Congratulations to Màrtainn Skene Highland Dance Band who has been nominated in Scottish Dance Band of the Year sponsored by National Association of Accordion and Fiddle Clubs in the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards 2022. Vote for Màrtainn Skene Highland Dance Band now!. It’s going to be another great night at the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards on Sunday 4th December in Dundee’s Caird Hall. Why not join us for a brilliant night of music and awards. Buy a ticket here.
We asked Martainn of Màrtainn Skene Highland Dance Band the following questions.
Tell us about yourself
The Màrtainn Skene Highland Dance Band is a six-piece coming together of Ranco & Morino accordions, fiddle, piano, drums and double bass. We love the old West Highland style of dance music – blasting out the pipe tunes, the Gaelic songs and the old Mackintosh, Gow and Marshall fiddle tunes. We've been lucky enough for our playing to take us all over the UK and further afield, from village halls to international festivals. We're pretty excited to be part of the Trads!
Why are you involved in Scottish music?
Nothing beats the atmosphere and adrenalin of a dance floor full of folk having a good time: Scotland's got a pretty special, thriving traditional dance scene. Getting together for a tune with musician friends, and including a room of dancers in that moment, is a pretty good feeling.
Any particular career highlights?
We've done a few Take the Floor broadcasts on Radio Scotland, which were cool, and encouraging for us to progress as a band. Recording also made us really focus on our musical discipline, which is always pretty useful. Good fun, but a lot of work.
This year we're playing at the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society's Annual Gathering, held in Kelvinhall, Glasgow.
What are your plans for the future?
Hopefully make an album soon! One of the things we try to do is work on material that's lesser-known or, indeed, never been recorded before. It's quite a dusty old job, raking about the old books, but then we balance that with writing our own tunes a lot.
An ambition is also to see Crianlarich in daylight.
Màrtainn Skene Highland Dance Band Social Media
Website: https://skeneband.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MartainnSkeneDanceBand
Twitter: @
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YouTube: @
TikTok: @
The 2022 MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards are back to normal on the 4th December 2022! You will be able to watch it live in person (buy a ticket here),Watch it live in the UK at 9pm (GMT) on BBC ALBA and and around the world here. Bands performing on Sunday 4th December include Elephant Sessions, Fara, Trip, Eryn Rae Trio, The Auldeners, Gordon Shand Scottish Dance Band, Irish Minstrels, Tayside Young Fiddlers, and a James Alexander Tribute.
If you would like to support Hands Up for Trad in their work with Scottish trad music and musicians why not become a friend of Hands Up for Trad. In addition to our high profile events like the Scots Trad Music Awards, we also deliver a less well known, education programme for young people from 8yrs right through to young adults at the start of their careers. Read more here.