Sketch/Dolphin Boy

A little while back we were delighted that old friend and 
collaborator Dolphin Boy joined us at a wedding of a mutual friend in the heart of the Perthshire countryside.

Out of that fantastic weekend came the agreement to at last have Dolphin Boy do a remix of some Sketch material.

After we received the remix, we just remixed it straight back, largely in the spirit of these things!

Its a great take from the Dolphin on the Sketch sound and we’re looking forward to doing a bit more of it in the future.

Snapshot 17

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We Dont Need That Feisist Groove Thing

There Can Be Only One - Iain Copeland/Darren MacLean
Maili Ceit’s Jig - Angus MacKenzie

Yes, there can indeed be, only one, Darren MacLean!

Stunning performance from the Sketch vocalist on this track.

The track is earmarked for inclusion on the upcoming Sketch 
album in 2018. This is a good working mix of some of the ideas that are happening in the band at the moment and are a good 
indication of what to expect from the album.

The lyrics were specially written for the song by Darren himself.

The tune is by Daimh piper Angus MacKenzie and features a cracking performance from Charlie Stewart, who in fact played this same track when he won the final of the Young Traditional Musician of the Year in 2017 at Celtic Connections.

The musicians actually recorded their parts at different places in Scotland and despite living in Stornoway on the Isle Of Lewis, Darren actually recorded the vocals at the studio in Glasgow.

enjoy!

Free Dowload

There Can Be Only One

Sutra was formed when Zoltan Lantos and Iain Copeland collaborated on the project ‘Barátok’ which featured a mixture of Jazz and traditional musicians.

They came together in October 2016 to do a gig in Cottiers theatre, Glasgow. During rehearsals the seeds were sown for the birth of Sutra, primarily featuring -

Zoltan Lantos - Violoin
Gus Stirrat - Bass
Malcolm Macfarlane - guitar
Iain Copeland - Drums

Sutra made an appearance at Glasgow Jazz Festival 2017 and plans are afoot to tour the project in 2018.

The track featured here is actually a jam by Zoltan and Iain. They used the loop function in Ableton Live to records loops of percussion and violin into a laptop and then improvised over the top of it, all live!

Check out Sutra’s page on the Skye Records website. AN EP of 4 tracks is available there as a choose your price item.

African Dub

Sketch/Iain Copeland

Fraoch is in fact the name of the fine brew ‘Heather Ale’ by 
Williams Brothers Breweries, based in Alloa, Scotland. 

Bruce from Williams Bros approached the supreme leader to ask him to create a Sketch track for a documentary about the 
Brewery that was being shot over the course of the following year.

Initial discussions were based on the fact that from Space, 
Scotland goes purple in August with the bloom of the heather across all the hillsides. The idea was to try and visualise looking down on that and gradually zooming in until Bruce himself was revealed hand picking heather to include in the brewing of the famous ale.
In the end, an edit of the film was put out before the track could be finalised, however a good few Sketch tracks were used for that particular edit. Link below.

The track here features The Glasgow Gaelic Choir singing a 
translation by Sketch vocalist Darren MacLean of an amalgamation of 2 poems written by poet and playwright, George Gunn from Thurso on the north coast of Scotland. George and Iain had previously collaborated on Iain’s solo album ‘A Northerly Land’

The Supreme Leader has a blog entry about the making of the track. You can also check out the video on that page.

http://iaincopeland.com/the-making-of-fraoch/

Fraoch

Sketch/Duncan Cook

More fun.

A long time ago in a galaxy far away...

Mr Duncan Cook of Ullapool made a request a while back for the stems of the Sketch track Shedmau5, with a view to producing a remix of the track.

After some time spent waiting on someone actually doing that, Duncan delivered the track you hear on this release.

We think Duncan did a fine job and hope you’ll agree.

There’s even talk of another remix in the near future with material from the new album.

Watch this space.

This remix and the original track features-

Ross Ainslie - Whistle
Maeve Mackinnon - vocals
Neil Ewart - Fiddle

Its interesting how differently the same performances have been treated.

Shedmau5 Cookery

Skye Records welcomes Singer/Guitarist Luc McNally to the label.

We recently recorded Luc’s EP in the studio on Skye. We think its time you got to hear this great collection of music!

Luc McNally is a guitarist and singer from Dipton, County Durham. His work has taken him all over the UK and to Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Estonia and the Czech Republic.

