Irish, Scottish, folk, and country music from many different neighbourhoods, and sometimes, from behind the scenes
Tuesday, August 19, 2025
Scotland's music: John McCusker --The Best Of
John McCusker: perhaps you’ve seen him play his fiddle on stage backing up folk singer songwriter Eddi Reader or rocker Mark Knopfler.
Could be if you follow Scotland’s music, you may recall his longtime stint as a member of the Battlefield Band as is career began, or his continuing presence as part of the ’hoose band’ backing musicians at Transatlantic Sessions at the Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow and on the road.
McCusker is in demand as a producer and composer as well. He’s worked with Roddy Woomble, Eddo Reader, Heidie Talbot, Cathie Ryan, and others as producer and composed music for soundtracks for Heartlands and for Billy Connolly’s Tour of New Zealand, among other projects.
John has composed tunes for his own recordings as well. Among those recordings are Goodnight Ginger and Hello Goodbye.
Thinking about all these experiences and aspects of his work went into John’s thinking as he chose tracks for the recording John McCusker -- The Best Of.
It’s an interesting journey. There are tunes and songs, four newly composed pieces along with well known favorites and lesser known pieces, all sorts of collaborations alongside solo work.
There’s a lot to listen to and take in, to be sure. If you do not know John’s work, taking the tracks as he’s set them out will serve you well. Seeking out pieces which included your favorite guest artists is also a worth while way to begin.
That said, I’ll point out the sets Brian’s Jigs and Sadenia’s Air/Baron’s Air (Eddo Reader guests on that) as two varied ways to enjoy waht John does. ‘s Tusa Thilleas with Julie Fowlis is another to look out for, as is The Wishing Tree Set from the trio of McGoldrick, McCusker, Doyle. Listen out for the solo track Leaving Friday harbour, too.
There’s a lot more to explore of John McCusker’s work on this recording and in his other work.
I was fortunate to attend the release cocnert for this recording in Glasgow. It both was amd was not as expected. Was: a lot of great music, many guest musicians who appeared on the recording joined in. Was not: didn’t follow the list of tunes that appeared on the album at all -- which you’d rather expect of John anyway, in truth.
Some pieces from the recording, to be sure, but favostures from the guests. John persuaded Eddi Reader to sing her classic hit Perfect, for instance, with everybody on stage at City Halls and most in audience joining in.
It turned out to be a fine celebration of music, creativity, talent, and friendship.
You could say that of the album John McCusker: The Best Of-- as well.
You may also like to know that there’s a book called John McCusker: The Collection which includes 100 of John’s tunes.
Photographs by Kerry Dexter. made with permission of the artist and the venue. Thank you for respecting copyright.
Your support is welcome, and needed, as Music Road is a reader supported publication. Thank you for considering...
-->A way to support Music Road,
through PayPal. Note that you do not have to have a PayPal account to do this.
Another way to support: you could
If you enjoy what you are reading here, come visit -- and perhaps, subscribe -- to my newsletter at Substack for more stories about music, the people who make it, and the places which inspire it.
What draws a musician to a song or tune, to wanting to learn it and sing it?
That varies with each artist, of course, and sometimes with each song. For Karen Matheson, it was the poetry and image in James Grant’s song Cassiopeia Coming Through that got her thinking how she’d like to present it. It’s a piece with an abundance of both, along with enough room musically for Matheson and producer and partner Donald Shaw to open things up with ideas that flow between jazz and folk. They chose the song to open Matheson’s album Still Time. “Cassiopeia is a beautifully crafted call for change, for hope, for moving forward,” Matheson says.
The way the album came about is in some ways a story of hope and moving forward. Matheson is lead singer and a founding member of the top folk band Capercaillie, with whom she sings in both Gaelic and English.. She also keeps note of songs she would like to record in other ways. This is her fifth solo album, one she had begun working on some time ago.
‘’Ten years ago I was working on a bunch of different tracks, unsure of what direction to go in when I found myself facing a number of personal challenges including the loss of both my parents,” Matheson says. “It felt right to concentrate on the Gaelic songs of my childhood, in tribute to what had given true shape to my life.” The result was the all Gaelic album called Urram, a word which means respect in Gaelic.
“We were then left with a body of work, waiting in the wings to be resurrected at a later date with my sore heart eased and my faith in humanity restored,” she continues. Then came the unexpected pause of lockdown.
“While the world paused, birdsong soared and banana bread baked, Still Time was reborn with the help of some familiar, brilliant musicians who could accommodate the home-recording situation we worked through lockdown,” she says. Those musicians include Shaw and Grant as well as frequent members of Matheson’s road band Hannah Fisher on backing vocals and fiddle, and Sorren MacLean on backing vocals and guitar, along with Alyn Cosker and James MacKintosh on percussion, John Doyle on guitar and bouzouki, Fraser Fifield on saxophone, Anna Massie on mandolin, Ewen Vernal on bass, and others.
