ISLAND SINGER TUNES INTO GAELIC AGAIN
Interview release
Hebridean Celtic Festival
Year of Homecoming 2014
- Lewis singer to showcase new album at HebCelt
- Festival is ideal platform for Gaelic songs
- Main stage awaits Willie Campbell and Open Day Rotation
As a lapsed Gaelic speaker it was a bold and challenging move by Willie Campbell to make his latest album entirely in his native language.
But launched at the end of March, Dalma has been well received by fans and critics and has renewed the Lewis-born singer-songwriter’s love of his forgotten culture.
Dalma – meaning brazen or audacious – is a collaboration with Gaelic folk singer Calum Martin and was conceived when they shared the bill at an event organised by Ceòl ‘s Craic, a contemporary Gaelic arts organisation in Glasgow.
“I've had people suggesting over the years that I should try something in Gaelic”, said Willie, formerly of guitar pop outfit Astrid and Glasgow collective The Reindeer Section, and now leader of Lewis band the Open Day Rotation, with whom he has produced two previous albums.
“I wasn't ready to take it seriously or take it any further until I started doing nights with Ceòl ‘s Craic.
“Then it was suggested that Calum and I do a Gaelic collaboration. It went well so that kind of gave me the confidence to proceed with the album. Calum played a big part in the whole process.
“It turned out as I hoped, Americana vibe, jangly guitars, harmonies, all my usual stuff, but, all in Gaelic. I'm delighted to have been able to make it just the way I wanted, I'm proud of it. It was an extremely satisfying project to be involved in. It required a lot of attention, so it was my main focus for a while.”
While Willie sings the newly-written songs, Calum was largely responsible for translating lyrics into Gaelic, while author Kevin MacNeil also provided original Gaelic words which Willie set to music.
“I wanted to make an accessible sounding album”, he said. “My hope is that it might attract people to Gaelic, although I'm aware that sounds a bit grandiose coming from someone that can't converse in the language. I'm a native speaker that let it slip, although it’s all in there.”
“We put a lot of work into making sure the translations were tidy, so at times it was necessary to change the words to fit melody or vice versa.”
Willie’s island-based fans will get a chance to hear songs from this and his other albums when he plays with the Open Day Rotation at the Hebridean Celtic Festival in Lewis from 16-19 July.
“The invite to HebCelt couldn't have come at a better time”, he said. “It's a fantastic platform for the album. There's a crowd of music fans, but to add to that, there is also a strong interest in Gaelic culture tied into the festival, so I'm very hopeful the audience will be receptive to the material we'll perform on the day.
“It's just an incredible event to have on the island. If you're a musician from the region, it's the gig you want to do.
“I think audiences love the intensity of festivals. Basically, you're making a conscious decision to be immersed in music. I've always found them to be fun to play at, even though it can be a bit hairy getting on stage and set up in time.
“On a practical level bands like them because they get to a ready-made audience, quite often an audience a great deal larger than one you'd normally have access to.”
Open Day Rotation’s numbers are flexible and Willie is still unsure how many will be on stage at HebCelt: “I'm still deciding how big the line-up will be. The core of the band will be eight I expect, maybe 15 at one point?
“The Band has been a big influence on me in recent years, that kind of Last Waltz sound appeals to me. Folk/rock/country, splash of soulful sax, songs in Gaelic and English. We're going for a big sound.”
The 2014 HebCelt will be headlined by Levellers, Big Country and Donnie Munro. In all, some 36 acts will feature over four days in the festival’s biggest ever programme.
This year it was selected as one of the top 10 UK summer festivals for the fourth year in succession by the influential music magazine Songlines.
NOTES TO EDITORS
The 2013 HebCelt was the most successful in its history with ticket sales showing an increase of over 30 per cent on 2012. Just over half the 16,000 festival-goers came from outside the Hebrides and the huge influx of visitors from across Europe, the US, Australia and New Zealand, helped generate around £1 million for the local economy
Last year HebCelt was also hailed as one of the greenest festivals in the world after being the only Scottish event to receive an Outstanding award from environmental campaign group A Greener Festival. In addition, it was shortlisted in the Greener Festival category in the UK Festival Awards and in the Best Independent Festival category in the AIM Independent Music Awards.
In 2011 it was ranked Best Large Festival at the industry-sponsored Scottish Event Awards and it won Best Event of the Year award at the MG Alba Scots Trad Music Awards in 2004 and 2009.
For more information contact
John Ross
Lucid PR
01463 724593; 07730 099617
johnross@lucidmessages.com
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