Posted: 26th November 2019
View or download our Christmas 2019 Newsletter (pdf format) with news on artists, releases and events, and also our Top 20 Albums in 2019.
Posted: 21st November 2019
Play or download Resurrection Road on Apple Music or iTunes.
This single is taken from Duncan McCrone’s acclaimed 2018 CD album Land Of Gold, and Greentrax is taking the unusual step of releasing the song as a Christmas single this month. The track includes special guest vocalist Rab Noakes and is being released by Greentrax as a single for Christmas 2019.
Duncan McCrone writes:
“To those of us lucky enough to be safe, warm and well-fed and with a roof over our heads, it seems unthinkable to be sleeping in a cold shop doorway or alley, alone with few if any friends and, often, no prospect of things improving. All of our cities are filled with men and women whose lives are a constant, miserable struggle, and whose deaths are often hardly mourned. Every year, though, Christmas comes around again, and decent, kind people notice the homeless a bit more, giving their time, their thoughts and often a bit more of their money to hide who have had a much worse ride through life than themselves. It adds to the general feeling of wellbeing and the sense of Christmas spirit. A fiver handed over, rather than just a pound or fifty pence; a community or church initiative to provide warm festive dinners for a few days; a pause to make human contact, even for a short while… and so on and so forth.
Then January arrives, and the festive season is over. The weather becomes colder still, the nights are darker, and for various domestic and economic reasons, the ranks of the homeless have swollen yet again. Sadly though, Christmas has cost everyone a fortune, and there isn’t the spare cash to hand out, and folk just want to batten down the hatches and face down another uncertain year.
Glasgow, like other big cities, wasn’t always like this, though. Back in the day, there was always poverty, of course, and squalid living conditions for those with no work or poorly-paid jobs. There was always unemployment and hardship, but often hope that things would improve. The city streets were always very festive at Christmas, and the atmosphere warm and, for the most part, unthreatening. Beggars plied their trade, and there was a roaring trade in cheap booze to help struggling folk on their way.
It was nothing like the feeling of hopelessness there is today, though.”
Duncan McCrone and his co-writer and bandmate Cy Jack wrote their poignant Christmas carol Resurrection Road to gently point out that the problem of homelessness is around us all year round. Its alternative title is The Clydeside Carol and, while it’s set in McCrone and Jack’s hometown of Glasgow, it’s appropriate to every city and large town around the country.
The track features a stand-out guest vocal from legendary Scottish singer-songwriter Rab Noakes, who sings lead on the second verse and shares backing vocals with Duncan and Cy, and also a beautiful instrumental version of In The Bleak Midwinter by star traditional musicians Chris Stout (fiddle) and Finlay Macdonald (low whistle).
A portion of the revenue from the download sales will go to the housing and homelessness charity Shelter.
Play or download Resurrection Road on Apple Music or iTunes.
Posted: 1st October 2019
Cairdeas nam Piobairean is delighted to announce The Blair Atholl Piping Concert, a celebration of the wonderful, colourful and diverse range of pipes and styles in our Scottish piping tradition.
A stunning lineup of pipers in the beautiful Blair Atholl Village Hall, featuring:
- Dr Angus MacDonald and Stuart Liddell - Highland Pipes
- Angus Nicolson - Border Pipes
- Fin Moore and Sarah Hoy - Reel Pipes and Fiddle
- Gary West and Brighde Chaimbeul - Scottish Small Pipes
7.30pm to 10.30pm on Friday 25th October at Blair Atholl Village Hall (Main Road, Blair Atholl, Perthshire PH18 5SG)
Tickets are available from Eventbrite, or by emailing Hamish Moore - hamish@hamishmoore.org
Posted: 22nd September 2019
The Dick Gaughan Harvard Tapes album continues to amaze us with huge mail order sales. Everyone involved is of course delighted.
Greentrax has had a busy year with seven new releases so far, which are all doing well, including Malinky - Handsel, receiving brilliant press coverage and radio play; Tony McManus and Julia Toaspern Live In Concert, touring all over North America and Europe; while sales of the John Campbell Munro - The Kelly Collection have exceeded all expectations (see our Special Offers).
Christine Kydd has been working her socks of promoting her album Shift And Change; the Alexander McCall Smith and James Ross album These Are The Hands has attracted a lot of media attention, and Dougie Mackenzie and Brian Miller have been actively promoting Along The Way, with excellent results.
Barbara Dickson has made several appearances on TV recently, on a variety of programmes including the BBC Proms in The Park at Glasgow Green. Her album To Each And Everyone - The Songs Of Gerry Rafferty continues to be a strong seller.
Will Lamb of The School of Scottish Studies is working on a new Scottish Tradition Series album - Gaelic Mouth Music - due for release late 2019 or early 2020. Peter Haigh is currently editing and mastering the audio material.
PoppyScotland has produced an educational video for use by secondary schools in Scotland. It includes a number of segments from the Greentrax Far, Far From Ypres DVD, licensed free of charge for this important learning facility.
Posted: 29th August 2019
Ian McCalman’s The Singing Sixties concert last month sold out, and was an absolutely cracking night of song. The audience participation was quite astonishing.
Dick Gaughan’s The Harvard Tapes is breaking mail order records and the feedback from customers and the media is hugely complimentary. The album is also doing well through shops and Dick will earn greatly from all these sales. Greentrax again acknowledges Brian O’Donovan of Cambridge, Massachusetts, who recorded the 1982 concert and then freely allowed the recordings to be used for this release, thus helping Dick.
Pre-release orders for John Campbell Munro’s The Kelly Collection have been very encouraging. The album consists of songs of the notorious Ned Kelly and his gang, all written by John and recorded shortly before his untimely death. His friends, including Eric Bogle, went into the studio later and added backing. Royalties from the sales of the album will go to St Vincent’s Private Hospital (Research Arm) in Australia via John’s wife Alana Cole. It is a pleasure and a privilege for Ian Green to release this album of a great singer-songwriter, musician and friend.
Other albums featuring John Campbell Munro are: