American musicians en route to Thomas Fraser Festival

American musicians Chris Scruggs and John Lilly are making final preparations in advance of flying to Shetland for next week’s Thomas Fraser Festival.

Lilly is warming up with a few dates in the north of Scotland, where he will be promoting his new CD Live on Red Barn Radio. He is flying high after recently winning first place in the US acoustic awards for Next Great Road Song.

Meanwhile Scruggs returns to Shetland with perhaps the most coveted honour that any country musician can aspire to. In the spring of this year he performed at the Grand Ole Opry and he has since been back on the hallowed stage on a regular basis, both as a solo act and with his mother, Gail Davies.

Scruggs has also been supplementing his musical work with an acting role. He has just stepped off set from a major Hollywood production based on a fictional country singer, played by Gwyneth Paltrow.

A spokesman for the Thomas Fraser Festival said: “This is a unique opportunity to see two leading American country musicians at the top of their game.

“If you are into music, this is a genuine once in a lifetime opportunity – it’s not often you see a multiple award winning US musician and a Grand Ole Opry performer on the same stage in Shetland.”