FIONA MACKENZIE enjoys Gaelic songs old and new.

THE GAELIC language is at the heart of the Blas Festival and so a concert entitled “Gaelic Voices” would be expected to have just that, so this evening of Gaelic song and Highland music was therefore chaired bi-lingually by Dingwall Academy Gaelic teacher Tormod Macarthur, who also performed later alongside his fellow musicians in Na Seòid.

Mary Ann Kennedy and Na Seòid

The concert opened with set of songs by Dingwall Gaelic Choir. The set included old favourites such as ‘Cabar Fèidh’, ‘Mnathan Ghlinne Seo’, ‘Cuachag nan Craobh’ and sets of puirt a beul. They also gave their puirt for this year’s National Mod an airing – the tongue twisting ‘An Fhaighear Muileach’.

The Choir were followed by the Roya Maclean Trio. Roya hails from Muir of Ord and is currently studying at Sabhal Mor Ostaig. She is rapidly gaining a reputation as one of Scotland’s brightest accordion stars of the future and her sparkling cèilidh sets, demonstrated why.

She was accompanied by fiddle and drums and the sets included tunes from across the traditional repertoire – pipe marches, reels, Gaelic airs and strathspeys. The performance as a whole was assured, sparkling in its vivacity and filled with an air of experience way beyond the age of the young performers.

The main performers for the evening were Mary Ann Kennedy’s “Gaelic Boy Band”, Na Seoid, comprising, James Graham, Norrie Maciver, Angus Macphail, Gillebride Macmillan, Tormod Macarthur, and Calum Alex Macmillan, accompanied on guitar by Finlay Napier.

Their set of songs included four new songs, three of which were self-penned by members of the band, and it is very refreshing and reassuring that our young Gaels have the confidence now to perform their own material, on contemporary subjects, such as the Iraq war (‘Na Gaidheal am Basra’ by Macarthur) and the relationship difficulties afforded to young people today by the necessity to work away from home (‘Dileab’ by Macmillan).

James Graham also performed a new song which won the recent Mull Song competition – ‘Gheibhinn Cadal Math’ (I would sleep well) by Allan ‘Glenuig’ Macdonald. Mary Ann’s own new song ‘Mise Fhuair’, which won a place in the recent final of the Nús Ur Competition in Inverness, also provided an opportunity for some fine group harmony singing.

Mary Ann also accompanied several of the songs on clarsach. Other old favourites included ‘Thèid is Gun Tèid Thu Leam’ and the Ullapool song ‘Mo Chailin Dïleas Donn’ given a more contemporary setting by Maciver.

The boys have a busy Blas programme and this may have been the reason for the rather more subdued atmosphere to their sets than we have come to expect. They are well known for their humour on stage and the audience missed out on this to an extent here. The considerable vocal talents of the ensemble were afforded only a few occasions to demonstrate the power and beauty of the Young Male Gaelic voice in harmony, no more so than in the lovely ‘Sios dhan an Abhainn’.

It is heartening for the future of the Gaelic language to have so many talented young male singers and musicians. We can be assured that both our traditional heritage and treasury of song and our contemporary Gaelic song-writing future is safe in the hands of young musicians such as Na Seòid.

© Fiona MacKenzie, 2009

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• Blas Festival 

• Fiona MacKenzie