Photo: Drew MacLeod, 2004

Global Warming?

So there we were, September in the Highlands. Nights are drawing in and suddenly we are all ouside the pub complaining about the heat. The temperature was almost 78 degrees Farenheit!

Singers were belting down pints to avoid dehydration, fiddlers were covering instruments to avoid de-tuning and the bar staff were kept busy bringing a constant stream of water bowls for the dogs.

Jings crivvens (Apologies to DC Thompson) what's going on?
Would we be swamped by melting icebergs? Terrorized by troups of baboons fleeing the savanaah for the Shetland Islands? Reduced to taking weekly showers due to drought? Do I have room to plant palm trees?

 

Photos: Brian MacLeod, 2005

The truth was a little less dramatic. A weather system was pulling sub-tropical air from somewhere near Madeira and depositing it over northern Scotland. The results included swimmers on the beach, jet-skis on the bay and a visit from Findhorn by a load of musicians in an old converted lifeboat. When the boat rounded the point, the word spead quickly through the village and within an hour the "craic" was great and the music better.

As the sun slowly descended and the air dropped to a chilly 72 degrees, we all agreed on one thing. If you could gurantee weather like this for one year in three, there would be ten thousand people living in the village rather than six hundred.

Silence descended over the group with a brief collective shiver. As instruments and empty glasses were packed away, we agreed that we need to keep the secret to ourselves.

 

Photo: Chris MacLeod, 2005

Gigs

I will be playing at the Celtic Festival in Coeur d'Alene, ID on Sunday April 13th. This is a free event being held at the new Library on 702 E. Front Avenue, Coeur d'Alene. The concert starts at 2.00 pm. Click here to see more details - Celtic Festival poster.

I will be holding a workshop on Highland songs at the Spokane Folklife Festival in early November. This is a free event and is held at the Spokane Community College in The Lair. For more details and exact timing click here.

I will be playing at the Norwest Folklife Festival in Seattle on Memorial Day weekend. The gig is at 3.35pm on Monday, May 28th. The location is the Cafe Impromptu which is located in McCaw Hall at the south end of the lobby. For more details click here.

I played in the "Famous Concert" on New Year's Day in the village of Portmahomack in Scotland. Lots of great local and visiting talent with music, dance and hillarious local humor ("In the Main Street Balintore"). This event goes back about a hundred years.

I will be playing on the same bill as Nancy Davis and The Celtic Nots at the "Bountiful Harvest" concert on Saturday October 21, 2006. This is an inaguaral event in a series of Celtic concerts. Concert time is 7.00 pm and the event is at the Westminster Congregational Church, South 411 Washington, Spokane. For more details click here.

I will be performing at the 2006 Spokane Fall Folk Festival. The festival takes place over two days, Saturday and Sunday Novermber 4th and 5th. I'm performing a set in the Littlefoot Room 124 at 12.30 pm and hosting a workshop at 3.30 pm. The subject of the workshop is Scottish Work Songs and I'll be exploring songs and traditions related to fishing and farming to North Sea oil and soldiering (Conference Activities Room 126) The Festival takes place at the Spokane Community College, Lair Student Center at 1810 N. Greene Street. For more details click here.

I will be performing two sets at the Spokane Highland Games at 11.00 am and 2.00 pm. The Games are at the Spokane County Fairgrounds on Saturday August 5th, 2006. For more details click here.

Thursday (16th Dec), I played a set at the Christmas Ceilidh for the Spokane Valley Highland Dancers.

On Saturday (6th Nov), I participated in the live radio broadcast on KPBX from the Spokane Folk Festival. This was my first radio show since doing a live twenty minute spot on the island of St Helena in the summer of 2001.

I also performed a 30 minute spot in the Little Bigfoot Room during the festival. Thanks to all of you who listened, you were a great audience and I hope I was not too over the top.

CD Notes

I've been working on possible CD material for a couple of years. I expect to create a sampler in 2007. If you are interested in news of the CD, send your e-mail address to info@brianmacleod.name and I'll send you a note when something is available.