Transatlantic Sessions

Transatlantic Sessions is the collective title for a series of musical productions by Glasgow-based Pelicula Films Ltd, funded by- and produced for BBC Scotland,BBC Four and RTÉ of Ireland. The productions comprise collaborative live performances by various leading folk and country musicians from both sides of the North Atlantic, playing music from Scotland, Ireland, England and North America, who congregate under the musical direction of Aly Bain and Jerry Douglas to record and film a set of half-hour TV episodes. The Television director is Mike Alexander and the producer is Douglas Eadie.

In addition to the TV productions, public performances of the Transatlantic Sessions have been staged recently by some of the participating artists, receiving critical acclaim in the press and six series albums have been released in both CD and DVD format by Whirlie Records (see also External links, below).

The first (Original) Transatlantic Sessions episode was produced in 1995 - a project conceived at that time by Douglas Eadie, Mike Alexander and Aly Bain. Subsequent sessions were produced in 1995, 1998, 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2013. To date, the series comprises the six sessions shown below in the History (listed in reverse-chronological order).

For each session, the producer and directors select a special setting - typically a country manor, lodge or hotel in Scotland where the musicians perform and stay while the session is recorded (see also below). Each session was filmed in a different location with the exception of Series 4 and 5 which were both filmed in the same house, the hunting lodge at Glen Lyon near Aberfeldy in Perthshire. Series 6 was filmed and recorded at a location on the banks of Loch Lomond.

Participating musicians vary from session to session but, since the first session, a format has been followed where a core of musicians forms the House Band and each session features additional guest artists.

(2013 / directed by Jerry Douglas and Aly Bain). Recorded at Loch Lomond, Scotland.

For each track, the main performer's name is shown in brackets (they are not necessarily the composer).

(2011 / directed by Jerry Douglas and Aly Bain). Recorded at a hunting lodge at Glen Lyon near Aberfeldy in the Perthshire Highlands of Scotland.

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