Blackwaterside

My guests loved the Blackwaterside trio! It was fun, true music and very nice atmosphere for our UK party! Thank you very much and of course book you again in the future.

Best, Svetlana

Susan and her accomplished partners provided beautiful music for the picture and live audio perfect wedding cocktail reception. She was great to work with and customized the selections and performance to play wonderful pieces we loved.

Susan worked me to provide a duo, consisting of
guitar/vocals and flute/lrish whistle. This was perfect for my small event and budget. She called me several weeks in advance to introduce herself and the day before the event as well. This made my event planning stress free. There performance was great. Will definitely book them again.

Blackwaterside brought a wonderful atmosphere to our wedding reception, and everyone loved their performance! If you would like to bring that beautiful and rich cultural element that celtic music can provide, I completely recommend working with Blackwaterside!

This group is very pro and they really entertained public - people were cheering and clapping and enjoying the music. Was great! Will invite them again. Thank you!

Best, Svetlana

Lovely duo with guitar and flute....perfect for our event and Susan was so wonderful to work with....

Whether it’s the Celtic music savvy crowd at a Scottish Highland Games or the families at a Sunday concert in the park, Blackwaterside never fails to capture an audience. I know that any time I book these four musicians, it’ll be a great show.

Susan Winsberg leads the group with her flutes and whistles. Drawing on her Scottish heritage, she interprets the traditional music of Scotland and Ireland with great skill. She moves easily from the familiar silver flute to the piccolo, a wonderfully mellow wooden flute, and Irish whistles. The incredible sound of her bass flute (Christa calls it “Nessie”) always gives me shivers.

I love to hear Christa Burch sing. Her voice is rich and warm, and she is great interpreter of the Irish and Scottish music she loves. Her lively and expressive bodhrán playing adds a happy touch to the music. Guitarist Sean Clegg’s background in classical and rock music informs his interpretation of the Celtic repertoire. His interplay with Susan’s flute adds a great depth to the music, and it’s a treat when he takes a vocal solo. Tim Blair plays recorder or whistle in harmony with Susan’s flute, and he adds percussion to the band with his bodhrán and bones.

With any great band, the total performance is more than the sum of the individual contributions of its members, and that’s certainly true for Blackwaterside. The show is always hugely entertaining, and the audience leaves with a smile.

Dick Jay
Chairfolk, San Diego Folk Heritage
Entertainment Director, San Diego Scottish Highland Games

Blackwaterside is our go to band for all our Scottish themed events. The group led by Grammy award winner Susan Craig Winsberg embodies incredible musical and vocal talent. Over the many years the St. Andrew’s Society of Los Angeles has worked with Susan, she and her band have never failed to deliver. There are other Celtic bands out there but as the leading organization in Los Angeles devoted to the promotion and preservation of Scottish culture we demand the real thing and that is why we repeatedly rely on Susan and Blackwaterside.