Over the past year HI~Arts (the arts development agency for the Highlands and Islands) has been working with a number of outstanding songwriters, to promote their unique craft and record some of their original material. An industry sampler CD, the MIDAS Highland Songwriters Showcase, has just been completed and features twelve tracks from some of the most talented individuals in the Scottish Highlands. To mark the end of the project and the completion of the recording sessions, HI~Arts is hosting a third Songwriters Showcase gig at the Ironworks Room 2 on Sunday May 15th, with a line-up of some of the artists featured on the CD.

Feis Cothlam 2011 – a gaelic wool festival celebrating everything woolly in Argyll is taking place from 21st to 23rd July 2011 in Benderloch, Argyll.

Tore Art Gallery, Tore, until 20 June 2011.

OneTouch Theatre, Eden Court, Inverness, 30 April 2011

Castle Gallery, Inverness, until 21 May 2011.

SUE WILSON hears how fiddler Duncan Chisholm is stepping into a new part of his creative life with his Highlands & Islands tour this month.

Inverness Leisure Centre, Inverness, 28 April 2011.

Gramarye Studio is a small, friendly workshop located on a hilltop beside the village of Achmore.

High quality fine art, limited edition prints and original paintings by Caroline Cooke.

KATIE LAING caught up with Alyth McCormack ahead of her return to her native Lewis.