By far the most successful act to sing in Scots Gaelic is Runrig. The Skye boys (later augmented by two Fifers) achieved worldwide success over 30 years and remained just as popular when original frontman Donnie Munro was replaced by Canadian Bruce Guthro. Commercial sensibility dictates that Gaelic-speaking bands should at least pepper their set with some English material and this was the path taken by both Runrig and Capercaillie - another band notable for using the ancient Celtic tongue.
Capercaillie were founded in 1984 by Argyll musician Donald Shaw. The band is fronted by his wife Karen Matheson and the couple hail from the village of Taynuilt. Fiddler Charlie McKerron has been on board since 1986 and the current line-up has been together since the 90s. The 11 studio albums have cumulatively sold over a million and the band scored the first ever UK top-40 hit sung in Gaelic. Tonight's concert in Kinross was a solo outing by Matheson and the show was originally scheduled prior to the global pandemic. Rearranged for the 2022 Kinross-shire Festival, the venue was the Loch Leven Community Campus - a leisure and education complex that opened to the public in 2010 and contains Kinross High School. The main auditorium seats 350 and the room was well filled. At £20 a ticket, this was clearly a professional touring operation. Joining Matheson and Shaw on stage were Hannah Fisher (fiddle) and Sorren Maclean (guitar) - a couple who reside on the Isle of Mull and whose services are much sought after on the Scottish traditional music scene. Matheson handled all the vocals while Shaw switched between piano and accordion. The absence of drums meant Maclean had to play driving rhythm parts on his acoustic guitar. Joining me for the evening were my mother Anne and sister Linda. We found three seats in the second row and had a great view of the stage. None of us had seen either Capercaillie or Karen Matheson before but we all enjoy folk/Celtic music. The set was split equally between English and Gaelic songs. The proceedings began with a Rabbie Burns number and Matheson drew upon her recent solo album, as well as performing a handful of Capercaillie tunes. One ditty about the Highland clearances was very mournful indeed. The ever-popular Ae Fond Kiss was delivered as an encore and the crowd went home happy. Karen had talked about her family connections to Barra and how her future existence was determined when one of her ancestors remained on the island while his siblings departed for Cape Breton, Canada.
There is a similar tale in my genetic background. My triple great grandfather set sail for Quebec but a grown-up son - David Howatson - stayed in Scotland and this line led to my mother, whose maiden name is (the slightly altered) Howieson. Karen posts regularly on Facebook about her family story and it's obviously her great passion, besides the music. The concert must have been a success for the Kinross-shire festival organisers and there was a healthy queue at the bar beforehand! A superb night out!
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