ScotlandsMusic – Taigh na Teud are the tenth recipients of Hands Up for Trad’s Business Limelight Award. The “Limelight’s” are a monthly initiative (launched in October 2012) that recognises the outstanding contributions made by businesses and organisations who contribute, shape and influence the arts and cultural sector in Scotland today. ScotlandsMusic and Taigh na Teud have made a lifetime commitment to the promotion of Scottish traditional music and their books are a mainstay of the whole Scottish scene.
Company name: ScotlandsMusic – Taigh na Teud
What is your principle company activity?
The company sells many collections of Scottish music books, CDs and DVDs and is the foremost Scottish sheet music publisher. The books include the Highland Tunes for the Fiddle series, Sessions Tunes for Scottish Fiddlers and the well known Ceilidh Collections as well as
many other books for Scots song, guitar, accordion, mandolin, harp and more. We also produce some Gaelic books and story CDs and have just produced a new Tintin in Gaelic and Scots, An T-Eilean Dubh and The Derk Isle which are proving very popular.
When and where did the company first start trading?
ScotlandsMusic.com / Taigh na Teud was set up in 1985 by Christine Martin in Tain, Ross- shire.
What made you want to work in Scottish culture?
Brought up in rural Ayrshire I had a great fiddler living next door so as a child I got interested through the music I played with him and by being in the school folk group. I studied classical music as there were then no opportunities to do Scottish music and I went to the RSAMD (now RCS) and studied violin and piano. Alasdair and I moved to Easter Ross where I was strings teacher in the schools. There I met Dagger Gordon and Duncan MacGillivray and we formed a band, the original “Gizzenbriggs”, which played around venues in the Highlands for about eight years. During that time some of the young fiddlers I was teaching in school and a group of adults asked fiddler Ian MacBeth and I to start a fiddle group and it was my job to choose and write out the sets by hand each week. After requests from people for the tune sets I decided to make them into a book and so the first Ceol na Fidhle was born. I have always enjoyed working in Scottish culture either teaching instruments or making books and CDs.
Can you tell us of any particular company highlights?
- Winning the Mod literature prize for Orain an Eilein (Skye Gaelic Songs) as this book was 6 years in the making.
- Receiving a Business Transfer Parnership award (BTP) with Napier University to enable me to learn how to make multi – angle video learning materials and short films.
- Making the Angus Fraser manuscript available as a book for musicians to study as it had never been previously published.
- Launching our brand new website www.scotlandsmusic.com last week after spending the last 9 months helping to make it has to be a highlight too!
What are your company’s plans for the future?
- A new Borders Fiddle Book as a joint book and CD project with Peter Shepheard (Springthyme Music)
- Working with Alistair MacCulloch on the new RCS repertoires and books for the 2014 traditional music exam syllabus.
- Working with Simon Thoumire to publish the 2014 collection of Scottish tunes being gathered presently for launch in a book next year.
- Making some more films and tune videos for Youtube
- Learning more about new media for marketing
How will you celebrate receiving Hands Up for Trad’s Business Limelight award?
As it is an October award we will probably be at the Mod so we will go to one of the lively concerts there and the ceilidh afterwards.
Taigh na Teud Music Publishers – ScotlandsMusic
13 Upper Breakish
Isle of Skye
IV42 8PY
Scotland
+44(0)1471822528
www.scotlandsmusic.com
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