An all-star line-up of musicians and singers from Fife, many of whom went on to become household names in the 1970s and 80s, are reuniting for one night only.
For the likes of Barbara Dixon and Rab Noakes, the now legendary Great Fife Road Show tour in 1970 was a chance to test their brand of Scottish folk in front of a mass audience for the first time.
The enterprise gave the pair their first foot on a ladder to eventual musical stardom and now the surviving members of the musical collective, including Maureen (Chalmers) Blyth, Davie Craig, Barbara Dickson, Noel Farrow, Cilla Fisher, Jim Herd, Jimmy Hutchison, Brian Miller, Rab Noakes, Davey Stewart and Artie Trezise, are returning to the stage early in the new year for a much anticipated one-off show to celebrate the tour’s 50th anniversary.
The Lochgelly Centre will provide the perfect backdrop in January as the group rekindle old friendships some five decades on.
Rab said the tour had its roots in late 1969 when a troupe of singers from the Fife folk scene gathered themselves together for a trip to Belfast.
“The occasion was an invitation to provide a show around Folksong from Scotland at Queens University,” he said.
“Later that year a wee tour of East Anglia was undertaken and here the name The Great Fife Road Show was unveiled.
“As 1970 emerged, ambition was rife and a tour over the summer months was suggested. And so it came to pass. The numbers expanded and the tour was plotted and we covered all points across Scotland, from Dumfries to Ullapool and a total of some 25 dates.”
Today, that tour of Scotland back in 1970 has gained legendary status among folk music aficionados and the forthcoming show promises a treat for fans as it will revisit some of those original ensemble pieces and solo performances.
Performers will also pay special tribute to singer and guitarist Des Haldane, who died in 2008, while a segment of the show will be devoted to the much loved and greatly missed John Watt featuring several of his most popular compositions.
The Great Fife Road Show comes to Lochgelly Centre on Saturday January 18, 2020, tickets priced £10 are available now from the box office or online at www.onfife.com.
