Feature by Northings
Dàimh
Exploring the Pan-Celtic Traditions
DÀIMH are one of the headline bands in this month’s Blas Festival. In the last of the Arts Journal’s Band Profiles series, we take a look at this West Highland-based outfit.
DÀIMH (pronounced da-eve) offer a fresh, up to date approach to traditional music. An exciting combination of musicians hailing from Cape Breton Island, Ireland, the West Highlands of Scotland and the ever-innovative Irish-American scene, the band effortlessly blends music from their native traditions with a few more tunes picked up en-route.
Their music is a very high energy, fast-flowing mixture of tunes and songs from the traditions of their countries represented fusing together their individual styles on bagpipes, fiddle, banjo, guitar, bodhran and mandola to create a unique and compelling sound, their music knows no boundaries. The band have released two CDs, ‘Moidart to Mabou’ (2000) and ‘The Pirates of Puirt’ (2003).
The musicians are:
Colm O’Rua from Dublin, Ireland. He has been playing the banjo throughout Australia, North America and the Continent for the last 18 years. A multi-talented musician and prolific composer, he also plays whistle and mandola and writes many of the band’s tunes. Since moving to Scotland in the mid-1990s he has played with Fergie MacDonald, Eat the Donkey and Allan MacDonald’s Ais Eirigh, and featured on numerous recordings and tv appearances. Colm is a fluent Scottish Gaelic speaker.
Angus MacKenzie from Mabou, Cape Breton Island. Angus grew-up playing the pipes and speaking Gaelic. Coming from such a musically rich area it’s no surprise that he went on to win many of the most prestigious competitions in North America, both as a solo piper and as Pipe Major of the St. Anne’s Gaelic College Pipe Band. Having moved on from competition piping, Angus’ unique style has been attracting attention from all areas of the musical world as he is quickly gaining a reputation as one of the finest pipers to be heard.
Gabe McVarish from California. Gabe was twice winner of the All American junior fiddle championship before returning back to his ancestral homeland of Mòrar in the West Highlands. His playing in Europe, California and Nigeria has earned him the reputation of being one of the hottest tickets in the fiddling world. Currently completing a degree in traditional music at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Gabe has played with Dibidil, Phamie Gow and is much sought after for playing for dances on the west coast and the islands.
Ross Martin from Scotland. Ross was immersed in wild west coast dances and sessions from an early age. His driving yet sensitive guitar playing has made him one of the highest regarded accompanists on the scene today. He learned his trade in Hebridean and West Highland dance halls and has gone on to tour the world extensively with Tabache, Fred Morrison and Ceòlas and has performed with Deaf Shepherd, Liz Doherty and ex Battlefield Band member Iain MacDonald. Ross is also much in demand for session work and TV.
James Bremner from Scotland. James is a native of Mòrar, and when he is not gracing the dance floors he is on stage with the band playing the bòdhran. His delicate and intricate rhythm weaves between the other instruments and binds the whole sound together. Musically and craic wise, James is acknowledged as the driving force behind Dàimh.
© Dàimh, 2005
