The Tiree Songbook

Inspired by the Na Bàird Thirisdeach, an early 20th-century collection of songs and poems from the island of Tiree, this double album marks the ambitious but incredibly exciting gathering of a number of prominent Tiree singers and musicians to record music from its vibrant history. The project was a true community affair. With a house band including Anna Massey, Mary Ann Kennedy and Calum MacCrimmon, and headed up by Tiree singers such as Iain Brown, Ishbel Campbell and Bernie Smith, it's hard to find fault here. A mix of live and studio recordings, which helps to capture the vital community essence of these songs, there are hornpipes and jigs, box and fiddle sets, pibroch and pipe tunes: there is a little of everything here.

Opening with a fine and impressive ‘Pipe Set’ (‘79th's Farewell to Gibraltar’, ‘John MacDonald of Coll View’ and ‘Capt Lachlan MacPhail of Tiree’) recorded at Celtic Connections in 2016, the scene is set for a rather special and engaging insight into the music of Tiree. The ‘Box and Fiddle Set’ features new tunes reflecting more contemporary aspects of the island while ‘Òran Nam PrÌosanach’ tells the tragic story of land agitation on Tiree and ‘Calum Salum's Salute to the Seals’ is a fetching piece of whimsy. This is a genuinely beautiful and important piece of work. The Tiree tradition is an impressive one and the Songbook captures this effortlessly: perhaps this is just the beginning of the story.