Seirm - Season 5

The first episode of Seirm is presented by Mary Ann Kennedy and Dòmhnall Eòghainn MacKinnon. Filmed in the atmospheric Hillhead Bookclub before an audience at the Celtic Connections music festival in January 2019, this eclectic show features lively performances from the best of the festival alongside some unique musical collaborations.

Appearing in this episode are stars of Americana, The Local Honeys; acclaimed singer Blue Rose Code; Dreamer's Circus - a band with jazz, classical and trad music roots; and the renowned Lahira. A line-up guaranteed to raise your spirits.

Loudon Wainwright III has enjoyed a remarkable career in music and has a natural songwriting gift. Armed only with a guitar, Wainwright is as sharp as ever, tearing into his back catalogue with considerable gusto. Tim O'Brien is a veteran of folk and bluegrass, a versatile singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Here, his sound is given a melodic lift with a warm harmony vocal from O'Brien's partner Jan Fabricius, supplementing his own considerable gifts as a talented musician and interpreter of songs. Composer Gillebrìde MacMillan brings a formidably talented band to Hillhead Bookclub to lend sonic heft to a clutch of his brand new songs.

Lush harmonies and delicate emotion take flight in the bewitching sound woven by SIAN, the gifted trio of Gaelic singers who are champions of their musical heritage. Together, Skye's Eilidh Cormack, Ceithlin LR Smith from Lewis and Ellen MacDonald with her North Uist lineage are somehow greater than the sum of their mighty musical parts. The Co Cavan musician and composer Gráinne Brady brings a set based on her concept album The Road Across The Hills to Seirm. Inspired by Patrick McGill's gritty novel Children of the Dead End, Brady creates a stunning soundtrack around this influential book.

In this episode, Allan Henderson pays homage to some musical heroes, taking viewers on a journey to his musical beginnings. Joined by a stellar group, he revisits the music that provided inspiration for his life during his formative years as a musician.

Scottish folk singer Emily Smith and musical partner Jamie McClennan are amongst the most vibrant duos on the folk scene today. Performing original songs by McClennan, the couple showcase a new sound owing as much to America as it does to Scotland. Their session in this episode includes warm performances of the personal and moving songs Firefly and The Sweetest Girl, and Emily's love of transatlantic sounds takes on a gentle Nashville influence.

In this episode, the much-missed band Deaf Shepherd, who cut a swathe through traditional music in the 90s. Newly reformed, the group makes an eagerly anticipated appearance on Seirm with an extended cast list made of the many musicians who passed through the Deaf Shepherd ranks. The band proves that their years apart haven't removed their lustre or musical heft, and this performance comes with sparkling displays of musicality.

Malky's Reels, Maggie Cameron's and Spice of Life are just three musical treasures from a wide collective repertoire built on combining traditional songs with newer works. On this showing, Deaf Shepherd remain a musical tour de force, adept at combining traditions from all corners of Scotland.

The final episode of Seirm is built on JigJam, a multi-award winning quartet, who have carved out a reputation as an exhilarating live act. JigJam blend the best of traditional Irish music with bluegrass and Americana, in the process forging a new musical genre, dubbed 'I-Grass' - Irish-influenced bluegrass.

With just two studio albums, they have now developed their own unique style of music influenced by American folk music whilst staying true to their Irish roots. Already festival favourites, the four multi-instrumentalists in JigJam interchange between banjos, guitars, fiddles, mandolins and double bass.