The gathering of songs is at once focused and varied.
They are thoughtfully and beautifully sung and backed with taste and creativity. Each track will reveal more riches with repeated listening. Highlights include
A thoughtful tale of life in the Highlands coming to terms with the clearances Recovery is a story with both historic and current resonance. It was written by Callum and Rory MacDonald of Runrig. Matheson’s take imbues the story with powerful yet understated grace.
The Aragon Mill is a story of loss, change, uncertainty, and perhaps, just a thread of hope. American writer and activist Si Kahn wrote it, inspired by the lives of those affected by the closure of the cotton mill in Aragon, Georgia, in the US. It’s a song which has spoken to Matheson for some years; she’s often included it in live performance. “I’ve loved it from the very first time I heard it sung by the brilliant Andy Irvine with Planxty, on their album Words and Music in the early 80s,” she writes in the sleeve notes.
Matheson chose four songs by James Grant for this album; one, in fact, came about because of request she made to the musician. Of the song called Little Gun she writes “This little beauty penned by James was in response to my request for something reflecting the power of parenting, and the raw emotion it brings.” There is the memorable idea “it’s not the fact that I made you, it’s the fact that you made me,” as part of the lyrics, and there’s a chorus --I will let you seek that out -- which will linger in your mind, as well.
Then there’s the title track, Still Time. It was, Matheson says, written by her partner and the album’s producer Donald Shaw twenty years ago. Life’s changes and choices, and the lasting fleeting nature of both those things, come in for consideration in the song. “The words “Still Time” resonated with me while collating the tracks for this album in lockdown firstly on an obvious level of time standing still but also on another level in that there was still time to finish this project which had been lying unfinished for so long!” Matheson explains.
There are other gems: The Diamond Ring finds lively contributions from Dirk Powell on banjo and Hannah Fisher on fiddle and backing vocals, John Doyle and Sorren MacLean on guitar; Cassiopeia Coming Through, another piece written by James Grant, opens the album with a mystical, jazz tinged, image filled story; things are drawn to a close with the Robert Burns classic Ae Fond Kiss as sung at the close of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014.
Still Time is an album with songs of reflection, connection, courage, creativity, and grace. The songs are presented with those qualities as well.
Photograph of Karen Matheson in studio courtesy of Compass Records; photographs of Karen Matheson in performance at Celtic Connections in Glasgow by Kerry Dexter, made with permission of festival, artist, and venues involved. Thank you for respecting copyright.
-->Your support for Music Road is welcome and needed. If you are able to chip in, a way to support: you could
If you enjoy what you are reading here, I've recently begun publishing an occasional newsletter at Substack with more stories about music, the people who make it, and the places which inspire it. Come visit and check it out!
Celtic Connections 2021: a look at what's to come 21-26 January
Celtic Connections began brilliantly, with pipers walking through Buchanan Street into the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall with a tune paying tribute to pioneers. They were met by the specially organized Celtic Celtic Connections Big Band 2021. This group of Scotland’s top folk players was a constant through opening night, brining energy and context to performances from Glasgow and beyond.
The first week has unfolded with grace and energy in line with and beyond those opening moments.
What’s next, though?
Highlights to look out for during day six through twelve, 21 through 26 January, at Celtic Connections 2021:
Before I go further I will also point out that tickets are available, both for individual events and an all access concerts pass. Details at the Celtic Connections web site. Also to note: times mentioned are Glasgow/GMT; when you pirchase a ticket though, conerts available for seven days after first broadcast.
Ross Ainslie is a player of pipes, whistles and cittern who has release four albums of his own and is well known as a band member collaborator, and composer. A founding member of Treacherous Orchestra, a contributor to Hamish Napier’s award winning album The Woods, Ainslie of regularly appears with Salsa Celtica, India Alba, Tim Edey, and others. This night he fronts his own band.
High energy band Talisk bring a trad based lively presence, while top folk-trad group Manran will offer its always creative take on Scotland’s traditions into the evening’s mix as well. Top Scots songwriter and singer Siobhan Miller will bring her thoughtful music to the mix, as will singer songwriter Beth Malcolm.
The next evening, 22 January, will feature the music of Blazin’ Fiddles. Blaze they do. Fiddlers Bruce MacGregor, Rua MacMillan Jenna Reid, and Kristan Harvey, Anna Massie on fiddle and guitar, and Angus Lyon on keyboards are as worth watching and listening to for the quality of their interactions as for the top quality tunes. Note, too that the Blazers are offering workshops during the day in the days leading up to this concert. Xavier Diaz and friends will bring their own energy and style, recorded in their native northern Spain in Santiago de Compostela. Deirdre Graham will add Gaelic song to the progamme.
