Sgoil Chiuil Na Gaidhealtachd

"Aye spy with my little eye, another Sgoil Chiuil CD. Not that we want to keep it secret, you understand. We were just having our usual annual panic about album titles and covers designs, and somehow it mutated from Coaches (last year's) to train stations to secret agents. The same kind of thing happens with the music every year. One minute I'm talking to the students about the beauties of Ceol Mor, and the next day I'm being summoned to listen to a musical behemoth that has turned the first variation of the piobaireachd I was telling them about into two kinds of rock 'n' roll rammy followed by a tune about a guy who punched a burning man. There is also some more conventional traditional music on the two CDs.

2011 was a rather more exciting year than we have preferred, as February brought some rather worrying news that our future funding was under consideration. I'm delighted to be able to say that the situation is resolved, and in fact our activities are about to expand through a partnership with West Highland College UHI, which will expand our work to include people outwith secondary school age. We'd Like to say a huge thank you to everyone who supported us through a difficult time. It was truly overwhelming to realise how much what we do here is appreciated by so many people. We also entered into another very exciting collaboration, with Steinway and Sons, as a result of which we now have some lovely pianos to play on, as you can hear on these CDs. Unfortunately during the year we lost one of our greatest supporters. Her musical legacy lives on in many ways, not least in the playing of her grandson, Charlie Grey, on this recording. This album is respectfully dedicated to the memory of Ishbel MacAskill".

Dougie Pincock, Director - Sgoil Chiuil na Gaidhealtachd. October 2011.

Disc 1
1. Lexy
2. Caledonia
3. Maverick
4. The Twa Corbies
5. £50 Jigs
6. Bonnie Bessie Logan
7. Macpherson’s Lamen
8. The Sun’s Coming Over The Hill
9. The Choons
10. The Piobaireachd Set
11. Come Boat O’er Me
12. Garry’s

Disc 2
1. Smeorach Clann Domhnaill
2. James Brown’s
3. A Man’s A Man For A’ That
4. Cnoc Nan Craobh
5. Gaol Ise Gaol I
6. Twisted
7. Fiddle Jigs
8. ‘S E Gillean Mo Ruin
9. Flavour Of The Month
10. Robert’s Puirt
11. Blair’s Big Set

Listen to music from Sgoil Chiuil Na Gaidhealtachd - Aye Spy