AULD HAT NEW HEIDS: THIS ALBUM EMBRACES ALL THAT WAS GREAT ABOUT THE GOLDEN DAYS OF THE SCOTTISH FOLK SCENE IN THE 1960s/70s.

It is a catalogue of some of the best and most popular songs of the time written by folk legends such as Ewan MacColl,

Alex Campbell, Hamish Henderson, Matt McGinn, Archie Fisher, Jim McLean and Mary Brookesbank. Also Robert Burns and

Sir Walter Scott have a song each on the album.

A quartet of four of Scotland’s most experienced performers brings together the vocal talents of brothers IAN and FRASER BRUCE along with the exceptional musical skills of PETE CLARK on fiddle and GREGOR LOWREY on accordion. It has to be said that IAN BRUCE is pretty efficient on guitar, to complete the instrumental section.

What you hear on this album is exactly what you would get at a live performance. There are no external session musicians used on this recording, a fact that pleases the group greatly. Indeed, six of the tracks were recorded live at a special concert at Fraser’s golf club in Auchterarder near Perth,  Scotland. This is not a venue that is particularly known to support folk music so it proves that the music of AULD HAT – NEW HEIDS appeals to people from outside of the folk circle, as will this album. It was a sell-out show and the audience sang their hearts out throughout.

If you were part of the Scottish Folk revival in the 1960s/70s then this album will bring back memories for you. If you are too young to have experienced those days, this album will show you what you missed! At its peak, there was a thriving folk club in practically every Scottish town of any size, packed with people having fun and singing along to the songs popular at the time. Those days have gone but could be revived by singers and musicians playing for, rather than to, their audience.

The show AULD HAT – NEW HEIDS was created by FRASER BRUCE because, quite simply, he missed the “good old days”. Having now appeared at theatres and festivals up and down the country it was a natural progression to release a CD with fifteen of the songs from the current show and one poem.

The cover caused some initial concern as there is apparently a similar cover design used by a pop group in the late 1960s. However, Ian Bruce spent many days searching out old photographs of artistes from the early times of the folk club scene and created a collage of 129 faces along with the group, two dogs, a cat and a highland cow.

There is a prize on offer of £100 for the first person to identify all 129 faces. If the winner, if there is one, would like to donate their winning to a charity of their own choice then AULD HAT – NEW HEIDS will double the prize money.

“Throughout the years that Celtic Connections has been running, there have been many memorable concerts and this will go down as one of them. It was a truly memorable night and up there with the best concerts over the years.”

Danny Mathieson, Celtic Music Radio, on the band’s 2017 Celtic Connections sell-out concert

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