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Shoormal - Shetland dialect for 'where the shore meets the sea' - are all native to Shetland and first emerged as a band at the Shetland Folk Festival in 1998. Unusually for the islands, the band's strength lies in outstanding songwriting and singing with the Shetland dialect well to the fore rather than the more favoured fiddle-driven instrumental music we know and love. Singers Freda Leask, Joyce McDill and Donna Smith joined forces in 1997 to create a three-part harmony sound that has become a Shoormal trademark and over the years have been joined by Trevor Smith (guitar), Gregg Arthur (piano and accordion), Jonathan Ritch (bass), Archer Kemp (drums) and Gordon Tulloch (guitar). Shoormal's music blends traditional and contemporary styles in an acoustic setting with Joyce McDill and Freda Leask writing much of the band's material. This is a very rare opportunity to see this very talented outfit on the mainland.