Tag Archives: Katie McNally

Musical Trip to Scotland

MUSIC TRAVEL

Destination: Scotland

Music: 

Ceolbeg Collected by Ceolbeg [Greentrax],
Race the Loser by Lau [Reveal Records],
The Flooers o’ the Forest by various artists [Greentrax],
Flourish by Katie McNally [own label]

Article by Kerry Dexter

Scotland’s varied landscapes, long history, and present day life inspire music that turns out to be as varied as those landscapes and as vibrant as that day-to-day life. Here are recent albums for you to consider as you imagine, plan, or remember your trip to Scotland.
trip to Scotland album

Ceolbeg Collected

The first two tracks of Ceolbeg Collected make a fine opener for any trip to Scotland. The music begins with a march which moves into a highstepping strathspey called the Laddie with the Plaidie. [Note from VMB: The term Strathspey was new to me, and in case you also need a primer on strathspey, take a look at this demonstration by two experts. Kerry explained to me that the strathspey falls rhythmically between the march that precedes it on the album, and the reel that follows. ] The Cup of Tea Reel brings the set to a close, making all told a fine introduction of the fast-paced side of the music of Scotland. Farewell Tae the Haven,  a song of lament for the decline of fishing and the leaving of a fishing town, follows.

Ceolbeg began as a band in the port of Dundee in the late 1970s and through more than three decades (they played their last gig ten years ago) saw many of Scotland’s finest musicians join its lineup, which featured traditional instruments, traditional songs, and innovative takes on tradition as well as original music. The sixteen cuts on Ceolbeg Collected showcase songs and tunes of history, love, politics, landscape, and change, many of the band’s best gathered from across the years.
Trip to Scotland Album

Race the Loser

The opening tracks of Race the Loser may have you thinking in a different direction. Kris Drever, Martin Green, and Aidan O’Rourke, the men who make up this trio, have solo careers involving traditional music, but when they get together, they’re known for creating work that takes folk and traditional music up to its boundaries and beyond, and indeed they do so here. Scotland’s traditions remain at the heart of their music though, as they weave O’Rourke’s fiddle, Green’s accordion, and Drever’s guitar and voice through complex and intriguing realms of melody, at times bringing in electronics and at others relying on adventurous melody and counterpoint of their traditional instruments alone.

 

Trip to Scotland album

The Flooers of the Forest 

The Flooers of the Forest is an iconic song of Scotland, whether performed as a song with words or played as lament on instruments alone. The words were written about those lost at the Battle of Flodden, which took place five hundred years ago near the Scottish Borders area in northern Northumberland in England. The political and historical ramifications may be debated, but there’s no doubt many died in this battle between English and Scottish forces, and that Scotland came out the heavy loser. Not only was King James IV killed, but there was hardly a family in Scotland that went unscathed by the battle.

Legends have grown about the events at Flodden– who took part, what went before, and what came after– but until now the songs and stories had not been gathered together. The Flooers of the Forest is a two disc set, the first comprising fifteen tracks, opening with Dick Gaughan’s rough hewn voice singing the story of the title track and closing with Gary West’s haunting version of it on the pipes. In between there are songs of the battle and its people from Karine Polwart, Rob Bell, Davy Steele, Archie Fisher, and other luminaries of Scotland’s music. The second disc is readings of poetry and prose . All will take you through a trip to Scotland in a particular place and time in Scotland’s history.

 

Tri[p to Scotland music - Flourish
Flourish

Katie McNally’s instrument is the fiddle. The Boston based musician has long been immersed in the music of Scotland. She’s studied in Glasgow and in the U. S., and come away with an individual touch and style that mark her as a gifted interpreter of the traditions of the music of Scotland as well as a talent who is taking that music and its intersections with the music of North America into new dimensions. You’ll hear all of this on her album Flourish.

Traditional and original tunes as well as tunes by Scottish composers meet and match, with McNally’s fiddle gracefully leading a dance of traditional instruments including guitar, cello, and harmony fiddle. Standout tracks include Waulking of the Fauld paired with Lillian’s, The Jarvis Waltz, and Da Unst Bridal March, though every track is a keeper, and well worth your returning to time and again.

Take a trip to Scotland through the music of these artists. You’ll discover things you never knew.

Note: A Traveler’s library reveals affiliate links.  The album cover images and album titles here are links to Amazon, where you can listen to partial music tracks and shop for albums and books. If you click on the link and make a purchase at Amazon, it will benefit Music Road, for which we thank you.