Born and raised in Stornoway, Donald Macleod moved to Glasgow in the 1990s to study at university and has been there ever since — though he admits that even a brief stint in Edinburgh saw him heading back west virtually every weekend. Glasgow has been his home and his base, but Lewis has never really left him.
As a youngster, Donald’s musical tastes ran more to Springsteen, Queen, and Simple Minds than to traditional music — though, like so many from Lewis, the influence of Runrig was always quietly present. The first concert he attended was the legendary Runrig at Stornoway Airport, and after moving to Glasgow he loved being at the Fleadh on Glasgow Green. It was his growing involvement with Gaelic choir singing that deepened his appreciation of Gaelic music and culture, and that connection, once made, has never left him.
The project that has come to define Donald’s contribution to the traditional music community is Care for a Ceilidh — a scheme he founded that brings Gaelic singers and traditional musicians together to perform short, joyful concerts for residents of hospices, care homes, and special needs schools. Every single performer gives their time and talent for free, and over the years the list of musicians who have taken part has grown to be, as Donald puts it, staggering. The scheme is a testament both to his organisational energy and to the generosity of spirit that runs through the Scottish traditional music community. Pre-lockdown, Care for a Ceilidh was delivering around one concert a week; they currently run approximately a dozen each year, and Donald’s enthusiasm for each one remains undimmed. He is also quick to acknowledge the support of festivals including Tiree Music Festival, HebCelt, and the Royal National Mòd, which have partnered with Care for a Ceilidh to bring music to those who cannot come to the events themselves.
Donald has also been a valued MC at a number of traditional music festivals across Scotland — a role he clearly relishes, not least for the opportunity it gives him to watch emerging performers step into the spotlight and grab their chance to shine. He chaired An Lochran for seven years and has been involved with Ceol ‘s Craic, both organisations playing important roles in developing Gaelic culture in and around Glasgow. He speaks with real pride about being even a small part of the revival of the Gaelic language, led by figures he admires enormously.
He is also, it should be noted, still battling to learn his songs in time for the Mòd — which seems entirely in keeping with a man whose involvement in traditional music has always been driven by love rather than ego, and by community rather than career.
Donald closes with characteristic warmth and humility, offering enormous thanks to everyone who has performed at Care for a Ceilidh over the years — noting, with a smile, that without them the ceilidhs would just be him singing “You Are My Sunshine” for 45 minutes.
Donald Macleod’s induction into the Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame recognises the quiet, consistent, and deeply human work of Care for a Ceilidh, and a lifetime of commitment to bringing Gaelic music and culture to the heart of communities across Scotland.