Scottish Folk News

Here's our usual mixture of new releases, news and information from the flourishing Scottish music scene!
1. New at Foot Stompin': includes World Pipe Band Champs and Old Blind Dogs
2. Snippets: Martyn Bennett Night; Seasaidh Lexy
3. Màiri Mhòr nan Òran (Big Mary of the Songs)
4. Books: includes Gordon Duncan?s Tunes
5. Reviews: includes The Red Hot Chilli Pipers, The Battlefield Band
6. Foot Stompin' Celtic Music Discussion Forum: Freddy Anderson; Harmonies
7. Events
8. Ayepod.Net
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1. New arrivals at Foot Stompin' Celtic Music (10% discount on all sales after first purchase.)
TOP OF THE WORLD!! The World Pipe Band Championships 2007: ?The Worlds? are the most anticipated and prestigious event in the Pipe Band Calendar. Taking place in annually in August, Glasgow Green resounds to the thrilling sounds of the great highland bagpipe en masse. Newly arrived at Foot Stompin? we have this year?s great event available on both audio CD and DVD. Listen to the winning performances and enjoy the sights and sounds of this great event. CDs each £11.25 (£12.50 for first time customers) DVDs each £12.60 (£13.99 for first time customers)
CD vol 1: http://www.footstompin.com/music/bagpipe_music/wpbc_cd_2007_1
CD vol 2: http://www.footstompin.com/music/bagpipe_music/wpbc_2007_2_cd
DVD: vol 1: http://www.footstompin.com/dvds/bagpipe_dvds/wpbc_2007_1_dvd
DVD: vol 2: http://www.footstompin.com/dvds/bagpipe_dvds/wpbc_2007_2_dvd
SAILING ALONG!! Four on the Floor - Old Blind Dogs: 'Braw Sailin' sung to a soft ska beat, funky goats, Galician grooves, Breton gavottes, Barra boats and a Bonnie Earl (O' Murray) - it must be ?The Dogs?, here in a mix of new studio recordings and live performances. Rory Campbell (pipes, vocals), Jonny Hardie (fiddle, vocals), Fraser Stone (percussion), Aaaron Jones (bouzouki/guitar, vocals). £11.70 (£12.99 for first time customers)
http://www.footstompin.com/music/celtic_bands/four_on_the_floor
BAGPIPES IN THE CHURCH!! Caledonia Cathedral - Hymns For The Bagpipe: Arranged by piper Alasdair Trotter. Caledonia Cathedral is a CD of over forty well-known traditional hymn tunes played the world over but rarely heard on the pipes. Each tune has been carefully selected for its compatibility with the Highland bagpipe. Includes ?Abide with me?, ?The Day Thou Gavest, Lord Has Ended? and many more. There is a also a 48 page book with all the hymns and their musical notation making this an interesting gift for piping enthusiasts. Both book and CD contain an arrangement of Highland Cathedral. CD: £11.25 (£12.50 for first time customers). Book: £9.00 (£9.99 for first time customers)
CD: http://www.footstompin.com/music/bagpipe_music/caledonia_cathedral_cd
Book: http://www.footstompin.com/books/bagpipemusic/caledonia_cathedral_book
ROCKETMAN!! From Mull to the Moon ? Jimmy Cassidy: Accordionist Jimmy Cassidy, from Perth plays a collection of mainly Scottish traditional music plus the ?Dance of the Comedians?, Grenoble? and ?Waltz for a Magpie?. Jimmy Glen also has a crack at the Richard Thompson song 'Don't Sit on my Jimmy Shands'. £11.70 (£12.99 for first time customers)
http://www.footstompin.com/music/accordion/from_mull_to_the_moon
MADE FROM GIRDERS!! The Foundry Bar Band: The first album from this famous band from Arbroath - including Jim Reid's song 'Auchmithie' . First issued in 1981 as an LP then as a cassette and now re-mastered in CD format. This album was always a top-seller and it is absolutely great to hear again the 10-strong Foundry Bar Band in all their unique glory! £11.25 (£12.50 for first time customers)
http://www.footstompin.com/music/celtic_bands/the_foundry_bar_band_cd
LET?S DANCE!! Highland Jigs and Gaelic Waltzes: An excellent compilation (on CD for the first time) featuring West Coast dance music from days long past. Scottisches, waltzes, reels and more and wonderful musicians like, Bobby MacLeod, Jimmy Blair, Bert Shorthouse, Pibroch MacKenzie. £9.00 (£9.99 for first time customers)
http://www.footstompin.com/music/compilation/highland_jigs_gaelic_waltzes
A LOVELY TOUCH!! Scottish Piano Melodies ? Fred Hartley: A unique CD by the late Dundee pianist Fred Hartley playing a selection of Scottish melodies. Fred achieved fame first as a solo pianist, then as leader of a novelty quintet before becoming BBC?s Head of Light Music in 1946. Very sensitive playing with a nice contemporary swing here and there. £9.00 (£9.99 for first time customers)
http://www.footstompin.com/music/piano/scottish_piano_melodies
More arrivals at Foot Stompin' http://www.footstompin.com/music/new
2. Snippets
Glasgow?s latest ?live? music venue will be launched this week.