23 January sees a daytime filled with workshops for learners and improvers, and an evening that honours varied and international aspects of tradition. The evening focuses on a concert by The Womanly Voices of Jodhpur Riff which was recorded in Rajastan in India, with eight women who individually are leaders and groundbreakers in their tradition. The Nordic countries join in through the band Dreamers’ Circus with a contribution recorded at their home in Denmark. South Uist native and Glasgow resident Kathleen MacInnes brings Gaelic song into the mix. Later in the evening, there is a separate concert which finds Scotland’s Admiral Fallow band offering their indie take on Scotland’s music.
On Sunday afternoon the 24th it’s time for the next part of the New Voices strand. Charlie Stewart has found inspiration for this set of music from time spent at home with his parents and time in an unusually quiet Glasgow during the pandemic.
In the evening, there’s a late night concert as Argentinian-Swedish singer José González brings his music from Gothenburg, Sweden. Before that, though, the five women of The Kinnaris Quintet will, if history serves, tear up the stage with their high quality and high energy take on trad shared through fiddle guitar, and mandolin, and The Secret Sisters duo bring music from the Americana side of things. Music from the isle of Mull is featured as well as An Tobar Presents brings performances from Sorren MacLean, Hannah Fisher, Roody Woomble, and Mairearad Green.
On 25 January James Grant & the Hallelujah String Quartet will perform a set supported by multi-instrumentalist, composer and singer Siobhan Wilson and nu-folk singer-songwriter Zoë Bestel.
It isn’t on the Celtic Connections roster of video performance, but Karen Matheson and Eddi Reader, both longtime festival favourites and two of the most well loved and accomplished singers in Scotland, will be part of a program about the music of Robert Burns (it is Burns night after all) available on BBC Radio Scotland.
On theTuesday 26th January, the four piece band Fara with roots in Orkney, will be on the bill along with folk trio Assynt, fiddler Chloë Bryce and singer Amy Papiransky. Rachel Walker, who writes and sings and in both Gaelic and English, will be adding in her voice, as well.
You might also want to look at the offerings at Celtic Music Radio, which is hosting on air and online broadcasts of the nightly Danny Kyle Open Stage concerts. These gigs feature up and coming artists from across Scotland and are always highly popular in person at the festival. Celtic Music Radio will also be broadcasting three days of Celtic on Campus earlier in the day (it’s a lunchtime event in Glasgow) and a bit earlier in the week, from 20 through 22 January.
The Celtic Connections web site has ticketing and access details for all of their events. The festival runs through the beginning of February, so there’s more to come...
Photographs of Celtic Connections Big Band and Fara by Gaelle Beri; photograph of Karen Matheson by Kerry Dexter
-->Your support for Music Road is welcome and needed. If you are able to chip in, here is a way to do that, through PayPal. Note that you do not have to have a PayPal account to do this. Thank you.
Celtic Connections at home: what's coming up in the first six days
Celtic Connections is one of Europe’s top winter festivals. It is one the Celtic music world’s major celebrations. From its early days in 1994 as a small event at one venue it has grown to an highly anticipated 19 day festival that welcomes more than 300 artists and over 100,000 attendees to more than 2000 across Glasgow.
This season, Celtic Connections is going on line, so you may join in right from home.
Events begin on 15 January and run through 2 February. All access passes are available as are tickets to individual events. Once an events has been broadcast, it will available to view for seven days. Details on ticketing and schedules may be explored at the Celtic Connections website.
I have been attending Celtic Connections in person for more than sixteen years now, and have also been paying close attention as plans have developed and filming has taken place for the events. There’s a sense of excitement -- and of accomplishment -- among all those working the events. For many artists, this marked the first time they’d been able to play with others in nearly a year, as lockdown went into effect in Scotland shortly after Celtic Connections 2020 concluded.
About that: Scotland is in strict lockdown as I write this, too. Film and television production, which has its own stringent pandemic safety rules in place, was allowed to proceed. Though it has meant some planned events couldn’t go forward, there is a full slate of what look tot be great events ready for broadcast. A reminder, too, as every announcement from the festival advises, be sure to observe health and safety measures if you should meet with anyone outside your household to watch.
All that said: What’s on? and what’s best to watch?
I’ve got a bit of advice on that. This article concerns events during the first six days of the fest. I’ll return with other stories on what is going on later in the festival run.
