MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards 2016: Dàimh

Congratulations to Dàimh who have been nominated in Album of the Year sponsored by Birnam CD in the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards 2016. Vote now!

We asked Ross Martin of Dàimh the following questions.

Tell us about yourself
'The "Hebridean Sessions" is an album of traditional material recorded, mastered and designed on the Hebridean Islands.

Never a band to find an easy way to do things, the album was recorded over a week across the Islands of Mull, Skye and South Uist in a series of intimate acoustic get togethers.

"We wanted to record an album of the traditional tunes we have been playing for years at wild dances and ceilidhs across the West Coast and Islands" recounts piper Angus MacKenzie who lives on the Isle of Skye. "The best way to capture the feel and spirit we were after was to take the recording studio with us rather than go to the studio and try and make it feel like an Island."

The songs cover the full range of the known Gaelaxy, from dancing and drinking to crofting and un-requited love and are provided by new vocalist and the firmament's fastest rising star: Ellen MacDonald.

Taking the recording process and the fact that all the band live either on the Isles of Skye and Eigg or in full view of them, the band decided to take the Island theme one step further by choosing Beaver Island on Lake Michigan for their North American album launch.

"Every Island has it's own unique character and charm" relates Eigg adoptee Gabe McVarish, "Yet there is a shared feeling of 'Island mentality', wherever you go in the world. Beaver Island may have been 4,000 miles away and in the middle of a fresh water lake but at certain points it felt just like home!"

Why are you involved in Scottish music?
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Any particular career highlights?
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What are your plans for the future?
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If you would like to come along to the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards in Dundee’s Caird Hall call the Caird Hall box office on (01382) 434940 or buy online.