Rant

Scottish chamber folk supergroup Rant, comprising four of the nation's finest fiddle players, reinvigorate the folk idiom with avant-garde influences to create some of the most interesting sounds in the genre. Rant was formed in the early 2010s by sisters Jenna and Bethany Reid, from Shetland, and Lauren MacColl and Anna Massie, both from the Highlands. Each was already well known in her own right, and all knew one another from their appearances on the folk scene. The quartet debuted in 2013 with their eponymous album, which combined the Norse-influenced Shetland tradition with the Gaelic and added a dash of avant-garde and chamber music influences. The album was a success and the group widely hailed, winning a Herald Angel award at that year's Edinburgh Festival. In 2014, they made a guest appearance on the album Gach Sgeul by Julie Fowlis, with whom Jenna Reid had played in Dòchas. That year they were nominated for Best Traditional Song at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, and in 2016 as Folk Band of the Year at the Scots Trad Awards, the same year they released their sophomore album, Reverie; Fowlis returned the favor by guesting on one track. Their third album, 2019's The Portage, was quickly recorded over four days at Glasgow's historic Mackintosh Queen's Cross Church. More "avant" than ever and yet still accessible, it saw MacColl switching to viola on a couple of tracks. ~ John D. Buchanan