Bare Knuckle (2017) is a contrasting response to the music we had created for White Nights. There are obvious links with our ‘northern inspirations’ but this album became much more about rhythms and grooves, catchy and immediate melodies. Perhaps more ‘pop’ in feel than White Nights. In the year of its release we were awarded the title of ‘Best Duo’ at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. An award that we are extremely proud to have received.

Seeker Reaper Dealer in Hope Louise’s Waltz Moscow Rush Time to Retreat Tingaholm Bare Knuckle Stealthy Schooner Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4 Preludio

Review The Herald 2nd Dec 2017 Rob Adams Bare Knuckle denotes the gloves coming off and it’s an apt title not just for the track of that name but for the album as a whole. This is a duo exposing flesh and feelings in a series of conversations that can go right out to the edge of musical expression, sometimes ecstatically, as in the extraordinary, dizzying, adrenaline-fuelled Moscow Rush, sometimes atmospherically, as witness the keening, majestic impressionism of Tingaholm. Stout’s tonal range and bow mastery – now gliding on Villa-Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras No 4 Preludio, now choppy as the North Sea in winter – and McKay’s sense of enquiry and harmonic strumming and shape-forming are as breathtaking as they are excitingly, gorgeously, emotionally satisfying. A landmark release.

CD recorded with Catriona Mckay and Irish singing legend Seamus Begley

A stunning live recording of Sally Beamish' 'Seavaigers'. A concerto especially composed for myself, Catriona Mckay and the Scottish Ensemble. The Caird Hall, Dundee proved a spectacular setting and acoustic to make this recoding in.

The Strad Issue: January 2012 Description: Sparks fly in a multi-continental meeting of fiddle traditions Musicians: Chris Stout (fiddle) Thomas Rohrer (rabeca/saxophone) Catriona McKay (harp) Carlinhos Antunes (guitar/vocals) Ian Stephenson (guitar) Rui Barossi, Neil Harland (double bass) MartinuO’Neill (bodhran) Composer: Trad.

Shetland fiddler Chris Stout leads a pan-global gathering on this recording from the 2010 edition of Celtic Connections, a traditional music festival that’s become known for adventurous international collaborations. In this Euro–Brazilian hybrid, it’s the São Paulo-based Carlinhos Antunes, Rui Barossi and Thomas Rohrer who provide the dominant sound signature. Antunes’s sprightly guitar and exuberant vocalisations are balanced by the Swiss-born Rohrer’s versatility on the Brazilian fiddle. The rabeca sounds bright and rustic alongside Stout’s fiddle in the playfully rhythmic Xaxados y perdidos, but noticeably darker and more resonant in the long Pé quebrado, which features a mesmerising dialogue between Catriona McKay and Stout that becomes absorbed in a brief flurry of mass free improvisation.

The group’s jazz sensibilities are also evident in Latina, an elegant navigation of Latin rhythms, complete with stylish saxophone solo. Stout’s own Fisherman’s Prayer and Devil’s Advocate are straighter, the former full of long lines and spare textures, the latter fiery and propulsive, with sharply accented fiddles and biting bodhran. The sympathy between the musicians, combined with a palpable playfulness and freedom, means that the album is no mere exercise in cross-cultural fusion, but more an experimental celebration of styles and rhythms, and one that deserves to be repeated by such a committed collective.

Recording engineer Niall Macaulay delivers a full, vibrant sound, that captures beautifully the placement of individual instruments on the Glasgow City Halls stage.

(May 2004) 8 tracks: Hillswick * Scandanonymous * Jeg Der Deg Sote Lam / Norwegian Hymn * Double Helix * Da Day Dawn / Greenland Man’s Tune * First ‘O The Darkenin / Baak-High * Three Reels * Hamnataing.

Chris Stout has featured in a number of successful bands, predominantly as the leading fiddler in Shetland group Fiddlers’ Bid but also in The Finlay MacDonald Band and the internationally renowned Salsa Celtica.

A welcome debut solo album from a great talent.

Chris (fiddle) is joined by Catriona McKay (harp, keyboards), Fraser Fifield (pipes, saxophone), Ewen Vernal (bass) and Malcolm Stitt (guitar).

Chris Stout - winner of the 2013 MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards Instrumentalist Of The Year

(October 2005) 9 tracks: Smugglers * Hangman's Reel * The Black Ship * Laebrack * Turns * Bride's March * End Of The Line * Da Shaalds o' Foula * Eileen's Lament.

