On one of Scots Whay Hae’s all too rare road trips, Ian and Ali travel to the beautiful village of Braemar to talk to Alasdair Roberts and Ross Whyte about their collaborative project as musicians in residence in one of the most picturesque parts of the Cairngorms.
The chat takes place in St Margaret’s Church where the two have been doing the majority of their recording, and which lends a certain acoustic atmosphere to matters which you don’t normally get in the Scots Whay Hae! kitchen. After an initial discussion about the two’s time in Braemar, talk turns to the nature of collaboration, how to marry different styles of music, and how to convey a sense of place artistically.
The results, which can be heard later in the year, are bound to be fascinating as folk guitarist and singer/songwriter Roberts adds his take on the locale to composer Whyte’s own musical musings and interpretation. The project is entitled ‘New Approaches To Traditional Music’, and it’s difficult to think of two better musicians to explore just what substance and form these new approaches should take.
We also discuss previous projects the two have worked on separately, and how they hope to bring their experience as well as their expertise to proceedings, and both admit part of the appeal is learning about the working practises and approaches of the other.
Once you’ve had a listen you may wish to know more about the project, and to do so you should go to Alasdair’s and Ross’s respective websites, or have a read of the ‘New Approaches To Music’ blog; and you’ll be able to hear the fruits of their labour as part of the Sound Festival which is in conjunction with The Woodend Barn, and which runs from the 23rd October-10th November.
You can listen to the Scots Whay Hae! podcast at iTunesor by RSS. Subscribe and you’ll never miss it. Or, if you want it right here, right now, you can listen to it below, accompanied by a few visuals, (including some purely coincidental shots of The Braemar Gallery):
We’ve recorded some of the proceedings from The Empire Cafe (see last podcast) and they should be available here and on YouTube very soon.
Who do we have next time? We’re not entirely sure, but it will be someone very special indeed…