Skye Accordion and Fiddle Club

SKYE Accordion and Fiddle club welcomed a good turnout at its February meeting in Portree’s Royal Hotel.

Musicians were Ally ‘K’ MacPherson and Emily Matheson on piano accordions and Hamish MacDougall of Muir of Ord and Calum MacColl of Fort William on button-key accordions.

On piano was John Cameron, on drums Hamish Mackenzie, while fiddle contributions were from Caerina Campbell, Ellie MacPherson and Wendy Riva.

There was a special welcome for three young fiddlers, members of the popular local group Skye Strings, making their solo debuts at the Skye club. Maili MacKenzie, 10, Rhibhinn Dick, 12, and Seumas Tinney, 13, all played superbly in front of a large and appreciative audience.

Highlight of the evening was the performance of special guests, the five-piece Iain Joseph MacDonald Band who raised the roof of the function room with their varied and entertaining programme. They were led by Iain Joseph on piano accordion, who also contributed fine vocals and humorous anecdotes. Ali MacKenzie was on second box, on fiddle was Deirdre Beck, on piano was Jacqui MacDonald and on drums it was club chairman Ally ‘K’ MacPherson. The audience was treated to a superb fiddle solo by Deirdre, accompanied on piano by Jacqui.

The next meeting will be on Thursday March 2 when special guests will be The Graeme MacKay Trio.