The Tall Ship at Glasgow Harbour has become one of the city?s most popular visitor attractions since opening to the public back in 1999. Now, the vessel Glenlee, built in Port Glasgow in 1896 and fully restored through a major investment package and vital support work by volunteers, is to host a sparkling programme of music nights.
http://www.footstompin.com/forum?threadid=92124
Martyn Bennett Night
We hear there?s to be a ?Martyn Bennett Night? at the Queens Hall, Edinburgh on 27th October. An evening of cutting edge performances by a wide range of contemporary, traditional, jazz and classical musicians who will raise a toast to one of Scotland?s most gifted musicians
http://www.footstompin.com/forum?threadid=92297
Gaelic Film Misses Out On Nomination
Seachd ? The Inaccessible Pinnacle which is the first Scottish Gaelic feature film for the cinema has been robbed of potential Academy Award glory after London-based film experts took the controversial decision that it was not even worth nominating for a foreign language Oscar. A Bafta subcommittee responsible for putting forward UK films to be considered for Oscar nomination decided against including The Inaccessible Pinnacle. Bafta film awards officer Louise Beasley told a Scottish national newspaper that a Welsh language film had also been up for consideration but: "The jury has decided not to put any films forward." The move has outraged many in the Scottish movie industry. The film?s soundtrack features top Gaelic vocalists and musicians
http://www.footstompin.com/forum?threadid=92090
Seasaidh Lexy Featuring the Vatersay Boys
Seasaidh Lexy is a hilarious new series of Youtube clips in Gaelic and English. Check out this clip where Lexy gets ready for a night out, with the Vatersay Boys as background music......
http://www.footstompin.com/forum?threadid=91981
3. Màiri Mhòr nan Òran
There has been a celebration this week in Skye of the life of Mary MacPherson (Màiri Mhòr nan Òran) one of Gaeldom's greatest female songwriters,
?Mary MacPherson, known as "Mairi Mhor Nan Oran" (Big Mary of the Songs) did not begin to write songs until she was fifty, when she was a widow with five children, long exiled from her native Skye. The incident which ignited her genius was her imprisonment for forty-two days on a malicious accusation of petty theft. The shame and anger she felt resulted in her first song "Luchd Na Beurla" (The Speakers of English):-
"I am weary of the speakers of English I long for some warmth and music ... Our land is defiled by sheep Coming up from the South like a plague, There's not a creature that moves Not tormented and torn apart".
For the next twenty-six years of her life, Mairi Mhor wrote prolifically on the issues, great and small, which affected her people - songs of exile, songs praising the beauty of the Skye landscape, songs recalling the joys and contentment of her childhood, humorous songs, songs celebrating the sport of shinty, songs of hope for the future of the Gaels, and most importantly, her songs recording the ravages of the Highland Clearances - the forcible eviction of the people to make way for sheep:-
"Who has ears or a heart Beating in their body? Who won't sing with me of the wrongs done to us? Of the thousands driven away, robbed off their land, their rights, everything All over the seas dreaming of The Green Isle of the Mists".
Mairi Mhor returned home to Skye in the 1880's, as Bard of the Land League, her songs drawing huge crowds to rally the crofters' resistance to decades of landlord exploitation:-
"For the children of our people Driven over the seas will come back again And the thieving lairds and landlords Will be driven out, as they were. The sheep and deer will be cleared And the glens be fertile again".
