Abby Newton

USA

Abby Newton is well known for her groundbreaking work in the revival of cello in American and Scottish traditional music. In the the mid-seventies, she began performing with John Cohen and Jay Ungar in the Putnam String County Band, making it the first modern string band with a cello. At the same time, she began recording and has produced and performed on over a hundred folk recordings, including 16 with Scottish singer Jean Redpath.

Abby's solo CDs, "Crossing to Scotland" (1997) and "Castles, Kirks, and Caves" (2001), have earned her critical acclaim both in the US and abroad, and her influence on the folk cello movement has been the subject of a feature on National Public Radio in the US. The tunes from each recording are also available in book form.

In addition to many workshops conducted in Scotland promoting the use of the cello as both a melodic and rhythmic instrument in traditional music, Abby has taught in the US at Gaelic Roots, the National Strings Workshop, the Swannanoa Gathering and Rocky Mountain Fiddle Camp.

Abby first came to Celtic Colours with Ferintosh in 2003. She returns this year as part of the Fiddletree project.