Clannad and did a tour of Ireland as guitarist with the Mary Black band. With the Scottish multi-media show The Island Tapes he toured Scotland and played at film festivals in New York, Berlin, Munich and Tallinn. His currently cultivates his Celtic roots in his projects Kelpie (Scandinavian-Celtic mix) with multi-instrumentalist-singer Kerstin Blodig, in the pan-Celtic guitar trio Celtic Guitar Journeys (with Dylan Fowler and Soïg Siberìl), and in the multi-media show "Highland Saga". Literature and music are celebrated with actor/singer Uwe Neumann in Heine gets the Groove and the diversity of the guitar in the trio Guitar Celebration, with Nikos Tsiachris (flamenco) and Rüdiger Krause (jazz). Also a producer and arranger, he has done many studio jobs for well-known artists as well as writing film music. He currently writes a fingerstyle column for the national German magazine “Akustik Gitarre” and is endorser for Avalon guitars, G7th capos and Rheingold cables. He has just released his seventh solo album “Seven” on Acoustic Music Records. “..displays Melrose as one of the best Celtic-based fingerpickers on the scene...” Acoustic Guitar (USA) “ .. a first-class guitarist ...... a brilliant fingerpicker!“ The Times (GB) "..one of the most important guitarists of our time" FOLKER (D) “This guitarist of rare sensitivity, with the magic touch, comes from Scotland and a beautiful ethereal mystique fills his whole album. You quickly get the strange sensation that there are two guitarists playing, but that is of course not the case. Ian mixes folk and classical approaches in a uniquely personal way and the result is breath-taking ……..” La Guitare (F)
Norwegian-Scottish Roots to New Acoustic Music Kerstin Blodig: vocals, guitar, bouzouki, bodhrán Ian Melrose: vocals, guitar, whistles, seljefløyte A voice as clear as water from the Norwegian fjords, a whistle like a breath of mist over the Scottish highlands and two beautifully harmonising and groovy guitars. Kelpie is two internationally renowned solo artists in their duo project. Flowing arrangements of ballads concerning Trolls, Kelpies and other water-spirits, driving up-tempo reels and hallings with plenty of room for spontaneous ideas and improvisation.
Three guitar virtuosos from different genres celebrate the guitar in its diversity Rüdiger Krause (electric guitar) Nikos Tsiachris (flamenco guitar) Ian Melrose (acoustic guitar, dobro) The repertoire of the international trio ranges from classical music, jazz, pop, rock and blues to flamenco and world music. Ian Melrose (Scotland), Rüdiger Krause (Germany) and Nikos Tsiachris (Greece), who have already toured together for several years as part of the guitar festival “Four Styles”, celebrate the guitar in its enormous diversity. The three experienced guitarists transcend stylistic boundaries with their exciting original compositions: the wistful melancholic expanse of a Celtic ballad is transformed into a fiery Spanish Buleria; an intense blues becomes a sweat-inducing Balkan jazz piece. In addition there are very original interpretations of well-known classics ranging from Bach and Mozart through to Dave Brubeck and Eric Clapton. With an irrepressible desire for tonal beauty, improvisation and adventure, the virtuoso trio proves once again why the guitar is one of the world’s most popular instruments.