On 15 January, the music begins with the opening Celebration Concert. Word is that there will be a dozen acts taking part in the 90 minute show. The many strands of the music of Scotland in Gaelic, English, and Scots are always a major part of the festival, and there is always a strong international presence as well. With performances filmed across Glasgow music venues and from other locations around the world, this concert both honours and sets the stage for this. Fiddler and composer Duncan Chisholm, who performed at that very first festival and has taken part in many since, will appear with other top Scottish players performing as the Scottish Ensemble. Other artists on the bill include Ímar, Fiona Hunter, Kinnaris Quintet, Le Vent du Nord, as well as surprise guests.
The festival’s first weekend sees the beginning of the workshop program, with top tutors offering lessons via zoom to varied levels of learners on fiddle, whistle, and many other subjects.
Saturday evening the 16th sees two rather different programmes. Early in the evening Celtic Connections in the Community finds artists of colour living in Scotland with backgrounds in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean along with artists from the Roma community, offer their heritage music. Later in the evening, acid croft masters Shooglenifty celenrate thirty years as a band on an evening that also includes the Highlands and Islands fiddle quartet RANT, Paul McKenna’s often social justice infused music, the high energy of the Kinnaris Quintet, award winning traditional singer Fiona Hunter, and Amira Kheirs, whose music draws on her east African roots and desert blues.
Workshops continue on Sunday the 17th during the day. There’s the addition of a music programme for under fives and their families from top traditional singer Claire Hastings (there’s no charge for Claire’s programme. which she offers on Facebook each Sunday morning of the festival).
The first of a Sunday afternoon strand known as New Voices, in which an artist is given the creative challenge) to create an hour’s worth of original music begins with singer and songwriter Josie Duncan. Duncan is a thoughtful artist, “an expert in crafting heart-warming songs which delicately balance traditional idioms and a contemporary outlook” in one description. You may expect to hear songs in both English and Gaelic.
Griot music from Gambia, harp and fiddle and genre crossing music from Shetland, a jazz trio based on piano and a singer who employs jazz, soul, and pop in her work make for an eclectic evening concert as Sona Jobarteh, Chris Stout and Catriona Mackay, and other artists take the stage Sunday evening.
Monday 18 January sees the start of Blazin’ at Celtic Connections, as the award winning band Blazin’ Fiddles begins offering instruction on fiddle, guitar, and keyboards during the day. As evening comes, it’s dream collaboration as several of Scotland’s best loved singers and songwriters join up for a programme called Come Away In. Karine Polwart, Eddi Reader , Rab Noakes, Siobhan Miller, and Findlay Napier share music in a song circle from the banqueting hall of the City Chambers, Glasgow’s 18th Century Municipal building on George Square.
On the 19th, the Blazers continue their workshops, and there’s an online take what has become a welcoming strand at the in person festival, a concert designed to be accessible and enjoyable for people with dementia, and their friends and families presented by Catherine Tinney and Luc McNally.
In the evening, well loved and always creative band Breabach will play, Malian artists Bassekou Kouyate whose main instrument is the ngoni will bring his high energy band, Highlands harp player Rachel Newton will offer original and traditional music, Aidan O’Rourke at Kit Downes will share music from the 365 music cycle, and rising singer Katherine Priddy will join in.
The concert on Wednesday the 20th will offer a feast of top class music as well. Blue Rose Code, who is Edinburgh-born songwriter Ross Wilson, is a musician with diverse tastes at the edge of alt-folk. LYRE are a new group of traditional strings players Patsy Reid, Alice Allen and Marit Fält. Scottish acoustic troubadour Rory Butler recently released his debut album. Karen Matheson, known for her work as lead singer of the band Capercaillie as well as her solo albums, is well loved as one of Scotland’s if not the world’s top vocalists. She will be bringing well loved favourites in Gaelic and English as well as music from her new solo album due out in February.
Each evening’s programme offers a varied selection of music all on one bill.
If you’ve never been to Celtic Connections, perhaps choose one or two evenings or a workshop that sounds interesting. I’m thinking you will be back for more.
There is more. These events are happening in the first six days of the festival. Stay tuned for more about the festival here at Music Road, and explore the Celtic Connections website, Celtic Connections website, too.
Photographs of Karen Matheson bnad, Sibhan Miller band, and Aidan O'Rourke ensemble by Gaelle Beri; photographs of Duncam Chisholm and Eddi Reader by Kerry Dexter
-->Your support for Music Road is welcome and needed. If you are able to chip in, here is a way to do that, through PayPal. Note that you do not have to have a PayPal account to do this. Thank you.