Laebrack features Catriona McKay (Scottish harp) and Chris Stout (fiddle, viola), both members of the thrilling seven-piece Shetland band Fiddlers' Bid, currently one of Scotland’s hottest musical exports. Both also perform regularly as a duo.

Catriona won the Jakez Francois International Celtic Harp Competition 2004 in France, and Chris is also well known for his work with the Chris Stout Band and Salsa Celtica. His first solo album, on Greentrax - First O' The Darkenin' - received three nominations for STMA awards in 2004.

The duo partnership of nine years has allowed a very special development of the fiddle and Scottish harp between Catriona and Chris. Their repertoire consists of traditional Shetland, Scottish and Irish tunes, along with newly penned material.

With only two instruments they create a world of sounds and their virtuoso playing leaves audiences energised and calling for more - bold, and at the cutting-edge of traditional music in the 21st century.

They have performed in the UK, Ireland, Europe and the USA, including the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for several years, and a five week concert tour of Germany and Switzerland.

Chris Stout - winner of the 2013 MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards Instrumentalist Of The Year

Catriona McKay - winner of the 2007 Scots Trad Music Awards Instrumentalist Of The Year

“worth buying for its stunning opening track alone” The Scotsman "a gobsmakingly wonderful duo.” TAPLAS “This really is a stunning album...truly inspired." FIDDLE ON “glittering harp work...exceptional bow control” The STRAD “clear and strong...always a startling freshness and spontaneity at work...virtuosic and physically engaging...” Live at the Queen's Hall The Glasgow Herald “Catriona McKay’s possession of the harp is without compare, bristling with vitality and rhythmic intensity” Irish Times “...Chris’ typically sinuous, shimmering and soaring melodies, fluent and expressive, over the harp’s rhythmic detail, whether pulsing surges or intricate ripples. Intense, dynamic, restless and complex...” Living Tradition

1. Missing You – Catriona McKay – mcps/prs
2. Isflak Stout’s Trip - Catriona McKay - mcps/prs Isflak Reel - Catriona McKay - mcps/prs Å – Chris Stout – mcps/prs
3. White Nights – Chris Stout – mcps/prs
4. Trow’s Jig - Chris Stout - mcps/prs
5. Eira Eira - Catriona McKay - mcps/prs Parting of Friends - Trad. Irish
6. A Home under every Tree - Catriona McKay - mcps/prs
7. Roddy Sinclair’s - Chris Stout - mcps/prs
8. Edges & High Water – Catriona McKay & Chris Stout - mcps/prs
9. Michaelswood - Chris Stout - mcps/prs All music composed and arranged by Catriona McKay & Chris Stout (except track 6 Parting of Friends – trad. arr. McKay & Stout)

Chris Stout - winner of the 2013 MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards Instrumentalist Of The Year.

(June 2007) 9 tracks: The Devil's Advocate * Bamboo Dancer * Auld Swaara * Phil's Tune * The Airth Rant * Fisherman's Prayer * The Sheriff * Nanny and Andrew * Dynrost.

Chris Stout is a member of top Shetland band Fiddlers' Bid - he is also a member of The Finlay MacDonald Band he works as a duo with harpist Catriona MacKay (also of Fiddlers' Bid).

Following on from Chris's widely praised first album First O' The Darkenin', Devil's Advocate marks a major leap forward in the career of this remarkable musician and composer.

Acclaimed on their live debut for taking traditional music into exciting new territories, the quintet has developed into an international class outfit, demonstrating the discipline of a classical ensemble and a jazz group's sense of adventure, while celebrating all the spirit and flair of traditional music.

Devil's Advocate intentionally reflects - and provides a natural link between - Chris's love of both traditional and contemporary music. The joyously skirling opening track and the closing, deeply emotive Dynrost are rearranged movements from Chris's successful commission for the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra performed at Celtic Connections 2007.

In between, the music covers an amazing dynamic range from atmospheric solo fiddle airs and intricate, quicksilver ensemble passages to the kind of rollicking Shetland-Scandinavian hoolie that Chris's fans from Fiddlers' Bid know so well.

It's all played with passion, precision and huge musicality by Chris (fiddle, viola), Fraser Fifield (saxophone), Catriona McKay (piano and harp), Neil Harland (double bass) and Malcolm Stitt (guitar).

Chris' first solo album First O' The Darkenin' was nominated for both the BBC Folk Awards and The Scots Trad Awards of 2004.

"There are some who can play like nobody's business and set the heather on fire in the process, and there are those who are possessed to the extent that they achieve standards that are out there beyond the reach of almost anyone else. Stout sets a new benchmark." (Maverick Magazine)