PRESS RELEASE
13th April 2005

Blas Festival to Feature Dòchas and Julie Fowlis

Among the first confirmed of the exciting talents being lined up for the Blas Festival later this summer is the group, Dòchas. They have signed up to play at Edinbane in Skye and Durness in Sutherland during the Festival in September. This has delighted Blas Festival organisers since attracting Dòchas at a time when they are really taking the traditional music scene by storm is a great coup. Blas will also be graced by solo performances by Julie Fowlis, Dòchas's lead singer. She will appear at concerts in Lochalsh and at the Lyth Arts Centre during the festival.

Dòchas features five girls from the Highlands and Islands who play fiddle, accordion, pipes, whistles, clàrsach, piano and guitar, complemented by powerful and poignant Gaelic Singing. Martin O'Neill, who plays the bodhran, is the only male in the group.

Since releasing their debut album in 2002, Dòchas have rocketed to success with sell-out shows throughout Scotland, Europe and the United States, thus ensuring further tours in Ireland, Europe and Canada in 2004. The success of the band led them to be nominated as Best Newcomers 2003 at the Scottish Traditional Music Awards. In addition to this, the band's fiddler Jenna Reid has been named as a semi-finalist at the Young Scottish Traditional Musician of the Year 2004 competition. Dòchas have now released a second CD which already looks set to better the great success of the first.

Dòchas have just returned from a successful tour of Austria. This followed on from Julie's first solo tour which saw her performing to large and appreciative audiences throughout the north and west of Scotland. This coincided with the launch of Julie's first solo CD 'mar a tha mo chridhe/as my heart is'. "It was really nice to come back on a high from these tours", Julie enthuses, "and then to be told that our dates with the Blas Festival had been confirmed. We're very excited about being involved in Blas - the idea is a great one and it'll surely be a tremendous success this year and in future years". Kathleen Boyle, who plays accordion and piano in Dòchas agrees. "Blas is shaping up nicely in its inaugural year and we're proud to be involved with it.  I am sure it will grow into one of the foremost music festivals in Scotland and beyond."