LeisureFayre, Pickaquoy Centre, Kirkwall, Orkney. 29 April, 2011

ORKNEY has a strong oral tradition of storytelling and has inspired many songs too, with more than a thousand with links to the isles deposited in the county’s archive. Recently more have been created as novelist, playwright and musician Duncan McLean has turned his hand to song writing again after a break of more than 20 years.

Many will know of his lifelong obsession with Texan music, his book Lone Star Swing: On the Trail of Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys and his Lone star Swing Band touring Scotland and Ireland last year with his musical play Long Gone Lonesome, a tribute to Shetland’s Thomas Fraser for the National Theatre of Scotland.

Duncan McLean (left) and the Driftwood Cowboys (photo Rebecca Marr)

Mix all these ingredients with the fact that McLean used to write his own songs for the Merry Mac Fun Co in the 1980s, and what sort of music will you get? Lyrics about Orkney island insanity set to Texan tunes of swing country blues, of course. The Driftwood Cowboys are Lone Star Swing Band’s Dick Levens on electric mandolin, lap steel and lead guitar, and Iain Tait on string bass with McLean on guitar and vocals. Music for neo-traditional kyefolk, was promised.

Just in case we were puzzled by the concept, the set began with a lively toe-tappin’ Go Boy Go!, followed by an explanatory song stuffed full of musical references to Brownie McGhee and such-like, whose 78s arrived on these shores. The Driftwood Cowboy just drifted along on the shoreline looking for songs and hearing tales of cowboy glory from the ocean on the other side. This echoed the tale of Thomas Fraser who listened to records that had crossed the Atlantic who liked to yodel and record his own versions on a reel to reel on a remote island.

Winter 2010 goes: “I’ve never known a time like this. Winter has us in its grip”. For a flavour of these wintry blues and quirky graphics from Levens check out the You Tube video (see below).

A weel kent Orkney character in the 19^th century was Skatehorn, aka William Laughton, a wandering tramp. Skatehorn Blues imagines how he would have told his life story through the blues in a Jelly Roll Morton style but with Orkney phrases thrown in like “short ago” among the bluesy speak.

More blues came with Peatstack Lightning, the ‘folktale’ of a gal from Birsay who was so hot that the peat stacks spontaneously combusted all around her, to the tune of Smokestack Lightning by Howlin’ Wolf. McLean’s gutsy blues voice was more of a hit with this than with the straight covers of standards like Please Release Me. Also inspired was a tale of teenage angst and unrequited love in Shopping Week Queen, based on the annual gala week in Stromness.

There was plenty of banter from Levens while McLean replaced a broken string. His Flying Plank guitar, which he offered to McLean as a replacement guitar, is just that; a plank of wood. His offer was turned down.

The lyrics were quirky and entertaining, with insane moments that somehow made sense of island life. These were great stories that should be told.

In support was James Watson, 18, from Rendall whose experimental fiddling completely wowed the audience. He plucked a few strings and using a loop pedal got his rhythm section going through five-second recordings before picking up his bow for hauntingly beautiful drifting sounds in a tune called Ironical. He told us we’d struggle to get a good tune out of him. Instead we got ephemeral beauty again in Idiosyncrasies. After the interval, before the Driftwood Cowboys returned, we got one “proper tune” from him on fiddle accompanied by his talented brother Jake on guitar. He played An Tobar, a tribute to Aidan O’Rourke, his favourite composer. Stunning stuff from the Watsons who are ones to watch, as are the Driftwood Cowboys, at the forthcoming Orkney Folk Festival.

Cue happy cowfolk drifting off into the Orkney night.

© Catherine Turnbull, 2011

Links

• Driftwood Cowboys on You Tube