The above info on "Mairi Mhor Nan Oran" is an extract from a CD review in The Living Tradition Magazine.
Check out the CD ?Catherine-Ann MacPhee Sings Mairi Mhor?: http://www.footstompin.com/music/gaelic_song/catherine_ann_macphee_sings_mairi_mhor
http://www.footstompin.com/forum?threadid=91153
4. Books
Gordon Duncan?s Tunes: Although Gordon Duncan?s tunes are well-known throughout the traditional music scene in many parts of the world, very few of his compositions have been published in print. Under the guidance of his brother, Pipe Major Ian Duncan, this, the first volume of Gordon Duncan?s Tunes is now available. The book contains around 50 of Gordon's original compositions, some of them well-known, but many more which will be making their first appearance. This collection will be a ?must have? for pipers and other traditional musicians. So prolific a composer was Gordon Duncan, that a second volume is already in preparation. Gordon, from Pitlochry in Perthshire, was widely regarded as one of the most skilled and innovative traditional music performers and composers of modern times. He died in December 2005, aged 41. £13.50 (£15.00 for first time customers)
http://www.footstompin.com/books/bagpipemusic/gordon_duncans_tunes_book
An Fhideag Airgid: A Whistle Tutor for Highland Music (book): This is a 60 page bi-lingual tin whistle tutor (put together by Davy Garrett) which takes the complete beginner through from the basics of which finger to put where, and how to tongue, to how to read the music and how to play it. Notes, explanations and instructions are all given in English and Gaelic, and the tunes given as exercises and pieces are all part of the Gaelic music repertoire. £7.20 (£7.99 for first time customers)
http://www.footstompin.com/books/obj60367/whistle_tutor_highland_music
You might also need this!! Whistle: A fine wee 'Feadag Brass 'D' instrument which has a blue mouthpiece and is packaged in tartan (it would make a nice gift!) £4.50(£4.99 for first time customers)
http://www.footstompin.com/music/whistle/whistle_instrument
5. Reviews
CD: Red Hot Chilli Pipers: Customer Review 5 stars
I believe they are the best thing to come out of Scotland in years. Fantastic, if your feet stay still you must be dead?Jock Rock
http://www.footstompin.com/music/bagpipe_music/the_red_hot_chilli_pipers
CD: Highland Jigs And Waltzes reviewed for Scotland on Sunday by Norman Chalmers (http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com)
.. the great West Coast dance band music of a bygone era, including legendary fiddler 'Pibroch' MacKenzie from Bobby MacLeod's Band, and others. There are a few reels, some schottishes, the odd two-step, and an occasional march, but those irresistible Gaelic waltzes will have you searching for the CalMac timetable in no time.
http://www.footstompin.com/music/compilation/highland_jigs_gaelic_waltzes
CD: Parallel Tracks - Royal Scots Dragoon Guards: Customer Review 4 stars
Excellent album, not the usual Military Pipe band you would expect. Heard this being played in a few shops in Edinburgh. great for background while enjoying company/glass of wine, or crank it up for a hoolying. Works for both very well?.Colin Price
http://www.footstompin.com/music/bagpipe_music/parallel_tracks
CD: Dookin? ? The Battlefield Band: Reviewed for Scotland on Sunday by Norman Chalmers (http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com)
With new man Sean O'Donnell on guitar and sharing vocal duties, and old pals Mitch Greenhill on guitar and Mike Whelans on moothie injecting added wellie, the latest Battlefield Band album is a welcome addition to their fine catalogue. The album includes six compositions by piping maestro Mike Katz among the Scots and Irish tunes. Burns' 'Red Red Rose' gets an airing among the more contemporary songs, and for the rest it's high-quality business as usual.
http://www.footstompin.com/music/celtic_bands/dookin
6. Foot Stompin' Celtic Music Discussion Forum:
Here are some of the topics under discussion at the moment on our Foot Stompin' Celtic Music Forum. Feel free to join in! http://www.footstompin.com/forum?forumid=3
Freddy Anderson
Checking my archive I find a copy of "Fowesom Reel" published in the late 1940s by The Clyde Group, Glasgow, which contains 7 works by Freddy. There should be copies in the Mitchell and National Library of Scotland. Also, I found a few loose poetry sheets by him including this one on the retiral of Harold Wilson which was published in Scotia Folk Issue 51. It makes fascinating reading..
