SOLSTICE – Music for the holidays from The Tannahill Weavers

This extraordinary collection of seasonal music was created by The Tannahill Weavers, a band who have been a stalwart of the Scottish traditional scene since the 1970s. This recording displays the exceptional depth of their talents in creating imaginative ways to treat well known melodies. According to the band:

Our inspiration for making this album was the urge to explore and create connections between well-known centuries old seasonal melodies and our own Scottish traditional music. While many of the compositions we encountered had changed throughout the years, the feel to most of them has kept a folky/trad approach.

We have tried to enhance that traditional feel by composing extra parts to some of the tunes, which we feel adds to the flow of the melodies. In many cases, this involved changing the timing into jig, march, waltz and reel time, which suits our array of traditional instruments. This is the first time that we have created a predominantly instrumental album, which we felt that the melodies richly deserved. We have also included two songs from sublime Gaelic singer Annia MacGillivray.

The result is an exceptional collection of melodies and songs performed by some of the most talented Scottish musicians on the scene. The album was arranged and produced by Phil Smillie.

Solstice was created thanks to support from Creative Scotland.

The Tannahill Weavers:

Roy Gullane banjo

Phil Smillie flute, whistles, bodhrán, percussion, vocals

Iain MacGillivray highland bagpipes, fiddle, whistles, vocals

Malcolm Bushby fiddle, bouzouki

With

Aaron Jones guitar, cittern, bass

Annia MacGillivray vocals

Richard Werner percussion

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CDs from tannahillweavers.com