The album titled Rohallion stars Jim Malcolm, famed for guitar and harmonica playing (both at once, that is) assisted by keyboard player and vocalist Dave Watt and percussion man Iain MacFadyen from Jim's band, Rohallion, plus Aidan o'Rourke on the fiddle and Rory Campbell on whistles. Tracks are mostly self-penned, with an affectionate look back at the Gorbals; a not-so-affectionate look at the noisy cuckoos of Skye; and memories of hitching out of Oban "on a bad bend thumbing in the drizzling rain", which may strike a chord with many. By the way, for two-wheeled travel enthusiasts, the track Cycles is not about riding bikes; it's about cyclical behaviour of nations. And, you may not believe this, but look out for Tam o Shanter set to music. A jaunty, gallus song it makes, too. Come to think of it, irresistible is probably the best word for this collection. Form an orderly queue...now. Alasdair Maclean...The Scots Magazine
Media Reviews
Smooth and tasty.
Folksong meets jazzsong in some lithe, blithe settings where Malcolm's relaxed vocal tones and free-range harmonica are given added buoyancy by Dave Watt's exhilarating piano runs. Malcolm can be an incisive Scots traditional singer out of the Rod Paterson mould when he chooses - witness the resonant Battle of Waterloo - and he can also write with insight about society's victims, as in Gorbals Melody, but generally his songs slip into something more comfortable, and even the introduction to Burns' Tam o Shanter becomes a coolly pulsating, finger-clicking affair. Smooth and tasty. Alastair Clark
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