String duo

Simple Sounds

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About Simple Sounds

Top quality Violin/Vocal & Guitar Duo based in Glasgow available for ceilidhs, wedding ceremonies, drinks receptions and other events!
String duo
Glasgow
Public liability insurance of £10 million
Verified profile

Claire Philip - Violin/Vocals - Masters in Songwriting - Post Graduate Professional Diploma in Education - First class BA (Hons) Applied Music A graduate of the BA Applied Music degree, the PGDE teacher training at University of Strathclyde and the MA Masters in Songwriting from University West of Scotland, Claire studied violin and has performed at some of the most high profile venues in Scotland. With over fifteen years of solo performance experience and as an orchestral leader, she has developed a thorough knowledge of musical styles to compliment her classical training. In addition to her violin playing, Claire is a songwriter and enchanting singer. She can sing songs for first dances on advanced request. William Johnston - First Class BA (Hons) Applied Music, specialism in classical guitar - Grade 8 (Distinction) electric guitar A graduate from the University of Strathclyde with a first class honours in BA Applied Music, William has been making music on a professional level for fifteen years as a soloist, band member and orchestral musician. William was awarded the prestigious Alexander Stone Award for an outstanding solo guitar recital in 2014. He has performed classical guitar recitals around the country, and in addition to his rising solo career, he is in demand as a session guitarist of all genres and instrumentations including electric, acoustic, classical and bass guitar, as well as the viola.

Encore badges
5 gigs
Experienced: 5 bookings through Encore
Saved the day!
Booked for an Encore gig with less than 24 hours’ notice
7th Anniversary
This act has been working with Encore for over 7 years
Musicianship
Genres:
Ceilidh
See all genres
Event types:
Private event, Wedding, Corporate event, Charity event, Burns night, Birthday party, New Year's Eve
See all event types

Simple Sounds' Song list

POPULAR
All of Me – John Legend
All You Need is Love – The Beatles
Can’t Help Falling in Love - Elvis
Can’t Stop the Feeling – Justin Timberlake
Can’t Take My Eyes Off You – Franki Valli and the Four Seasons
Chasing Cars – Snow Patrol
Close to You – The Carpenters
Eternal Flame – The Bangles
Everything – Michael Buble
Everything I Do (I Do It For You) – from Robin Hood Prince of Thieves
Firework – Katy Perry
From This Moment On – Shania Twain
Go Your Own Way – Fleetwood Mac
God Only Knows – The Beach Boys
Greatest Day – Take That
Hallelujah – Leonard Cohen
Here, There and Everywhere – The Beatles
I’m Yours – Jason Mraz
I Won’t Give Up – Jason Mraz
Kiss Me – Sixpence None the Richer
The Long and Winding Road – The Beatles
Make You Feel My Love – Bob Dylan (Adele Version)
Over the Rainbow – Eva Cassidy Version
Shut Up and Dance With Me – Walk the Moon
Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours – Stevie Wonder
Songbird – Fleetwood Mac
Stand By Me – Ben E. King
There She Goes – The La’s
Thinking Out Loud – Ed Sheeran
A Thousand Years – Christina Perri
When You Say Nothing At All – from Notting Hill
Wherever You Will Go – The Calling
You Make My Dreams – Hall and Oates
Your Song – Elton John
You’re Still the One – Shania Twain
FILM
Fairytale - from Shrek
For the Love of a Princess - from Braveheart
Gabriel’s Oboe - from The Mission
Glasgow Love Theme - from Love Actually
Hogwarts Hymn - from Harry Potter
May it Be - from Lord of the Rings
Moon River - from Breakfast at Tiffany’s
My Heart Will Go On – from Titanic
Now We Are Free - from Gladiator
Portuguese Love Theme - from Love Actually
Pure Imagination – from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Tennessee - from Pearl Harbour
Valse d’Amelie - from Amelie
DISNEY
Beauty and the Beast - from Beauty and the Beast
Can You Feel the Love Tonight? - from Lion King
How Far I’ll Go - from Moana
If I Never Knew You - from Pocahontas
I See the Light - from Tangled
Love is an Open Door - from Frozen
Part of Your World – from The Little Mermaid
A Whole New World - from Aladdin
You’ve Got a Friend in Me - from Toy Story
CLASSICAL
Arioso - J. S. Bach
Cavatina - Myres
Canon in D – Pachelbel
Flower Duet – Delibes
Gymnopedie No. 1 – Satie
Hornpipe in D - Handel
I giorni - Einaudi
Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring - J. S. Bach
Jupiter (Main Theme) – Holst
Largo from “New World” Symphony - Dvorak
Largo from Winter - Vivaldi
Panis Angelicus - Franck
Salut d’amour – Elgar
Sheep May Safely Graze - J. S. Bach
The Swan (from Carnival of the Animals)– Saint-Saens
Traumerei - Schumann
Trumpet Tune - Purcell
Trumpet Voluntary – Clarke
Wachet auf - J. S. Bach
TRADITIONAL
Ae Fond Kiss
Amazing Grace
Another Stolen Kiss
Ashokan Farewell
Highland Cathedral
Home Away from Home
Hut On Staffen Island
Loch Lomond
My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose
Louis Wlatz
Ye Banks and Braes
(plus a variety of marches, jigs, reels and waltzes)
Customer questions

What do your clients love most about your performances?