Celtic Connections: 11 Choices for the Third Weekend of the Festival
As the Celtic Connections Festival heads into its final weekend of 2020, there is a packed schedule of concerts and workshops.Artists from Finland, Mali, the United States, Ireland, and other places as well as musicians of Scotland from Shetland to the Borders will take part.
Early on Thursday evening, Charlie Grey and Joseph Peach will present work they created while on a sailboat journey to some of Scotland’s uninhabited islands, including the Shiants and Saint Kilda. The project is called Air Iomall/On the Edge.
During the 18th and 19th centuries more than 80 percent of Canada’s Hudson’s Bay Company workers came from Orkney in Scotland’s northern isles. As the Company marks its 350th anniversary, fiddle and mandolinist Graeme Rorie offers a new piece drawing on stories of these Orcadians, at the Mitchell Theatre.
Old time and American specialist Joe Newberry is well loved by festival audiences. For this return, he comes to the Strathclyde Suite at the Royal Concert Hall in partnership with Ottawa Valley step dancer, fiddler, and singer April Verch. It’s a collaboration at once high energy and thoughtful, which was a hit with audiences at the Celtic Colours International Festival this past autumn. Opening for them will be The Ledger, a trio project in which Findlay Napier, Gillian Frame, and Mike Vass, who explore a selection of Scottish songs drawn from a ledger kept by a Napier family connection.
At the Mackintosh Church, fiddle and guitar duo Hannah Fisher and Sorren Maclean offer song and tune as they open for a highly anticipated gigi from Isobel Campbell. The combination of acts should make for a Highly creative evening all round.
On Friday, the fiddles, guitar, and mandolin of Kinnaris Quintet bring their passionate and creative approach to string music to the New Auditorium.
Earlier on the Friday evening, Chris Stout and Catriona McKay offer an intimate acoustic take on their fiddle and harp music at the recital room at City Halls.
On Saturday, the four fiddlers of Rant return to the Mackintosh Church, where they recorded their recent album Portage. Svang, from festival featured country Finland, will open with harmonica music ranging from blues to classical.
Also on Saturday, Emily Smith and Jamie McClennan bring Americana influenced songs from their duo project Small Town Stories along with Scottish material from their back catalogue. They open for Dirk Powell, whose musical creativity includes Celtic, Cajun, and Appalachian music.
Sunday will find the band Rura heating things up at the Old Fruitmarket as they celebrate their tenth anniversary in the company of special guests.
Two Sunday traditions at the festival are in place this year, too. The finals of the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year will see six finalists perform. It’s always a great chance to celebrate Scotland’s rising stars.
The same could be said of another tradition of the final Sunday afternoon: the Big Sing. The third weekend of the festival is when daytime workshops focus on song. This year the two days will offer chances to learn songs in Gaelic, explore beat boxing, hear and learn song of Scotland’s places, pick up some lullabyes, try out singing in chorus and more. At the conclusion of the weekend, late afternoon of the Sunday, participants are invited to gather at the main staircase at the concert hall to share a song or two or three. It’s always good fun, whatever your plans for later on the final evening of the festival may be.
-->Your support for Music Road is welcome and needed. If you are able to chip in, here is a way to do that, through PayPal. Note that you do not have to have a PayPal account to do this. Thank you.
Celtic Connections 2020: 5 highlights for the first days of the festival
Winter is often a time for gathering in, for sharing stories. Winter in Scotland especially invites this, which is one of the reasons for the continuing success of Celtic Connections, which takes place for eighteen days beginning in mid January in Glasgow.
Collaboration, both planned and spontaneous, is also a hallmark of Celtic Connections. This year, the festival runs from 16 January through 2 February. There will be concerts, workshops, talks, walks, and even a mini festival within a festival in venues across Glasgow. Here is bit about what’s planned for the early days of the festival.
Grit Orchestra, an 80-piece ensemble of folk, jazz and classical musician originally founded to perform and celebrate the late Martyn Bennett’s musicUnder the baton of founding conductor Greg Lawson, the orchestra will première pieces by multi-instrumentalist Fraser Fifield, saxophonist Paul Towndrow, fiddlers Chris Stout and Patsy Reid, harpist Catriona McKay and cellist Rudi de Groot. The pieces will draw from each composer’s reflections on the Declaration of Arbroath. Scotland will mark the 700th anniversary of this document of freedom in April.
Another highlight will see the band Breabach marking its 15th anniversary, a journey which saw them winning an award for up and coming musicians at Celtic Connections in 2005 and this year finds the five musicians, known as one of Scotland’s most innovative groups, headlining the main stage at the Royal Concert Hall. Special guests including former band members will join Breabach and The Seamus Egan Project will debut their new album in support on the night, too.
