The joy of music and singing began early for Ally MacLeod. She grew up in the Scottish Highlands in a home whose walls reverberated to the sounds of both traditional Scottish reels and jigs and the comforting twang of Chet Atkin’s guitar.

Guitar, piano and trumpet lessons spattered her childhood but the love of theatre took her into acting, writing and directing in her 20’s and 30’s on both sides of the Atlantic, including a four year stint in New York working, mainly, in experimental theatre.

She ran her own theatre company, Roadrunner Theatre, on her return to Scotland at the turn of the century and it was during this time her songwriting became more than just a hobby and began to dominate a greater part of her life.

A happenstance meeting with singer songwriter, and now music producer Martin Stephenson unveiled a back catalogue of close to 50 songs, and it was in the spring of 2010 that they began working together on a choice dozen that now make up Ally’s first album, Astor Place.

Drawing on her experiences of living abroad, travelling the world, love, nature and the elements, the dozen songs span a decade of writing, the title track having been written the day after her fortuitous meeting with Martin.

“Martin is someone who is inspired and inspiring and I, literally, feed off his positivity and deep spiritual nature. I’m blessed to have met him.”

Ally teamed up with fellow musician Donald Forbes, from Inverness, in the summer of 2010, and they now perform under the name Red Hook Rapids. Over the past year they have supported such musical luminaries as Christine Collister, Michael Weston King, the Lush Rollers and, most recently, Martin Stephenson at the Jazz Café in London.

Source: Medicine Music