THE NATIONAL THEATRE OF SCOTLAND
RETURNS TO TEXAS PERFORMING ARTS
WITH A U.S. PREMIERE!

LONG GONE LONESOME
A MUSICAL CELEBRATION OF THE LIFE OF THOMAS FRASER

JANUARY 19 – 21, 2012
BASS CONCERT HALL
INTIMATE ON-STAGE SEATING!

After the evening performances, there will be a prize drawing and dancing in the Texas dance hall tradition with music by the Lone Star Swing Band.

Written by Duncan McLean
Directed by Vicky Featherstone

Featuring The Lone Star Swing Band
Duncan McLean (vocals and guitar)
Dick Levens (lap steel and electric mandolin)
Iain Tait (double bass)
Lynda Anderson (fiddle)

PRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH FUSEBOX FESTIVAL

“…a curious hybrid of music and theatre that recalls the Ceilidh spirit of John McGrath’s The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil… a rousing set of blues-tinged Americana standards that, with fiddle and slide guitar, make the connection between windswept island and lonesome prairie.” – The Guardian

“It’s a cheery piece of work, with a bit of Country and Western keenly thrown in, a couple of the sort of lines quoted you expect to hear late on after a few whiskies.” – hi-arts.co.uk

The National Theatre of Scotland, having played to sold out performances of Black Watch last season, returns to the Bass Concert Hall stage with an evening of song and story-telling about one of Scotland’s least known but most fascinating musical heroes, Thomas Fraser. Texas Performing Arts presents the U.S. premiere of Long Gone Lonesome, January 19-21 at Bass Concert Hall. For this groundbreaking presentation, all seating will be on the Bass Concert Hall stage in a rare and intimate configuration.

Dunan McLean’s poignant tribute to Thomas Fraser has been beguiling audiences across Scotland and beyond since 2009. The band heads back out on the road again to the USA in February 2012, opening the tour in Austin at Bass Concert Hall. Duncan McLean on guitar and vocals is joined by Dick Levens on lap steel guitar and mandolin, Iain Tait on electric bass and Lynda Anderson on fiddle.

Thomas Fraser of Burra Isle, Shetland, a fisherman and crofter, died in 1978 at age 50, following an accident at sea. Thomas was dedicated to his art, mastering the styles of his heroes – especially pioneering country singer Jimmie Rodgers, America’s Blue Yodeler – and making the songs his own. He was also an intensely private man, avoiding public performance and preferring to play in the privacy of his own croft. During his life he recorded thousands of songs at home using a reel-to-reel recorder. His tapes were only discovered 25 years later by his grandson who compiled and released them as the album Long Gone Lonesome Blues in 2002. Thomas Fraser is now acknowledged as a country music legend. The Thomas Fraser Memorial Festival is held in Burra Isle each November. A fifth CD, Just Call Me Lonesome, was released in 2010.

For more information on Long Gone Lonesome, please visit texasperformingarts.org/season/lonesome.

CAMPUS & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT EVENTS:

Wednesday, January 18, 2012, Noon
City of Austin Senior Activity Center (2874 Shoal Crest Ave.)
Brown Bag Lunch with Long Gone Lonesome Company members.

Thursday, January 19, 2012, 7:00 p.m.
Bass Concert Hall
Pre-performance lecture by Neil Murray, Executive Director of the National Theatre of Scotland.

CALENDAR LISTING:

January 19 – 21, 2012–Texas Performing Arts presents the National Theatre of Scotland: Long Gone Lonesome at Bass Concert Hall (E. 23rd St. and Robert Dedman Dr). A map of the campus: TexasPerformingArts.org/visit/maps_directions. Performance times are Thursday – Saturday at 8:00 p.m., with a 2:00 p.m. matinee on Saturday. Tickets ($32 / Limited $10 student tickets / discounted tickets available for UT faculty & staff, seniors and Military) are on sale now at authorized ticket outlets, which include the Bass Concert Hall Box Office, most H-E-B stores and all Texas Box Office outlets, online at TexasPerformingArts.org, or by calling (512) 477-6060 or (800) 982-BEVO (2386).

After the evening performances, there will be a prize drawing and dancing in the Texas dance hall tradition with music by the Lone Star Swing Band.

PRESS CONTACT:
Gene Bartholomew
512.471.0632
gbartholomew@TexasPerformingArts.org

Download the Long Gone Lonesome press release – PDF 128KB