First Footers to get friendly with other isles musicians

Top local band First Foot Soldiers welcome the cream of Shetland’s musical talent on stage next Friday for a one-off gig at the Royal British Legion in Lerwick.

As well as core members Robert Balfour, Arthur Nicholson, Chris Thomson and Joe Watt, the concert will feature some of the best young musicians Shetland has to offer, and some of the slightly older ones too.

This band of “friends” will join First Foot Soldiers as special guests to play some big songs by The Who, Pink Floyd, Queen, Eagles and other rock greats.

The musicians joining on stage include versatile drummer Gwyn Davies, who previously played with the band at their stunning folk festival performance of Bohemian Rhapsody; champion fiddler Maggie Adamson, fresh from playing as part of the National Youth Orchestras of Scotland (NYOS) at the Royal Albert Hall; Max Tyler, Norman Willmore and Hayden Hook, who are recently back from playing with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Scotland; singer-songwriter Chloe Robertson, who just released her debut single Fish Out Of Water and last, but not least, guitarist Brian Nicholson, veteran of the Shetland music scene, playing in bands such as No Sweat, The Sheila Henderson Band and Hom Bru among too many to mention over the years.

Soldiers’ lead guitarist Arthur said: “We’ve had a number of people join us on stage for big songs in the past, some more planned than others. At the folk festival this year we played a few songs with extra people involved and we thought it would be good to do an entire show based around that.”

Drummer Robert said: “We’re fortunate that we’re able to attempt a wide range of songs with just the four of us, but bringing in other people gives us the chance to expand on what we already do. We hope folk will come along and enjoy a couple of cans and get as much joy out of the music as we do.”

Support on the night comes from local favourites MaSKArade, Maggie & Brian, and Shetland’s newest rhythm & blues band, Muddy Bay & The Deep Sea Rollers, making their debut on the night, prior to their appearance at the blues festival in September.

Tickets for the gig on 31st August are priced at £10 and available from High Level Music.