 Gillebride MacMillanGillebrìde Macmillan is from South Uist, and is the winner of both Gold Medals at the National Mòd. He has previously been heard on a CD of Uist songs put together by Maighread Callan, called An Lorg nam Bàrd, but this is his first solo album. As Gillebrìde explains in the sleeve notes:
“I still vividly remember the day that I decided that I wanted to start singing again. I had sung as a child and after winning both main prizes for children at the Royal National Mod in Dingwall I decided to retire for a while.
I had not sung in public since I was 13, and I was 21 when my desire to sing returned. I had just returned home from university and on the radio was the Mod Traditional Gold Medal Final. It was the infamous Skye mòd when the awful weather meant that the final had to be delayed. That very day, listening to the radio, I felt that I wanted to be involved in such a thing.
A couple of weeks later, I phoned Ishabel T. MacDonald to ask if she would teach me songs. I can say that really, since that day that I have been learning songs and enjoying my singing. For the 7 years that I’ve been singing as an adult I’ve been lucky enough to sing in many countries and places.”
This album contains a fine selection of Gaelic songs with a strong Uist bias, not surprisingly. It ranges from the songs of Bàird Baile or village poets, to those of the better known songwriters from the islands.
Gillebrìde is accompanied on the album by Mary Ann Kennedy, who also produced the album, and Aaron Jones, Allan Henderson, with Gaelic singers Rachel Walker, Angus MacPhail, James Graham, and Gillebrìde’s sister, Mairi. |
