A Niel Gow Festival Tune Book

This year's Niel Gow Festival in Dunkeld and Birnam was a resounding success, with fabulous concerts, large audiences and several late-night (or perhaps I should say early morning!) sessions.

At the follow-up committee meeting, Martin MacLeod (fiddler and founder-member of the band “Capercaillie”) suggested producing a Niel Gow Festival book of music to be sold in support of future festivals. The idea came from “Tunes In The Hoose”, a project initiated by Martin during the Covid-19 lockdown. This was a virtual session on Facebook, providing an opportunity for musicians to play “live” together. One of the spin-offs was a book of music of the tunes featured in the many videos posted on the site.

Needless to say, the idea of a Niel Gow Festival book was well received, and work is already underway. If you're interested in submitting a tune for inclusion, there are a few conditions:

• Tune titles should represent a connection to Niel Gow, his family, the Festival or the Dunkeld area.

• Tune types may include Jigs/ Reels/Strathspeys/Marches and of course Slow Airs.

• By submitting a piece, you are consenting to its

FREE use in the new book.

• In the event of there being too many submissions, we reserve the right to select those for inclusion. Music can be submitted in any format (pdf, Sibelius or Finale, with or without chords) and emailed to: tunebook@nielgowfestival.co.uk

If you wish to send hard copies, contact us for mailing addresses. Please include your name and contact details, along with any text that helps explain your composition choice. The deadline for the receipt of compositions is August 31st, 2023.

Further information about the proposed book and about the Niel Gow Festival can be found online at www.NielGowFestival.co.uk