http://www.footstompin.com/forum?threadid=89796
Harmonies
How do people think about singing/playing harmonies? Do you think about them in intervals eg a third up or a third down?
http://www.footstompin.com/forum?threadid=91654
7. Events
22nd September: A free musical afternoon at St. Mark's Church, Portobello, Edinburgh 2 ? 5pm, with The Wullie Broon Quartet, ( Wullie, Ken Campbell, Hamish Moore , Wendy Weatherby ), Ronaldo Caruso ( Jazz Piano ) and members of the Auld Spice Ceilidh Band , the Leith Community Concert Band; Capriccio String Quartet, Spurtle Ceilidh Band and local soloists. Buses stop ootside the church - 26, 15, 129. Everybody welcome.
26th September - 7th October ? Darvel Music Festival: The Scotsman newspaper named the Darvel Music Festival as one of the top five "must see" event this year. It features a wide range of genres and both established and up and coming artists Some great concerts, with guests such as Session A9 and Capercaillie. Darvel lies at the head of the Irvine Valley in East Ayrshire.
http://www.footstompin.com/articles/festivals/october/darvel_music_festival
28th September: "Bliadhna Theàrlaich" the story of The '45 through song and music. The Ironworks, Inverness. Featuring some of Scotland's leading Gaelic singers, Margaret Stewart, Gillebride MacMillan, Griogair Lawrie and Jenna Cumming, performing Jacobite songs of the '45, some of which are rarely ,if ever, heard nowadays, and with music , dance and verse from Lisa Storey, Breabach, Simon MacKerrel and Frank MacConnel's dance group. Further info, tickets etc
http://www.footstompin.com/forum?threadid=92197
28th September ? 1st October: Fest ?N? Furious! Dundee Festival of Scottish Music. Takes place over the city?s October Holiday weekend, traditionally known as The Fast.. An exhilarating mix of the music and song of Scotland with some Irish, English and the odd bit of Americana thrown in for extra flavour. There's live music from the Red Hot Chilli Pipers & the young stars of the TMSA Young Trad Tour, The Peatbog Faeries, Catrional Mackay, Hunger Mountain Boys and The Earl Brothers, Alistair MacDonald.
http://www.footstompin.com/articles/festivals/september/obj36575
28th ? 30th September: Dunbar Traditional Music Festival: This annual festival is held in Dunbar, East Lothian, a lovely seaside town on the shores of the Firth of Forth and the birthplace in 1838 of conservationist John Muir founder of the American National Parks system. This is a great festival, well worth a visit AND most importantly many events are FREE!!!
http://www.footstompin.com/articles/festivals/september/dunbar_traditional_music

29th September: Celebrating the Music of Gordon Duncan. In a unique event on at Perth Concert Hall the country?s most acclaimed pipers, songwriters and traditional musicians are assembling for an exclusive concert which will reflect the esteem in which Gordon was held both locally and internationally. Now the Gordon Duncan Memorial Trust, comprising family members, fellow musicians and friends, has invited: Dougie MacLean; Session A9; Kris Drever: Duncan Chisholm; Maggie MacInnes; Jock Duncan; Allan MacDonald; Ross Ainslie; Jarlath Henderson; Ali Hutton; Eamon McCann; Sylvain Hamon; Xose Manuel Tejedor; National Youth Pipe Band of Scotland; The Atholl Highlanders Pipe Band to play at this unmissable event. The concert will help the trust achieve its aim of raising funds for the promotion of piping and other forms of traditional music among young people in Scotland
Tickets info: http://www.footstompin.com/forum?threadid=91876
More festivals: http://www.footstompin.com/articles
8. Ayepod.Net
Check out Ayepod.net for a reasonably priced range of downloadable instrument and singing tuition courses. Also available as downloads is the Foot Stompin' own label CD catalogue - single tracks and complete albums. There are also free podcasts of Scottish music. We have two strands - Ayepod Radio featuring the latest releases in Scottish music and Ayepod 11 Questions where we ask Scottish musicians to talk about their lives and music.
http://www.ayepod.net