The first Saturday of the Festival will see a mini festival celebrating Scotland’s Year of Coasts and Waters, with talks, plays, and music, all with connections to Scotland’s waters, coasts, and islands. Musicians will include Gillian Frame, Fara, Daimh, Julie Fowlis, Capercaillie, and others.
Julie Fowlis will appear later that evening too, when she joins Eamon Doorley, Zoe Conway, and John McIntyre for a rare performance of their stellar collaborative project, Allt, in which the four explore connection of Scottish Gaelic and Irish language music.
On another evening, Hamish Napier will introduce his nature focused project The Woods, and Sarah-Jane Summers will offer music from her album Owerset, which comprises music she’s composed inspired by connections between words in Scots and words in Old Norse.
That’s a taste of a few highlights of what’s on the schedule just in the first few days of this year’s Celtic Connections Festival. More to come...
-->Your support for Music Road is welcome and needed. If you are able to chip in, here is a way to do that, through PayPal. Note that you do not have to have a PayPal account to do this. Thank you.
The sound of Scotland’s landscapes, misty glen to rocky coast, mountain path to city street: that is part of what you hear in the music of the band Breabach.
There’s tradition and innovation. There are ideas grounded in Scotland and informed by by seeing Scotland’s people and music in the context of a wider world. All these strands come together in the songs and tunes they offer on their sixth recording. Frenzy of the Meeting.
Prince’s Strand, a tune named after the place on the Isle of Eriskay in the Western Isles where Charles Edward Stuart -- Bonnie Prince Charlie-- first landed in Scotland in the Rising of ’45 invites listeners in with a welcome which is both peaceful and complex. It was written by band member James Duncan Mackenzie.
Peaceful and complex: you could say that of each of the songs and tunes on Frenzy of the Meeting. True, some are faced paced, high stepping tunes which celebrate the dance and invite you to dance yourself, while others come with melody and lyric and in Gaelic , which ask good questions and offer vivid images with which to contemplate those ideas. Yet other tell good stories and suggest ideas for reflection with lyrics in English.
The members of Breabach are James Lindsay on double bass an vocals, Calum MacCrimmon on bagpipes, whistle, bouzouki, and vocals, James Duncan Mackenzie on bagpipes, flute, whistle, Ewan Robertson on guitar, vocals, cajon. and Megan Henderson on fiddle and vocals. Each has contributed original pieces and arrangements to the mix of traditional and original music here.
Each track is worth your attention, and indeed repeated listening. In addition to Prince’s Strand, several cuts of which to take especial note
Birds of Passage: Migration is much in the news these days, as indeed it has been a part of life across the world for centuries. Ewan Robertson wrote this song with his friend Michael Farrell. In it, he sings of the hopes, fears and dreams of people on a migration journey, backed by instruments which also speak of passages and journeys.
...Humble search for sanctuary
Timeless symphony
No borderlines they see...
On and on
through grief and pain
brave birds of passage fly again
as they light
on golden strand
brave birds pf passage
reach our land...
The Oban Ball is an instrumental track based around a nineteenth century pipe tune, married with James Duncan Mackenzie’s tune Thunderstorm on Thunder Bay. Pipes and whistles lead the dance, with bass and fiddle adding depth to the story.
Winter Winds, a song from Calum MacCrimmon also speaks of journey, hardship, and change. As with Birds of Passage, there is hope threaded through, in both word and melody.
So keep a eye on the horizon,
Even when nights are long
Give it time, and the sky will change
Whether falling or flying
We are all moving on
And in the light we can find our way
Knees Up pairs Knees Up in Hanoi, a lively tune from Calum MacCrimmon, with the Gaelic song Dòchas Glan Na Fàire, sung by Megan Henderson, which MacCrimmon wrote with Megan’s brother, Ewen Henderson. This too is a song of journey, of revisiting familiar landscapes and finding new ones. Part of the lyrics translate as
The road must be taken
Living in pure hope of the horizon
Until the day breaks
Òran Bhràigh Rùsgaich is the Gaelic song which the band have chosen to close the album. It speaks of light and shadow moving across landscape, a particular one, in fact. It is “our take on Iain Mac Dhùghaill’s nostalgic poem about the braes of Ruskich to the south of Glen Urquhart, “ the band write in the sleeve notes. “Megan and Ewan first heard this sung by Charlie MacFarlane at one of the legendary ceilidh nights in Glenfinnan House Hotel.”
Journeys across landscapes, facing hardship yet finding hope: in both song and tune, those thread run through the choices on Frenzy of the Meeting, all delivered with thoughtful and top class musicianship. Breabach, who formed in 2005, have been nominated for and won a number of awards; if Frenzy of the Meeting is your first hearing of them, you will quickly understand why.
