Swinging on Birches
Swinging on Birches play traditional music with influences from Scotland, America and England.
An exciting, innovative new trio consisting of Juliette Lemoine (cello), Madeleine Stewart (fiddle), and Heather Cartwright (guitar/vocals). The band weave songs, tunes and harmonies across cello, fiddle and guitar, creating lush, intricate pieces. Their music is drawn from their shared love of Scottish traditional music, though each musician brings her own interpretation through different musical backgrounds. Juliette plays trad/jazz fusion in her own band and studied classical music, Heather sings her own songs as well as traditional ones and plays fingerstyle guitar/folk music, and Madeleine plays in a trad/classical string quartet and has been playing traditional fiddle music since childhood. Each of the trio has been making her mark in the UK music scene individually, and they are now joining forces to form Swinging on Birches.
Autumn Tour
03.10
House Concert Edinburgh
18.10
The Vault Arts Centre Dumfries & Galloway
08.11
Green Note London
16.11
Scots Fiddle Fest Edinburgh
18.11
The Blue Lamp Aberdeen
21.11
The Gregson Centre Lancaster
23.11
The Rum Shack Glasgow
28.11
The Sunart Centre Strontian
About
Heather Cartwright is a Glasgow-based folk guitarist and singer from Cumbria. Her virtuosic fingerstyle and flat-picked guitar playing provides a vibrant backdrop to her well-crafted self-penned songs and interpretations of traditional material. Her song writing draws upon old stories, her own life experiences growing up in the Lake District, and poetry, old and new. Her budding solo career has lead to her supporting Kris Drever in his Autumn tour (2024) and performing at the likes of the prestigious Ullapool guitar festival. Heather is also regularly seen performing with her duo partners; Scots Singer of the Year (2022), Beth Malcolm; Young Traditional Musician of the year finalist (2022), Sam Mabbett; and has also toured and performed with Hannah Rarity, Josie Duncan and Ainsley Hamill. These ensembles have taken her playing all over Scotland, such as at Orkney and Shetland Folk Festival, Edinburgh Tradfest, The Reeling, and Celtic Connections, as well as internationally, including festivals such as Rudolstadt, FÁILTE Scottish and Irish weekend. Heather is a proud member of Live Music Now Scotland, delivering a range of interactive and formal performances in community settings.
Scottish cellist Juliette Lemoine is looking to explore and redefine the cello’s role within Scottish Traditional Music. She burst on the scene with her debut album ‘Soaring’ which launched with a sold-out headline show at Celtic Connections 2023, going on to be long-listed for the Scottish Album of the Year Award 2023. Juliette is fascinated by the cello’s potential to take on a lead melodic role in a traditional music context, in the way a fiddle typically would, and finding ways to retain the same fluidity, bowing style, ornaments and authenticity. In addition to playing her own music with her band, she performs in a duo with tenor guitarist Chris Amer and the newly formed trio ‘Swinging on Birches’. Recent highlights include joining the band MONO on their ‘OATH’ European tour (2024), performing at London Jazz Festival with duo partner Chris Amer (2024) and performing in the GRIT orchestra at Edinburgh International Festival (2023,2024).
‘A seamless fusion of Scottish traditional music and jazz, with the cello — an unusual star in both these traditions — to the fore.’ —The Arts Desk
Madeleine’s music is rooted in the traditional music of New England. She moved to Glasgow from New Hampshire in 2014 to study at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and earned a BMus (Hons) in Traditional Music. In 2023, she was a finalist in the BBC Young Traditional Musician of the Year competition, and her trio was nominated for Up and Coming Musician of the Year at the MG Alba Scottish Music Awards. She has played at festivals including Celtic Connections and Celtic Colours, and has toured in the UK, the US and Europe. She currently plays with the Routes Quartet, folk-fusion band Eriska, fiddle-cello duo the Peanut Gallery, and with Rory Matheson and Craig Baxter in the Madeleine Stewart Trio. Routes is a string quartet that plays traditional music and original compositions; in contrast, Eriska explores the wide ranges of influences and musical tendencies of each of its individual members. The Peanut Gallery is a blend of Scottish and American styles, while the trio is grounded by Madeleine’s own tunes and style.
Swinging on Birches 