I’m delighted to announce that I have been nominated for the Citty Finlayson Scots Singer of the Year at the MG Alba Scots Trad Music Awards! It’s an honour to be among such wonderful singers and it would be great to have your support in voting, and maybe even win! Voting is now open and runs until the 24th of November. You can vote at at www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/TradAwards2017 .

Hands Up for Trad and sponsors work hard to provide a platform for Scottish talent, with the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards 2017. The awards make their debut in The Lagoon Centre, Paisley on Saturday 2^nd December. Tickets to attend are on sale at  www.paisley2021.co.uk/events/the-mg-alba-scots-trad-music-awards.

Not to succumb to this marvellous voice is almost impossible. Iona Fyfe is one of the best that Scotland has to offer. Anyone who knows the scene knows that everything is great. The first album of the Iona Fyfe band is coming out of the company of CPL-Music.

“I’ve always wanted to release a physical CD and I’m very excited about the finished product. I’m so passionate about. “” I’m so passionate about. “

The simple title of this EP, “East”, refers to the origin of both the music and the artist, namely the Scottish east coast. Iona Fyfe has formed a band with which she recorded five traditional songs (plus a more recent date) of her home in a strikingly simple way. There are no sound gadgets that would distort the character of the music. Thus, although these are usually ballads and love songs, one perceives a certain roughness between the notes. Even the entrance of a piano seems as if it were a traditional Scottish folk instrument.

A first highlight of the album is clearly “Cairn O ‘Mount”. Only Iona Fyfe’s voice can be heard and at the latest you can see the incredible talent of this young woman. One may not believe that the musician has yet completed her education at the Royal Scottish Conservatory. But with the final “Bonny Udny” they finally climb the summit. This title crowns the album.

On “East” the Iona Fyfe band pays tribute to the Scottish legends Belle Stewart and Jeannie Robertson . At the same time it transmits old songs carefully in modern times. We are already looking forward to the band’s 2018 full-length debut. “East” is just beautiful.  

Read the entire review here.

I’m delighted to announce that I have been nominated for the “Contribution to Music Award” at The Pride of Aberdeen Awards, which is to be held on 4th November at the Beach Ballroom in Aberdeen.

As a Huntly folksinger, very passionate about North East song, winning the award would be a real honour, but I need some votes! If you could click on the link below, scroll down to the “Contribution to Music” award, and fill in my name, then I’d be chuffed!

Voting is open here: http://old.prideofaberdeenawards.com/vote/

Delighted to announce that I’ll be playing at a brand new festival in Blairgowrie, celebrating Hamish Henderson. Hamish Matters will be held at Blairgowrie Town Hall on 11th November at 7:00pm and will feature Perth Gaelic Choir, Aileen Ogilvie, Jim Mackintosh and the Mad Ferret Band. Tickets are £10/6 with stovies included and are available from blairgowrielibrary@culturepk.org.uk or 01250 871538 or 01250 871305.

Grizzly Folk has made a brilliant series on folksongs which would serve as a great starting point for any beginner. There are contributions from Greg Russell, Jimmy Aldridge, Laura Smyth, Ben Nicholls.
See the full article here.

What makes this one of the best British folk songs?

“I heard this song from the singing of Lizzie Higgins and John MacDonald. It is also found in the Greig-Duncan Folk Song Collection Volume 6 and John Ord’s Bothy Songs and Ballads. The narrative explains his love for Udny as well as his love for his significant other. Udny Green is situated in Aberdeenshire, southwest of Pitmedden. The parish of Udny is made up of Udny Green and Udny Station, which lies on the old Buchan Rail line.

The song has been sung by source and revivalist singers of the North East of Scotland such as John Strachan, Jane Turriff and John MacDonald. It was also sung by Daisy Chapman, one of the various North East source singers who toured England. Daisy was recorded singing Bonny Udny at the Kings Head Folk Club in London between 1968 and 1970, at the heart of the folksong revival.

John Mearns stated that the song is, “found in various forms in many parts of the country”. Peter Hall comments: “The theme and form of this song facilitate its attachment to any locality, and versions are known under a variety of names: Yarmouth is a Pretty Town, Bonny Portmore, The Boys of Kilkenny.”

Bonny Udny, to me, highlights the universalism of folksong; the song, carrying the same message – of love for land and women – can be found in Scotland, England and Ireland, linking the British oral tradition. To me, Bonny Udny has all the properties of a lovely short folksong and would serve as a great place for a beginner of any sorts to start.”

What do we know about ‘Bonny Udny’? 

Firstly, thanks to Iona for doing most of my work for me! So much info in a single enthusiastic email – you can spot the singers who also have the scholarly bug a mile off.

So, what is there left for me to add? Only really that ‘Bonny Udny’ also turns up, under the Roud number 3450, a total of 49 times in the Vaughan Williams online library, and that the central word ‘Udny’ is never very far from the title. It seems to be about as geo-located as any folk song gets.

As beautiful as the song is, however, it has been recorded far fewer times than most of the songs that have been suggested for our British folk songs list so far. First taped in Fyvie, Aberdeenshire on July 16, 1951, less than 10 versions have been recorded in the time separating that initial session and Iona Fyfe’s own gorgeous rendition, released on her Eastcollection in 2016.