We regularly get complimented on our versatility (covering violin and vocals along with guitar), our range of genres, and our ability to adapt to the particular event.

Which venues have you performed at in the past?

We are central Scotland based, we love venues like Oran Mor, Cottiers, Seamill Hydro, House for an Art Lover, Cornhill Castle, Crossbasket Castle, Trades Hall, but we have travelled the whole length and breadth of the country!

Which artists have you been most influenced by?

Top acoustic musicians such as James Taylor, Nora Jones, Eva Cassidy, traditional musicians such as Alasdair Fraser/Natalie Hass Duo, music from Riverdance, of course the superstars of pop and rock like The Beatles, Beach Boys, Queen, and also the greats of the classical world, J.S. Bach, Mozart, Luduvico Einaudi!

What is the most high profile gig you've performed?

We have played a few cool gigs for American business people wanting a taste of Scotish music at their events, but generally we just love to play at people's weddings, it's their chance to be high profile for the day!

Do you have different line-up options?

Simple Sounds only go out as a duo, however we provide violin and/or vocals and guitar, so we are very versatile, if you're interested in a bigger lineup for daytime music, please check our partnering group Simple Strings Quartet!

What if my timings change after I've booked you?

We always try our best to be flexible to help ensure your event runs as smoothly as possible. If timings change slightly in the run up to the event just let us know.

How much time do you need to set up?

For Ceremonies, we like to arrive 45mins-1hr before guests are due to arrive to give us time to setup, for Drinks Receptions we can usually be setup in 30 mins. For ceilidhs we arrive 1hr before the first dance is due to start.

Can I pick the pieces you play from the set list?

Yes! For longer playing times such as at drinks receptions, we recommend giving us an idea of the genre and styles you'd like and we will tailor our setlist to you. If you have a handful of particular choices you'd like us to include, we try to make sure to play those when you're nearby.

Do you bring all the equipment you need to perform?

Yes! We take great pride in only using high-end professional equipment that we keep regularly serviced and PAT tested.

Can you learn specific pieces before the event?

Absolutely! Simple Sounds take enormous pride in learning new songs just for you, it's one of our signature skills that we love most about what we do to help make your day especially unique and memorable for you!

Simple Sounds' Prices

Note: prices may vary based on travel distance. For an exact quote, click “Check availability”.

Standard Prices
Performance durationPrice
Up to 1 hour£395
Up to 2 hours£495
Up to 3 hours£595
Simple Sounds
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5 out of 5
3 verified reviews
Satisfaction
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5.0
Professionalism
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5.0
Communication
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5.0
Punctuality
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5.0

Simple Sounds' Reviews

From Encore customers:

GA
Geoff A
8 months ago
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5 out of 5

They were absolutely amazing. They adapted a couple of complicated songs beautifully and were perfect. Everyone at our wedding raved about them!

GS
Gayle S
11 months ago
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5 out of 5

Simple sounds played at our drinks reception, lots of our guests commented on how great they were! I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them to others, a fantastic addition to the day!

Reply from Simple Sounds
11 months ago

Thank you Gayle, your guests were so kind and complimentary, we loved every second!

MH
Mike H
4 years ago
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5 out of 5

Fantastic party on Saturday made all the better with Simple Sounds. They were absolutely brilliant from the booking right through to playing on the evening. Highly recommend them!!

From other customers:

WO
Wedding G
10 years ago

A very big thank you to both of you for the fantastic ceilidh at our wedding. We had an amazing time, and were really glad we had you guys playing for us. It made such a difference that you matched the music to how the guests were feeling, and played some ballads while they were recovering from the previous ceilidh number! We were so impressed with Simple Sounds. Thank you so much again!

WO
Wedding A
11 years ago

Andrew and I were absolutely delighted with Simple Sounds! We couldn't believe there was only 2 of you playing-the sound was so full! You were fantastic at calling and great at engaging with the guests too! You were really relaxed too when talking to me and accommodating which helped ease the wedding stress (especially the first dance dread!) Claire was such a lovely singer and it was great to have Claire singing between dances to entertain the guests and also give them a chance to catch their breath for the next dance! So pleased, you should charge a lot more than you do! Extremely professional!

Read all 3 reviews