Hands Up for Trad’s Trad Music Spotlight is a monthly feature on a band or solo artist. It was first launched in February 2015 and features musicians who are working in the trad scene – both in Scotland and around the world. We asked Findlay Napier a few questions.
What’s happening?
On the 16th March I’m releasing a single called The Man Who Sold New York. The song, taken from my VIP: Very Interesting Persons album, is about a conman called George C Parker who sold famous New York Landmarks to unsuspecting tourists.
Later in the month I’m heading off around the UK supporting Eddi Reader on her tour.
If you’re feeling generous you could pre-order the single here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/man-who-sold-new-york-single/id962800148
When did you start playing music?
I come from a musical family. Music has been part of my life as long as I can remember. I started out playing traditional Scottish music through the annual Feis Spe teaching week in Nethy Bridge. Through the Feis I met a singer songwriter called Jim Hunter who got me into writing songs. My first band played a mixture of Lynyrd Skynyrd songs and ceilidh band tunes round the pubs in Strathspey. After that I moved to Glasgow to study Traditional Scottish Song at the RSAMD (now the RCS).
What excites you about performing Scottish music?
I mostly play my own songs these days but I do play a lot of Traditional material in my duo with Chris Sherburn. There’s something very satisfying about singing Scots Traditional songs. I love the lyrics. I learn loads from singing those songs. The reaction to a traditional song when you sing it in another country never ceases to amaze me. People understand that the music is precious and something to be treasured.
Not technically the answer to the question but did you read or hear Bob Dylan’s Music Cares Speech? It was really inspiring. I love the way he shows how some of his classic songs are rooted in traditional music. http://pitchfork.com/news/58394-full-text-of-bob-dylans-lengthy-career-spanning-critic-bashing-musicares-speech-revealed/
What’s next for you?
The single release, the Eddi Reader tour then I’m planning to do a solo tour in June, some festivals are already booking for the summer and another tour in October.
I’m also planning to release album next October which will celebrate Glasgow. I have a load of Glasgow themed songs some self penned and some co-written. A couple of them are on my Works in Progress playlist on SoundCloud. I’ll have lived in Glasgow for 20 Years in early October 2016… Scary!
Read more about Findlay Napier at their website http://www.findlaynapier.com
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