Fiona Soe Paing: Sand,Silt, Flint with Quinie

Aberdeenshire singer and producer Fiona Soe Paing’s album Sand, Silt, Flint is brought to life in a hypnotic audiovisual show. Part live concert, part filmic journey, the show draws audiences into the Scottish landscapes and stories that inspired each song, from the bleak expanses of The Cairngorms to the dramatic Banffshire coast. Set against breath-taking films by artist Isla Goldie, location footage is layered with archive maps, charting a dreamlike journey through time and place. The recorded score, rich with archival audio, electronic textures, field recordings, and contributions from some of the regions finest traditional and contemporary musicians including Paul Anderson and Alice Allen, creates an evocative backdrop to Fiona’s otherworldly live vocal performance.

Quinie works with Scots song as an evolving tradition. She explores the connection between voice and piping, drawing on the repertoire of Lizzie Higgins and poet Marion Angus. Her 2025 album Forefowk, Mind Me bridges folk and experimental music, weaving Scots, Irish, and Gaelic melodies with original compositions, improvisation, and poetry. The Guardian named it Folk Album of the Month, describing it as “alive with ideas.” For this special Celtic Connections performance, Quinie is joined by her full band, Ailbhe Nic Oireachtaigh (viola), Oliver Pitt (duduk), Harry Górski-Brown (smallpipes), and Stevie Jones (double bass). The result is, in the words of Songlines, “arresting, demanding, revealing and absorbing... once heard, unforgotten. These songs travel.”