Poozies in Gaziantep [above & below]
Poozies in Ankara
The Poozies, who are one of the most influential folk bands, visited Turkey in November 1998 for a series of concerts through the British Council. When I first heard of The Poozies, I wondered what does the band�s name means, and after a brief search, I read in a folk music magazine that, before forming of the band, three of the musicians met at Poosie Nancy�s Pub in Ayrshire, talked about music, decided to form an all-female band, and they named themselves as The Poozies for the memory of the pub. On the other hand, as Karen told me after a concert that the dictionary-meaning of �poozies� was �pirates�!
The Poozies were originally formed with harp players Mary MacMaster and Patsy Seddon, guitarist Sally Barker, accordion player Karen Tweed and fiddler Jenny Gardner. Later on, Barker and Gardner quit for solo projects, and the multi-talented guitar and fiddle player Kate Rusby joined the band. Despite this foursome play as The Poozies, they also have different bands and solo works for years: The harp duo Mary MacMaster and Patsy Seddon play as �Sileas� since the late 80s. Karen Tweed has various works with other musicians and she also plays in the Swedish-British folk band Sw�p. Kate Rusby worked with Kathryn Roberts and made a self-titled album that polled the best folk album of the year in 1995 by the FolkRoots, and later on went solo.
Unfortunately, Patsy Seddon didn't come to Turkey for health reasons, however, luckily she was replaced by Eilidh Shaw, a respected Scottish fiddle player. Despite they define themselves as �mainly a vocal group�, their virtuosity on their instruments were considerable. The set list was mostly consisted of their third album �Infinite Blue�, and some songs from the earlier albums �Dansoozies� and �Chantoozies�. They played lots of jigs and reels as well as beautifully crafted ballads that made me imagine the greenary of the British countryside. The highlights of the concerts were �Neptune�, a sad love song with Kate Rusby on lead vocal, �Sorrows Away�, another ballad sung by Kate only and with no instruments, �Cotton Mill Girls� that was sung with the contribution of the audience on choruses, and James Taylor�s �That Lonesome Road� with harmony vocals only. One of the interesting points of the concerts was informing the audience about the tales of the songs which were mostly based on Scottish, Gaelic and English myths and legends.
Kathryn Tickell in Ankara
Kathryn Tickell Band & me after the concert