Aig Faire / Keeping Vigil:

The songs of Angus Campbell

SINGER Alasdair Whyte and piano player Ross Wilson, both from Mull but based in Glasgow, have recorded a very interesting CD due to be released soon.

Angus Campbell, a retired carpenter from Gearradh na Mònadh in South Uist, has been composing songs since 1971. Recently, he got in touch with Alasdair (whom he had never met, but whose singing he greatly admired) to express his desire that the songs be recorded.

Alasdair and Ross, recognising the quality of the compositions, agreed that making a CD containing a selection of the songs would be a good idea and so began a project to ensure the songs were not lost to future generations - as too many traditional Gaelic songs have been in the past.

The result is a very enjoyable, six-track CD - also featuring the talents of Ewen Henderson on fiddle, Seonaidh Macintyre on whistle and Allan Nairn on guitar.

From the atmospheric title track, Aig Faire, in which Alasdair’s singing is accompanied only by a drone, to the anthemic Saorsa, which finishes the album off on a note of strong, lyrical positivity backed by fiddle, small pipes and guitar, the six tracks are varied and captivating.

A favourite track of mine is Fhalbh ’s Èigh e far nam Beanntanan - an uplifting Gaelic interpretation of the spiritual song, Go Tell it on the Mountain.

I will include details of how to get a copy in the Glasgow Letter as soon as I am aware of its launch date. By the end of the six tracks, you will be desperate to hear many more; so it is just as well that Angus has been composing songs and poetry for more than 40 years.

Hopefully, this CD will be the first of many examples of

Angus’s work.