MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards: FOLK AT THE SALMON BOTHY

Congratulations to FOLK AT THE SALMON BOTHY who have been nominated in Club of the Year sponsored by Trac Scotland in the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards 2014. Vote now!

We asked Bob Philips of FOLK AT THE SALMON BOTHY the following questions.

Tell us about yourself
Folk At The Salmon Bothy was the brain child of the late Wendy de Rusett. Portsoy’s dilapidated Salmon Bothy had just been refurbished and turned into a museum and performance venue. Wendy advertised for Folk enthusiasts to meet and Folk at the Salmon Bothy was born. We meet third Friday of each month for an open mic event, MCd by a volunteer Club Member. A superb sound system is provided for performers use. On some occasions over 20 acts can be in attendance, delivering a wide variety of songs, tunes, poems and stories. Always a fantastic mix.
We also hold guest nights when we booked top acts from not only Scotland, but England, ireland, USA and even New Zealand. We support local Youth Music Initiatives in Schools, both financially and by providing tutors. We run workshops, mainly during our annual festival, but we have also run some outwith that event – for instance we hosted a singer songwriters weekend in February 2014 0 the result was a 8 track CD recorded over the weekend – Bothy Ballad style songs, shanties and many more reflecting our local heritage. As if that wasn’t enough we also run an Annual Folk Festival – organisation is well underway for the 6th HAAL, to be held 29,30 31st May2015.

Why are you involved in Scottish music?
Our aims are to provide a platform for local and visiting performers to perform songs, stories, poems and tunes in a friendly and welcoming environment. There is also the added bonus of performing with a superb professional sound system, provided by Club Stalwart, Graham Legge. We also strive to invite guests form as wide variety of Traditions as possible.We have had guests form England, Ireland, usa, New Zealand and of course some of Scotland’s very best traditional performers. We also actively support trad music being introduced in local schools. Many of the tutors involved in The Portsoy Youth Music Initiative are club members, such as the vastly experienced Tom and Maggie Spiers. We also give financial support.
In short, we want to give performers a platform and bring local folk a variety of performances to savor.

Any particular career highlights?
Too many to describe really, but the way our Club has evolved in a positive way is great to see. new regulars and loads of visitors turn up to preform on our carpet – we don’t have a stage ! The huge and growing success of our Festivals gives a lot of pleasure. It takes many folk to our area and we celebrate one of Portsoy’s Sons, Jimmy McBeath., we take acts form different traditions, host many workshops and give loads of opportunities for attendees to perform at sessions.Probably the highlight was the performance earlier this year by a young lass, with local connections, who blew the audience away with her mature and polished performance. She was booked because we had faith in someone we hadn’t heard, but knew was a pupil at Plockton School of Music – so it wasn’t really a gamble. 15 year old Mabel Duncan was simply superb. She will be much more widely known soon and is to perform at The 6th HAAL in May 2015

What are your plans for the future?
Much of the same as far as Club, Guests and Festival goes.
Club is going ‘On The Road’ soon to village halls in the NE.
We hope to run more workshops and in particular, follow up the great work on traditional music that has already been taken into schools into schools.

Buy a ticket for the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards on Saturday 13th December in Inverness Leisure, start time 7pm. You’ll have a great time!