Rescattermastered

The Hebridean Isles of Tiree and South Uist are a hotchpotch of creative musical talent and Trail West, whose members hail from these islands, prove themselves as deft exponents of their craft. The band are Alain Campbell (guitar, whistles, vocals), Andrew Findlater (drums, percussion), Ian Smith (piano accordion, vocals) and Seonaidh MacIntyre (whistles, bagpipes, guitar) and they have gathered a set of guests for this release, including Runrig's Malcolm Jones and Kathleen MacInnes.

This is their second album, and a fun and enjoyable one it is too. Better known as a ceilidh band, the boys have brought a few new influences to proceedings. ‘MacPherson's Rant’ narrates the traditional story of an outlaw and fiddler player hanged for his crimes while ‘John Henry’ sees the band take on the American folk story with an accomplished, if slightly placid, interpretation. More successful is ‘On the Tear!’, a sweaty set of tunes. While the boys tackle the classic sea shanty ‘South Australia’ with muscle and passion, Kathleen MacInnes proves a calming influence on the tender ‘Maraiche Nan Cuantan’.