Resolis Memorial Hall, 9 September 2006

Breabach

RESOLIS MEMORIAL HALL. For an Evanton girl like me, the question is, where on earth is it?! After a few fruitless calls and wrong turns, I finally stumbled upon this fabled venue.

Despite its relatively isolated location, the hall was packed. Bring-your-own-bottle whisky, thoughtful candle lighting and half-time tea and home-baking; it felt like the perfect setting for an evening of traditional Highland music and Gaelic language, brought to us as part of the Blas festival.

The evening opened with two talented local lads, Ruairidh Campbell on keyboard and Matheu Watson on fiddle. Playing a mix of original compositions and well-known favourites, the duo infuse traditional Scottish music with jazz elements.

Next up were the Feisean Ceilidh Trailers, a collection of up and coming Highland teens, brought together by the Fèis Rois music initiative. The group showed versatility and skill with a set of jigs, airs and reels played on almost every Scottish instrument imaginable. Just a shame there was no room to dance!

A member of this bright young rabble herself, Roya Maclean continued the night with a stunning set of her own. I’d never seen a solo accordion performance before and was blown away by the skill it must take to play this piece of kit in a reasonable fashion, let alone with the clarity, speed and grace that Roya does. This pretty, down-to-earth, Muir of Ord lass enthralled us all with jigs, Gaelic waltzes and marches such as ‘Troy’s Wedding’ and ‘Rory Gallagher’s’.

Changing the face of the stage again, Breabach stepped to the fore. Formed by four Scottish students who met at college in Glasgow, this band gives a contemporary edge to traditional music.

They produce innovative and driving rhythms with pipes, fiddles, whistles and guitars – at times not unlike The Afro-Celts. The staccato fiddle of ‘Cockerel In The Creel’ was a particular treat, as was their rousing finale which blasted us with no less than two sets of bagpipes!

To mark the end of the night and, indeed, the week-long festival itself, the guesting musicians all piled onto the stage for a “bit of a rammie.” This scene, more than any other, summed up the ethos of Blas.

Ending the week of traditional music in a rural community venue with a showcase of the young local talent taking it forward shows this festival doesn’t simply laud the Highland’s cultural past; it also paves the way for its future.

© Susan Szymborski, 2006

Link

• Blas Festival