RHU BEAG by Beag MacLeod, Kevin Macleod, Alsadair Fraser

[kmmando]

“RHU BEAG”

by Ali ‘Beag’ MacLeod, Kevin Macleod, Alasdair Fraser & Will Maclean

This new recording features 7 tracks of traditional Highland music played on the button accordion, smallpipes and Highland bagpipes, whistle, mandolin, tenor resonator guitar, bouzouki, cittern and the trump (Jaw’s harp).

Whenever I return to “Springwell”, our family crofthouse in Polbain, I relish the opportunity for a tune with local musicians Ali Beag MacLeod and piper Al Fraser. So, a few years back, I was enjoying a session with Ali Beag when he played a couple of waltz tempo tunes that I had not heard before, and they struck me as being particularly lovely melodies. These were the tunes to Gaelic songs that were often sung by the previous generations of Coigach locals, and were from Culkein in North Assynt. I felt that it was important to record Ali Beag playing these in his lovely North West Highland accordion style.

I also felt that our great pal Al Fraser, the recently retired schoolmaster in Achiltibuie School, should also be recorded to capture some of his very fine playing on the Highland bagpipes and also the bellows driven Scottish smallpipes. Ali Beag and Al had played for many years in the local ceilidh band, The Coigach Ceilidh, and we three have had many lively sessions in Coigach over the past 25 years.

I had roped Ali Beag into a film “Slow West”, directed by John Maclean, as a musical extra, which was partially filmed in Coigach in 2013. John’s father Will Maclean and I were also involved, and Will played the trump in the film. The cover for the recording comes from the interior scene of a 19th Century crofthouse seen in the film, which stars Michael Fassbender. Retired Professor of art, Will Maclean is a renowned Scottish artist whose artworks relate particularly to the Highland experience.

So it all came together early in 2015, with a few sessions in Polbain to decide on the tunes we should play, and then a few days recording with engineer Grant Milne and Phil Smillie of The Tannahill Weavers.

There are tracks where we all play, on accordion, smallpipes, resonator tenor guitar and trump, the waltzes are played by Ali Beag with some string work by myself, a duet on smallpipes and bouzouki, a solo march. strathspey & reel on the Highland bagpipes and a selection of Highland tunes on mandolin and bouzouki.

It’s a great account of four musicians who have a deep respect for the classic old tunes from the bagpipe and Gaelic song repertoires, full of character and life. We hope you might enjoy the music!
Kevin Macleod

Available at the website here and locally in Coigach this summer

www.kevinmacleod.co.uk

[Mike Anderson]

Done! Not going to wait for iTunes any more for your stuff Kevin - really looking forward to it! I've seen pics of you playing with Alasdair Fraser and wondered if you'd be doing an album together at any point.

Always a pleasure to have something I know is going to be great coming in the mail!

best,
Mike.

[kmmando]

Thanks Mike, sending it off tomorrow for you, and many thanks for your exceedingly kind support!

All the best, Kevin

[foldedpath]

Hi Kevin, just ordered a copy and congrats for everyone for the project.

My fiddler S.O. has been dragging me gradually sideways (from an earlier Irish obsession) into more Scottish and Cape Breton music in recent years. All the workshops and most of the local sessions we're attending lately out here in USA diaspora are in that zone. So I'm looking forward to it!

[JH Murray]

Will you be making available on Itunes?

[kmmando]

No, iTunes pay so little in return for the hassle of having it there, that it simply isn't worth it for this.

You can easily buy it from my website and get a real cover, a real cd and all in colour!

http://kevinmacleod.co.uk

[Colin Lindsay]

Isn’t it funny that although I buy stuff from iTunes, I still prefer the actual CD and case? I can download a CD in about 15 minutes (BT Broadband… dead slow and stop) but there’s none of the actual satisfaction of getting a real item. Of course I miss the sleeve notes and full size photos of the good old LP...

[Mike Anderson]

Isn’t it funny that although I buy stuff from iTunes, I still prefer the actual CD and case? I can download a CD in about 15 minutes (BT Broadband… dead slow and stop) but there’s none of the actual satisfaction of getting a real item. Of course I miss the sleeve notes and full size photos of the good old LP...

Since my first love was prog rock (starting age 12 with "Thick As A Brick"), sleeve notes, photos etc were ESSENTIAL! I think they helped me understand early that music is made by real people with real lives - not demigods off in the stratosphere.

[donaidh]

I've been listening to this excellent release for a couple of days now and I can confirm that it is every bit as brilliant as you would expect from Kevin & co!

There's a particularly good solo set from Kevin himself featuring mandolin, resonator tenor and bouzouki. We also get some fantastic sets of tunes adding accordion courtesy of Ali Beag and various pipes from Al Fraser - including a top class solo bagpipe set - and the rarely heard "tromb" makes an appearance on some of the tracks.

Excellent, authentic West Highland music - the real deal!

[kmmando]

Thanks Donaidh, that's kind indeed, the lads will be delighted to hear that!

See you in Polbain for The Summer Isles Festival!

moran taing

Kevin

[Mike Anderson]

This little album is BRILLIANT! When I saw that one of the instruments is the "trump" I was a bit taken aback, then decided to see if I'd be pleasantly surprised - and was I ever! Turns out the jaw harp has a long history in Scotland, including the existence of an entire village (now long abandoned) dedicated to their manufacture.

