MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards: Gerda Stevenson

Congratulations to Gerda Stevenson who has been nominated in Citty Finlayson Scots Singer of the Year sponsored by TMSA in the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards 2014. Vote now!

We asked Gerda Stevenson the following questions.

Tell us about yourself
I am an actor/writer/director/ singer-songwriter, and trained at R.A.D.A., London. I’ve worked on stage, television, radio and film throughout Britain and abroad.
With support from Creative Scotland, a CD of my own songs, NIGHT TOUCHES DAY, was released in 2014 (Gean Records, produced by Mattie Foulds), featuring my own vocals, accompanied by an array of fine Scottish musicians: James Ross, Konrad Wiszniewski, Inge Thomson, Seylan Baxter, Rob MacNeacail, and Norwegian multi-instrumentalist Kyrre Slind.
I am one of the MADGE WILDFIRE trio, with Patsy Seddon and Kathy Stewart. I am a visiting lecturer at Glasgow University, where my writing is studied as part of the Contemporary Scottish Literature course. I am a trustee of the Scottish International Education Trust, and a Scots Language Ambassador for Education Scotland.

Why are you involved in Scottish music?
I was born and brought up (and still live) in the Scottish Borders. As a child, I heard Scots spoken in my home village of West Linton, and have always loved the Border Ballads. Being a member of the Stevenson family of musicians (father the composer/pianist Ronald, sister composer/harper Savourna, brother the violin-maker Gordon, and niece composer/fiddler Anna-Wendy), I have been steeped in music all my life. My father has always had a great interest in Scottish culture, and set to music the words of Scots and Gaelic poets such as Hugh MacDiarmid, William Soutar, and Sorley MacLean. Coming from a musically eclectic background, I was aware, from a young age, of great singers such as Jeannie Robertson and Lizzie Higgins, as well as the music of Kurt Weill, the Gershwin brothers, and Cole Porter. Joan Baez and Joni Mitchell were inspirations in my teens, and Peggy Seeger has always been there as a role model. As a poet and singer, I particularly enjoy the process of creating melodies for my own lyrics. I have had the great good fortune to receive generous encouragement of my singing and song-writing over the years from wonderful Scottish musicians, such as Dick Gaughan, Sheena Wellington and Rory Macdonald of Runrig, all of whom have been hugely supportive of my album. Peggy Seeger has also been very appreciative of my song Aye The Gean. This kind of encouragement has been a spur to my musical creativity. Support from Creative Scotland has also been a great help in developing my music. I have been invited to sing at many poetry readings over the years, and, as an actor, in many theatre productions. I frequently use live music when I direct my own theatre productions, and it’s no accident, therefore, that I have worked in theatre with nearly all the musicians who accompany me on my album.

Any particular career highlights?
I won the Vanbrugh Award as a student at R.A.D.A. I have twice been nominated for the Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland, and won a BAFTA Scotland Best Film Actress award for my performance in Margaret Tait’s feature film BLUE BLACK PERMANENT. In 2011, I was nominated by the League of Professional Theatre Women (New York) for the Gilder/Coigney International Award. I performed in, and directed my stage play FEDERER VERSUS MURRAY, which was runner-up for the Best Scottish Contribution to Drama on the Edinburgh Fringe, 2011. The play was published by prestigious American literary magazine SALMAGUNDI, and the production toured to New York in 2012, as part of the Scottish Government’s NYC SCOTLAND WEEK celebrations. I was winner of the Y.E.S. Arts Festival Poetry Challenge, 2013.
In 2014, I was nominated as one the Saltire Society’s Outstanding Women of Scotland.

What are your plans for the future?
I plan to continue writing songs, poetry, drama and prose. I would like to continue to work with the musicians on my album, touring the album abroad – my dream performance destination is an amazing venue up in the mountains of Norway, above a fjord – a magical place called Stigen, the location for a midsummer music festival, and I’m hoping that the wonderful Norwegian multi-instrumentalist, Kyrre Slind, who plays on my album, will get us there! I plan to write more songs, with a view to producing a second album. I hope people enjoy my songs, and that other people will sing them.

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!