The album was recorded live in the studio for one week, and then in a further week of work spent with producer Eamon Doorley (you’ll know him from his work with Danu and Julie Fowlis). It is a fine next step for a group of musicians who are at once at the top of their game, while suggesting that there is much ahead for them to explore yet. If ever you have the chance to see Breabach live, you will be well rewarded, too, by seeing a group of top notch musicians who really listen to each other, and who truly enjoy sharing their music with all who come to hear. You may get to see them add a bit of step dance into the mix, as well.
Side note: Mention must be made of those who created the cover art and design for Frenzy of the Meeting: The artwork is from the painting Sun In Bog by Somhairle, Struan and Breagha MacDonald, and the layout is by Somhairle MacDonald.
Photograph of band in doorway courtesy of the artists; photograph of band on stage at Celtic Connections in Glasgow by Kerry Dexter, made with permission of the festival, the artists, and the venue. Thank you for respecting copyright.
-->Your support for Music Road is welcome and needed. If you are able to chip in, here is a way to do that, through PayPal. Note that you do not have to have a PayPal account to do this. Thank you.
If you enjoy what you’ve been reading here, another way to support more of it:
Scotland's Music: Patsy Reid: A Glint o' Scottish Fiddle
A Glint o’ Scottish Fiddle—that is the name Patsy Reid has chosen for her most recent recording. It is a title that fits the music she’s chosen. It fits the point in her work she’s chosen to record a new solo album, too.
The sets – there are ten of them -- include both music from the tradition and more recently composed music.
Reid was a founding member of the award winning group Breabach. Time came when she chose to step back from that work – and what she stepped into was a career as one of the most in demand fiddle players and arrangers working in Scotland.
She has visited India a number of times and collaborated with Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi musicians. She’s played with Zakir Hussein’s Pulse of the World in London, with the Celtic big band The Unusual Suspects, and participated in the Cecil Sharpe Project.
At the 2018 Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow she appeared as part of Scotland's Wild Heart, at Innes White’s New Voices concert, and in support of award winning Gaelic singer Julie Fowlis. Recently she supported US folk and country songwriter Gretchen Peters at the Southern Fried Festival in Perth. Reid has also worked on record and in performance with Donald Shaw, RANT, Ross Ainslie, Ali Hutton, Robyn Stapleton, Hamish Napier, and others.
It’s been several years since Reid last released a solo album ( Brightest Path, in 2014). She has had in mind and been working on another solo album for some time. As much as she loves creating music with others, she wanted to focus on her own sound for a bit. “I had reached a stage where I could see myself only working on other people’s projects and never having enough time to so something of my own. So I’m taking the risk that I might have to say no to something exciting, and I’m investing in my own music. I wouldn’t want to regret not giving myself the chance to do that,” she said.
For her listeners, and one would expect, for her own musical path, A Glint o’ Scottish Fiddle proves a worthwhile investment.
Update: patsy has also co;;abrates with cellist Alice Allen on two Strathspey Queens albums. If ever you have the hcance to see the two of them play that music live, take it.
The music Reid chose for this recording was in some ways a look back. It includes music she's known since childhood, and pieces she learned and played while attending Alasdair Fraser’s fiddle camps, winning the Glenfiddich Fiddle Championship, and studying for her university degrees.
That's not to say these are simple tunes, nor is the feeling nostalgic. What Reid offers is a clear eyed and clear hearted take on a well chosen gathering of tunes which move within the history of the fiddle in Scotland and at times reach its diaspora.
The works of James Scott Skinner, Niel Gow, and the unnamed composers of Scotland’s long held fiddle traditions were companions of Reid's own learning and of her finding her own sound in music. She has repaid that favor, honoring the tunes while adding her own mark to them.
Most of the tunes come from Scotland’s east coast traditions, whether they are from the likes of named composers or not. Reid well knows how to balance tunes which invite the step of the dancer with those which suggest the more contemplative and thoughful side of the life of Scotland.
The opener for the first set, Strathearn, is a strathspey from the tradition with which Reid invites thoughts of the wilder sort of Scotland’s landscape and weather, before heading into a lively collection of old reels. Another notable set includes The Quartz Jig from Grainne Brady, The Double Rise, composed by Phil Cunningham, and Halloween Jig composed by Donald Shaw. Two more especially outstanding tunes are the haunting slow air Mrs. Jameson’s Favourite and a nod to the late Angus R. Grant with his composition 2:50 to Vigo.
On these as through all the tracks, Reid is accompanied by Alastair Iain Patterson on piano. This makes an excellent collaboration which allows both participants to be fully in service to the music, and to their creativity.
