Ceilidh King Fergie launches 50th album
Moidart’s very own Ceilidh King, the irrepressible Fergie MacDonald, shows no signs of slowing down his prodigious output of music, with the release of his 50th album.
Entitled simply The Ceilidh King, the new CD features 16 tracks and is produced by Rannoch Music.
The new album was recorded at the Old Laundry Studio and the Glenfinnan connection does not stop there, with the Glenfinnan Ceilidh Band’s Iain MacFarlane and Colm O’Rua both featuring.
Other musicians making an appearance include Robert Nairn (button accordion), Allan Henderson (fiddle), Hugh MacCallum (drums), Angus Nicolson (pipes), Richard Smith (keyboards), John F MacDonald (accordion), Sandy Meldrum (keyboards) and Addie Harper (accordion and bass guitar).
Music director for the album was Allan Henderson and it is a fitting tribute to Fergie’s long career, which also includes albums on vinyl and EP, with the first in 1960.
Now in his early 80s, Fergie is still a much-loved and highly respected familiar face on the traditional music circuit and says he aims to keep going as long as he can.
‘I’m delighted with the new album and very grateful to everyone who contributed on it. It’s all new recordings and I hope people enjoy listening to it as much I did making it,’ he told The Lochaber Times.
The CD was released just before Christmas and to make sure it was in the shops in time for the big day, Fergie hand-delivered copies to shops across the north of Scotland, from Fort William and Inverness to Aberdeen.
Among the tunes featured are The Shinty referee, Whisky Galore, Archie Harrison’s Reel, The Moidart Sniper and The Gary Innes Song.
Readers will be interested to learn that Fergie composed Archie Harrison’s Reel to commemorate last year’s birth of a son to Harry and Megan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.