Shetland Folk Festival veteran and "weel kent' Shetland musician Jenny Henry will collaborate with a few of the musical friends she has made over many years of participating in the local music scene. These days, she is the famous front woman of the Shetland Mandolin Band, actively encouraging Mandolin players of all ages and abilities to get together frequently for a tune.
Jenny actually played at the very first folk festival in 1981 in the band known (inadvertently) as 'The Wiz Band', which became 'Joost Wiz', and again at festivals over the years with Davie Henry (Hom Bru) and various other friends. Since 2014 Jenny has taught mandolin at High Level Music, which led to the formation of the Shetland Mandolin Band in 2015, with the main aim of providing a setting for her pupils and Shetland’s more experienced mandolin players to get together for tunes and keep the interest in mandolin playing strong. The band has proved extremely popular and we're regrettably not in a position to programme large acts for our 2022 edition but band practises continue and we look forward to programming them again in the near future.
Jenny has so far conscripted the very talented trio of Gary Peterson, Trevor Jamieson and Christine Hughson to join her on mandolins, with backing from Hamish Henderson (bass), Milford Georgeson (guitar) and her sister, Elizabeth Smith (piano).
The Shetland Folk Festival are very excited to see Jenny up on the stage with her "friends" this year and we know her own brand of witty banter will put a smile on many a face.