Every set on A Glint o’ Scottish Fiddle is a keeper. It’s no wonder Reid is in such demand as a collaborator for concerts and recordings. It’s great that she also chooses to take the time and focus to create solo projects as well. If you’ve interest in the fiddle, the music of Scotland, or fine acoustic music well played, then A Glint o’ Scottish Fiddle is your album.
A note on the photos: I was fortunate to be at the Celtic Connections concert in 2018 when Reid and Patterson debuted this album. That’s where these photos were made.
-->Your support for Music Road is welcome and needed. If you are able to chip in, here is a way to do that, through PayPal. Note that you do not have to have a PayPal account to do this. Thank you.
If you enjoy what you’ve been reading here, another way to support more of it:
Ireland's Music: Murieann Nic Amhlaoibh: Foxglove & Fuschia
As she was planning the project which would become her album Foxglove & Fuschia, Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh decided she wanted the music to be a bit like what she might do if she were planning for a gig in a pub near her home in Corca Duibhne, the Dingle peninsula, in the west of Ireland. It’s a situation she knows well, as she grew up in Dingle, surrounded by music and going to sessions from a young age.
As ancient stones and worn paths through mountain and along coast attest, people have been calling the Dingle peninsula in the west of Ireland home for thousands upon thousands of years. Rain and mist and wind, mountain and sea meet in a landscapes that suggests and evokes history and story.
Those stories are often told, shared, and forged through music.
Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh has studied in Dublin, taught in LImerick, and traveled the world with her music. For thirteen years she was lead singer and flute player with the top Irish band Danu. I came time, though, to return to to her native west Kerry, to live again in the Irish speaking region of the far west of Dingle where she herself had grown up and begun her life in music,
She also thought at the time that stepping away from Danu might be the end of her public career as a musician. It wasn’t.
/>
A sure and steady vision of where she is and what she wishes to create as an artist is at the heart of Foxglove & Fuschia, which is Nic Amhlaoibh’s third solo album. There are songs in English and in Irish, and a few well chosen tune sets too.
Some of the music has its origin in west Kerry. Other songs and stories make their way in from father afield. They all, though, relate in some way to that life of water and mist, music and mountain and story found in Dingle.
There is the gentle joy of word and lyric in Muirisin Deas is Nora, a song from The Great Blasket Island, which lies just to the west of the tip of Dingle. It is about a couple who have been married a long time and are still very much in love. The words in Irish are from a traditional poem, set to a new melody by guitarist Gerry O’ Beirne. O’Beirne, who often plays with Nic Amhloaibh when she goes on the road with her music, supports her on the song for the recording.He also wrote the image filled song Where Foxglove, from which Nic Amhlaoibh drew the title for the recording.
For most pieces on Foxglove & Fuschia, there are just one two musicians joining Nic Amhlaoibh. That still leaves good scope for family and friends to sit in, though: there’s a set of reels with Nic Amhlaoibh’s husband Billy Mag Fhlionn on bouzouki and a friend from her days with Danu, Donnchadh Gough, on bodhran, and on a set of polkas with her father, Feargal MacAmhlaoibh, as the fiddler, and with longtime friends, Padraig O se on accordion and Donough Hennessey on guitars. Donal O’Connor, Seamus Begley, Pauline Sclanlon. Eilis Kennedy and John McSherry are among those who sit in on various tracks, too.
It is Nic Amhlaoibh’s voice and vision which define what’s happening on the album, though. Nowhere is that more evident than on The Final Trawl, a song of the sea by Scotland’s Archie Fisher. As part of her working co presenting the television programme Port for BBC Alba
with Scottish singer Julie Fowlis, Nic Amhlaoibh had the chance to meet and sing with Fisher, who wrote the song with ideas and images drawn from his experience of seafaring.
Another song that weaves together the album’s ideas is Bean Dubh an Ghleanna. It is Nic Amhlaoibh says, one of the big songs which to her mind make up the classical tradition of Ireland’s folk music. Nic Amhlaoibh grew up in Dingle, in the Gaeltacht, where, she points out, you don’t actually study the traditional style of sean nos, you’re given the words and the melody and expected to find your own way into them.
Indeed, so she has, through each of the tracks on the recording. There are eleven of them, and each invites repeated listening. Tune, song, and story shared in ways which honor tradition and create it anew in one of Ireland’s most interesting and creative voices: this is what you will find on Foxglove & Fuschia.
Photographs of Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh and friends in concert at Celtic Connections in Glasgow, Scotland, by Kerry Dexter, made by permission of the artists, the festival, and the venue. Thank you for respecting copyright
-->Your support for the work,here at Music Road is welcome and needed.
Here is one way to offer that, through PayPal. Note that you do not have to have a PayPal account to do this. Thank you.
