Glasgow Letter

The resolve and bravery of the Ukrainian people in the face of unimaginable adversity has been at the forefront of everyone’s minds this past week.

I have been feeling utterly powerless to help these poor people as we all follow the war on television, in the papers, and across social media – and it turns out I am far from the only one.

This feeling has been shared by Donald 'Maroot' MacLeod who has therefore decided to stage a concert this Saturday, March 5, in Kelvinside Hillhead Parish Church on Observatory Road called Folk for Ukraine. Donations will be sent from the concert to the Razom Emergency Response which is providing critical medical supplies to the people of Ukraine.

In the greater scheme of things, this is, of course, a small gesture, but it allows folk musicians and folk lovers alike to feel ever so slightly less helpless in showing their support for the Ukrainian people, and that seems to me a very worthy cause indeed.

Donnie has asked anyone who would like to 'do a turn' on the evening to get in touch with him via Facebook and he already has a top quality line-up of musicians willing to help – including: Iona Fyfe, Josie Duncan, Domhnall Eoin MacKinnon, Donald Macdonald, Megan MacDonald, and Micheal Steele.

I am personally disappointed to be missing out because it unfortunately falls on the same night as a Tide Lines show in Ayrshire, but my thoughts will very much be with Donnie and the team. They will put on a great night and, more importantly, raise a bit of money to show their support for Ukraine.

If you, like me, cannot make it, then please consider heading to the Razom for Ukraine website and donating what you can.

It is hard to turn your mind to anything else at the moment when everything is so sharply put into perspective; however

I must briefly say how much I enjoyed the Mull and Iona virtual annual gathering last week.

There was a great selection of local singers and musicians and the guest artists – Emma Scalpay MacLeod and Iain MacMaster – both contributed cracking songs. The interviews with Davie Kirkpatrick in the new Iona hall and Glen MacKellar in Bunessan were fascinating and entertaining, and a name I did not mention in my preview last week was Kirsty Wilson who presented the whole show with a voiceover in Gaelic full of local info relating to the artists. If you missed it, it is still available on YouTube and you can still donate via a PayPal link to local causes.

As Covid is still with us, virtual gatherings continue to be the order of the day and soon it will be the turn of the Glasgow Islay Association. They announced on Monday that they will hold their own virtual gathering on Saturday March 26. They are still planning an actual cèilidh later in the year but, for the time being, are inviting people to watch local performances via their virtual event on their Facebook page.