September started off with a bang, quite literally! Whilst doing Blàs Festival up in the Highlands, I had a collision with a bus which left my car written-off and Innes and I transport-less and a bit shaken!

 

We were fortunate to be support act to the legendary Phil Cunningham and Aly Bain for a couple of days as part of the thriving Blàs festival. Innes actually made his own way to the gig, arriving on a metallic-blue mobility scooter he’d stolen from his girlfriend’s Granny! The timing could not have been more perfect as he flew round the corner just as myself, Phil, Aly and the sound guys were standing outside the venue! I don’t think any of us had laughed so much in a wee while!!

The next day involved a gig at a local High School, followed by a lengthy drive to the next venue which was Strathy. Just as we were pulling into the venue carpark, a school bus attempted to overtake me and crashed into the side of my car! Sadly that was the end of my car… 

Luckily Brian O’Headhra from Blàs and Ewan and Craig from Limelight (sound and lighting company) were on-hand to help, as were Phil and Aly, who kept everyone in good spirits with lots of jokes, stories, card-tricks and use of a functioning mobile. Amazingly we did the gig that night and then went for a much-needed drink at the local hotel. Special thanks to Brian O’Headhra and Phil Cunningham for their help, and to Jen Austin for her sterling camera work.

The following week was spent up in beautiful Ardgour at Watercolour studios. This was a Gaelic song based project with the renowned producer Jerry Boys, and I was really pleased to be part of it. Jerry was one of the producers behind the Buena Vista Social Club and has worked a lot with Ry Cooder among others. I’ve been a huge fan of the Buena Vista ever since their iconic album was first released in 1997, so it was a lovely coincidence! A crowd of us spent 5 days rehearsing, hanging out, eating, drinking and recording tracks, and got some great stuff recorded. The tracks have since been whisked away to be mixed and mastered so I will post up more info when I get it…

October was fairly busy with lots of workshops as part of the National Mod in Falkirk. Falkirk Council employed me to deliver Gaelic song workshops to Primary schools in the run-up to the Mod. The week itself was fairly action-packed with song and language classes every day, and several late-night gigs with Marc Duff and Shaun Craig added to the mix, which was good great craic. If you’re interested, the Mod will be in Oban next year and is a great week of music, singing and good craic. www.the-mod.co.uk 

 

November was a month of traditional workshops up in Inverness and the North West Highlands with fab singer with The Shee, Rachel Newton. Our travels were so frought with bad weather that every week we celebrated the fact we were still alive!! 

In the middle of all this I had a few gigs with Innes Watson and managed to rack up an astonishing number of miles in the space of just one week.

First up was London and a gig at the Magpie’s Nest in Islington. The Magpie’s Nest is a trendy new folk club run by Sam, Lauren and Joe, and we had a nice crowd in for the gig. From there we flew home for a night, then collected Duncan and his stick bass and headed to Belfast for a gig at the fabulous venue “An Droichead” www.androichead.com

An Droichead started off as a small Irish language school and has gone from strength to strength, also running a venue that has emerged as one of the most happening venues for folk music in the city. Despite a few sound problems, we had a fantastic time there, managed to sell an entire box of CDs within 15 minutes of the gig finishing(!) and heard some fantastic songs

being sung at the session that followed. There were a few sore heads in the morning and poor Duncan had to travel to Armagh for a gig at the Piping Festival the next morning. Thanks to Lynette Fay for her sterling work as “bean an taigh” and for driving Duncan and Ali to Armagh. Many thanks to Reamonn and Jim at An Droichead for a great night.

Throughout November and December the fab new Gaelic channel “MG Alba” broadcast “A’ Gharaids”. This was a fly-on-the-wall series that showcased fusion music, and I was flown over to Stornoway to collaborate on the show for 3 days with the fantastic Skye-based Indie band

The Injuns. Our task was to write and arrange a song in Gaelic, rehearse it and then perform it, all the while being interviewed and observed by a camera crew, and within a 2 and a half day timeslot! Despite the intensive nature of the project, we all had fantastic craic, and ended up

writing a political song called “Nuair a dh’fhàg thu an taigh” (translated as “When you left home”) in a 5/4 time signature. Thanks to all at Studio Alba for their hard work.

December was slightly less manic and started with the Trad Music Awards which were held in the Fruitmarket and filmed by MG Alba. I was surprised but delighted to be nominated for “Gaelic Singer of the year”, which provided me and the rest of the folkies with the brilliant excuse to get really dressed up! Prize for

“style effort” that night should’ve gone to Simon Thoumire who was bravely wearing a silver suit and silver shoes imported from China!! A noteable exception was Iain Copeland who collected “Best Live Act”, sporting a jersey and jeans, prompting

someone to ask why Johnny Vegas was picking up the Peatbogs’ award!! (sorry Copey…)

 

All in all though a fantastic night of music and awards, complete with a late-night bar and intriguingly, a trad disco.

 

 

2008 seems to have passed in a flash but I feel very lucky to have been presented with the opportunities that I’ve had this year, good friends, family, bandmates and also to be able to go fulltime with my music. Let’s hope for 2009 to be a peaceful and prosperous one for all live music, and let’s give a big two-fingers to this awful credit crunch… :) 

Bliadhna mhath ùr! x