Having been introduced to traditional music by 4 years with Kathryn Tickell’s Folkestra Youth ensemble, he went on to study Scottish Music for two years at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

As well as teaching guitar and playing multiple Scottish/Irish music sessions around Glasgow, he plays with new rock/traditional band Dosca, with electronic/Celtic group Sketch, and in a songs and tunes duo with piper and whistle player Eddie Seaman.

Having released his first EP in the spring of 2016, Luc is now hoping to start working on a debut album featuring some of Scotland’s finest young musicians.

Trimdon Grange Explosion

Sketch/Fras

Ok, time for a bit of fun now.

A long time ago in a galaxy far away...

Angus Binnie and Tam The Banjo from West Coast group Fras, 
visited the studio on the Isle Of Skye. 

Given that it was the festive season it took a little bit of work and a fair bit of luck to get the performances out of the artists over the course of that weekend.

Then the Phat Controller added some seasonal bells and here it is- The Sketchmas Miracle. Forever to be remembered throughout traditional music history.

The Sketchmas Miracle

Oak Ridge Studios - Ali Levack
The Girls of Boisdale - Traditional

This track was originally put together for a production of 
‘Kidnapped’ by The Royal Conservatoire in Glasgow, in 2016.

It features a great tune written by Ali Levack, fantastic Piper and whistle player. Some great playing by him and Charlie Stewart on fiddle.

Initially envisaged as a chase theme, this track wasn’t finished in time for rehearsals starting, however later in the production actually became the warm up music for the cast before the show.

The track was recently featured in a short advert about Ness Bus in Inverness and can be heard on their promo video.

The production of Kidnapped was very successful and featured some of the brightest new talents coming out of the Royal Conservatoire that year.

It gathered a couple of great reviews, one of them from the Mumble 
and can be seen here on Sketch’s own website.

http://totalsketch.com/kidnapped-review/

The Chase Is On

Latha Bh’an Bidire Ag Ol - Traditional
The Crooked Still Reel - Brian Finnegan

TRIP, formed in late 2016, are a new and energetic trad band based in Glasgow that draw influence from the cultures and traditions of Scotland, England, Ireland and the Isle of Man.

All currently in their second year at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, they began playing together through informal freshers week sessions and instantly clicked through their shared passion for traditional music with a contemporary and modern twist.

The impressive six piece line-up features:-

Newcastle accordionist Michael Biggins, 
Sligo flautist Tiernan Courell, 
Manx fiddler Isla Callister, 
Lewis singer Mairi MacLennan, 
with fellow Scots Rory Matheson on piano and 
Craig Baxter on bodhran. 

Together they produce a powerful, driven and distinctive sound that contrasts from fast jigs and reels to captivating traditional Gaelic song. 

Following the release of their first music video in January 2017, the band has had a successful year performing across Scotland and the Isle of Man, and look forward to making their debut in Ireland at Sligo Live festival. 

TRIP are set to make an impact in the new year with the release of their debut EP - Eclipse.

Latha Bh'An Bidire Ag Ol

Anne Lacey’s (L. Carroll)
Johnny Willmott’s Fiddle (Trad)
The Girls at Martinfield (P. Cunningham)

This track was put together in an attempt to make ‘just a normal set of reels’.

From their debut release ‘Playing For Free’

The musicians in Snuffbox met on Glasgow’s vibrant trad music sessions and have created a style that harnesses the energy of the city with Perthshire’s rich musical tradition. 

In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century the great 
Perthshire fiddler-composer Niel Gow and his son, Nathaniel favoured the drive and harmony of a fiddle and cello partnership as they played for dances around the country. In Snuffbox, their fellow Perthshire 
native, fiddler and BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician 2017 winner Charlie Stewart joins cellist Rufus Huggan and guitarist-singer 
Luc McNally as the Gows’ natural successors.

Tunes such as the opening Reels and the rugged Limerick show all the 
character, fluency, depth of expression and sense of melodic adventure that Stewart displayed in his triumphant Young Trad Final performance. All three musicians’ responsiveness and ability to change roles as a set of tunes progresses, as best exemplified by Lucy’s, keep their arrangements fresh from intro to coda.

It’s this musicianship and flair that have placed these three players among the most in-demand musicians of their generation in Scotland.

Skye Records

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