I'd always regarded the jaw harp as something of a joke thanks to the way it's portrayed in those dreadful caricatures of hillbillies we've all been subjected to over the years in the mainstream media. I'm willing to bet that Scottish settlers brought the instrument to Appalachia the same way they did the fiddle and the music that goes with it. Now I'm enjoying learning as much as I can about it, and might take it up myself.

Goes without saying that this is just one aspect of a beautiful and fascinating album. Highly recommended!

[kmmando]

[hokelore]

This little album is BRILLIANT! When I saw that one of the instruments is the "trump" I was a bit taken aback, then decided to see if I'd be pleasantly surprised - and was I ever! Turns out the jaw harp has a long history in Scotland, including the existence of an entire village (now long abandoned) dedicated to their manufacture.

I'd always regarded the jaw harp as something of a joke thanks to the way it's portrayed in those dreadful caricatures of hillbillies we've all been subjected to over the years in the mainstream media. I'm willing to bet that Scottish settlers brought the instrument to Appalachia the same way they did the fiddle and the music that goes with it. Now I'm enjoying learning as much as I can about it, and might take it up myself.

Goes without saying that this is just one aspect of a beautiful and fascinating album. Highly recommended!

I love to hear a well-played J-harp! Then again, I collect the twangy things.

[Mike Anderson]

Always happy to see more of your videos Kevin!

[kmmando]

Thanks Mike, there are more on vimeo that I haven't placed here if you look.

All the best, Kevin

[Mike Anderson]

Thanks Mike, there are more on vimeo that I haven't placed here if you look.

All the best, Kevin

Yes, and every one well worth watching!

[kmmando]

I'm putting this up as I couldn't get the image of the front cover to work on the threads, no idea why, rather odd, but here is the cover! From the film set of "Slow West", by the way!

[kmmando]

[kmmando]

You can hear the title track about a third of the way in this radio broadcast ...

http://podcast.canstream.co.uk/celti...t=Planet+Waves

[kmmando]

Rhu Beag launched at the 4th Summer Isles Festival in Coigach, NW Highlands of Scotland.

[kmmando]

Here's some reactions on Scottish National radio, and some images from the project. And a taste of the sounds of the recording too.

[kmmando]

Well, someone bought one from me! Anybody else? It's not bad!

[kmmando]

A review by Joseph Peach

ALI BEAG MACLEOD, KEVIN MACLEOD, ALASDAIR FRASER, WILL MACLEAN
Rhu Beag
Private Label BEAGCD004

Rewind 200 years, and the scene inside Springwell, Kevin MacLeod’s croft house in his native village of Achiltibuie would’ve been very different. Linoleum has replaced hard earth flooring, an open fire replaced by spotlights and the pot which hung over it by a gas cooker. The table round which the musicians sat - the heart of the cèilidh - would definitely not have come from Ikea.

What hasn’t changed is the music. On their newest release Rhu Beag, Kevin MacLeod, Ali “Beag” MacLeod, Alasdair Fraser and Will MacLean play melodies played, sung, shared and enjoyed around Achiltibuie kitchen tables for generations, shared between neighbours, friends and family members like a common language unique to the place.

Culkein Waltzes are named for a cove on the Assynt coastline. Those melodies, sung by previous generations of Achiltibuie locals, are hauntingly beautiful, particularly Cuir Culaibh ri Assainte. This music (on bagpipes, accordion, tenor guitar, mandolins and trump) is amazing far beyond its social and anthropological qualities - it’s a joy to listen to, filled with life and character. It’s easy to see why traditional material such as this inspires much innovative modern composition - its power as a source of inspiration re-enforcing its place in the constantly changing musical world.

Rhu Beag is a refreshing listen; a reminder that traditional music in this simple form can be as rewarding as some of the most innovative new music.

www.kevinmacleod.co.uk

Joseph Peach

[kmmando]

Ali Beag in full flow on the set of John Maclean's great film "Slow West"!

[kmmando]

Might this entice you to give the wee cd a try? Help us cover the cost of making it?

Rhu Beag "Rhu Beag"
Own Label, 2015
www.kevinmacleod.co.uk
A taste of traditional music from the far north west of Scotland, this relatively short CD unites four local musicians who play regularly together. Their music is natural, unpolished and unrefined, the genuine spontaneous product of Gaelic culture and good company. The region of Coigach looks across the Minch to the northern end of the Outer Hebrides, and inland to the fiddle and piping traditions of Lochaber and the central highlands. All of these combine on Rhu Beag's recording: piper Alasdair Fraser, accordionist Ali Beag MacLeod, mandolin and guitar master Kevin MacLeod, and the distinctive jaw harp of Will MacLean.
From big pipe marches to beautiful Gaelic waltzes, jigs and reels to strathspeys and hornpipes, Rhu Beag present pretty much what you'd expect from a local west highland session or ceilidh. About the only thing missing is a double speed Canadian Barndance: Kevin's mandolin solo on Old Toasty comes close, but switches into jig time for Roddie MacLeod of Polbain by Freeland Barbour, before finishing off with Lord MacDonald's Reel. Among many familiar tunes, there are some distinctive marches and waltzes: The Ross-shire Volunteers, Lady Lever Park, and Ali Beag's three Culkein Waltzes in particular. There's great variety here in only twenty-five minutes, from bagpipe solos to band selections, plus some unusual reels and jigs including The Steamboat which I had only heard as a Canadian tune called Uncle Jim's Jig. Rhu Beag certainly provides a good helping of highland music in its natural habitat.
© Alex Monaghan