Posted: 25th January 2016

2015 was an amazing year for Dàimh. They started the year by picking up the award for Best Folk Band In Europe at the Folkherbst competition in Plauen, Germany, and finished the year by being named Folk Band Of The Year at the Scots Trad Music Awards in Dundee.

They also embarked on their first tour of the US, going coast to coast with gigs in New York City all the way to San Francisco.

Dàimh kicked off 2016 with a special concert at Celtic Connections celebrating fifteen years since their first album Moidart To Mabou. They invited seven Gaelic singers that have sung, toured and recorded with the band over these years for a special one-off evening of songs.

The band have two more tours in the US to look forward to this year, with the first one starting at the end of February 2016 - check out their website for dates.

Dàimh have two albums on Greentrax - Diversions and Crossing Point - and fiddle player Gabe McVarish has recorded a solo album Eclection.

Posted: 18th December 2015

​View or download our Christmas 2015 Newsletter (Adobe pdf format) with news on releases and events, and also our Top 20 Albums in 2015.

Posted: 26th November 2015

The first track Gravel Path from Ross Munro’s recent album Twisted Tradition is currently sitting at Number 2 in the Celtic Song Charts on Schotten Radio in Germany.

Well done Ross.

Posted: 20th October 2015

The Greentrax application for funding to Creative Scotland for the project Scotia Nova - Songs For The Early Days of a Better Nation has been turned down but we are forging ahead with it, despite the much-needed funding. There will be some 16/17 tracks on the album, most of which have been recorded by Ian McCalman at his Kevock Digital Studio.

A concert of the same title will be presented in the Strathclyde Suite at Celtic Connections on 20th January 2016. The singer/songwriters who were successful in having their songs selected and recorded for the album are: Fiona J Mackenzie, Gill Bowman, Mairi Campbell & Dave Francis, Yvonne Lyon, David Lyon, Brian McNeill, Ian McCalman, Findlay Napier, Iain MacDonald, Duncan McCrone & Cy Jack, Scott Murray, Simon Kempston, Frank Rae, Chris Finnegan, Charlie Milne and poet Alistair Findlay. Most have also agreed to take part in the Celtic Connections Concert, which will be produced by Ian McCalman with Gary West acting as linkman.

The launch of A Tribute in Music and Song to John Bellany was held in The John Bellany Day Centre, Port Seton on Thursday 1st October 2015, and was a huge success. The guests included John’s widow Helen and other members of the family, who all love the album. There were songs from Alex Hodgson and Simon Kempston, plus a tune from Hamish Moore, and the Day Centre folk were persuaded to sing The Boatie Rows (on the album). The album contains a fine collection of John Bellany favourites, including a stunning version of Moon River by Siobhan Miller. This track in particular has been getting a lot of attention on radio.

Ian Green is hoping to attend the 2015 Scots Trad Music Awards to be held in The Caird Hall, Dundee on Saturday 5th December 2015, when Greentrax will share a table with the Gordon Duncan Memorial Trust members. Ian had to pull out of the 2014 Awards at the last minute due to wife June’s ill-health.

Gordon Duncan’s tunes continue to be recorded by artists and groups all over the world and very soon a second book of Gordon’s tunes will be published by the Trust.

Posted: 20th October 2015

Haddington Pipe Band has again created a calendar for the coming year, with the theme of Favourite Scenes Around Haddington & East Lothian.

The calendar, which will be available from late October 2015, features a series of stunning photos of the county captured by top-grade photographers, with the views selected by members of the band. The front cover features an eerily atmospheric photo by Rod Hanchard-Goodwin of Haddington seen through mist, while the same photographer’s beautiful image of the Garleton Hills and the Hopetoun Monument features as the photo for the month of May.

One of the most striking shots in the calendar is a photo of the Lammermuir Hills – resplendent in rich, deep purple – taken by the award-winning natural history and landscape photographer, Laurie Campbell, while local photographer Garry Menzies contributes two shots: the laburnum arch in St Mary’s Pleasance and a snow-covered Preston Mill at East Linton.

Another local photographer, Adam Cochrane, has no less than five photos in the calendar. The calendar opens in January with his sunrise at Traprain Law image, while his other works are of Seacliff Harbour, Hailes Castle, the Nungate Bridge and the River Tyne, and – as the back cover shot - an aerial view of Haddington.

Another equally memorable series of photos has been contributed by Sarah White, whose images are of Barns Ness Lighthouse, the Goblin Ha’ at Yester Castle, Tantallon Castle and the Northern Lights, and St Mary’s Church.

Complementing the scenic photography are portrait shots of pipe band members, all taken by Haddington-based professional photographer, Nick Callaghan, who has worked on all the band’s calendars.

The band’s chairman, Alastair Bruce, says:

“Once again, we are delighted to have been able to produce a calendar which we hope will be enjoyed by people close to home and much further afield. Of course, the calendar is a promotion for the band, but this year – with the many amazing scenic shots taken around East Lothian – we are also promoting the wonderful county in which we are fortunate enough to live and, in the band’s case, play. We are very grateful to the superb photographers whose work is featured in the calendar. The quality of their photography is there for all to see, and this has been more than matched by their support for this project. The calendar is one of the band’s key fundraising projects to help us to pay for uniforms, instruments and other band initiatives, and so we are extremely grateful to the many businesses who have sponsored and supported the production. Without their help, this initiative just wouldn’t be practical or feasible and if possible, we would ask anyone who gets a copy of the calendar to support them in turn.”

The calendar will be on sale for £5.00 at various shops, libraries and other outlets locally. It can also be purchased online, with details at the band’s website: www.haddingtonpipeband.co.uk