OTHERLANDS COLLABORATION #10
Location: Arisaig, Scotland • Date: December 11, 2019
When I mentioned to friends I was heading up to the western Highlands of Scotland, I kept hearing that I should meet fiddler Eilidh Shaw and guitarist Ross Martin.
*To know more about projects from Eilidh & Ross, please visit:
eilidhshawandrossmartin.bandcamp.com/
facebook.com/eilidhshawrossmartin
I’ll set the stage (as it was) by sharing a bit about Knoydart — our home base for two weeks in the western Scottish Highlands. It is a peninsula with one paved 7 mile road (and others unpaved suitable only for 4x4) which is completely cut off from the UK road system. The only way in is by ferry from Mallaig or a 2-day hike. We chose the ferry. It’s rugged and mountainous, and you see more deer than people. It’s often referred to as the last wilderness of Scotland.
There is no grocery (just a farm store with an honesty box where you leave your money and take your change). There are no medical services or law enforcement. You bring what you need to the village of Inverie by ferry, including fuel and food. Lumber is abundant and we burned through quite a few logs heating our little home, which was the former town dairy. “Life” happens by the ferry and if the weather is questionable, you’re stuck—either wanting to get to Knoydart, or wanting to leave. We loved it. (See images of Knoydart in the intro & outro of my collaboration video with Aonghus Grant.)
When it was decided that we’d spend our time up there, I agreed to play for a fund raiser concert to support their town hall. I would open for the Poozies, and I’d been hearing about their fiddler Eilidh Shaw (a student of Aonghus Grant). I contacted Eilidh to talk about the upcoming concert with two missions—to find something we could play together, and to have our kids meet.
48 hours before the concert, the weather turned. Waves and wind would prevent the ferry from running for the next few days. Since folks could not get to or from Knoydart, the concert was canceled. So! We decided to grab the last ferry in to “civilisation.” There was a session previously scheduled at the Arisaig Hotel bar on the same night our concert would have been. It was there that I met Eilidh for the first time, along with her husband Ross Martin on guitar. My first Scottish jam of the trip was had, and I left with a list of tunes.
Needing a place to stay for the night, we went to the home of a friend of a friend—the Arisaig House. Pulling down the drive in the dark, I could get just a glimpse of the home turned hotel. It wasn't until next morning that I was able to fully understand what a spectacular setting this was.
The following day, my daughter and I went over to visit Eilidh & Ross. Emmette would hang with their kids while Eilidh and I got to know each other over fiddles at the kitchen table. It was clear from my jam the night before that I had no Scottish repertoire (although there are Irish tunes played in Scottish jams). I asked to learn a few introductory melodies, and she showed me "Donald Blue" (a reel from Shetland), " ’S Ima Rud a Chunna Mi" (a Puirt à Beul, or Gaelic mouth music), and "The Smith’s a Gallant Fireman" (a strathspey from the east coast of Aberdeenshire and a melody Eilidh loves). I was a bit lost on how to play rhythm to a strathspey so Ross gave me a few pointers from guitar perspective.
This was all we had time for today so Eilidh and I made a plan to meet again a few days later to record these tunes. Back at the Arisaig house for the night, they graciously accepted my request to record there in a couple of days.
We hadn’t had time to work on any arrangement, but Eilidh mentioned starting with the strathspey and going into the others. As I left their house, my gut told me that the reel and Puirt à Beul were meant to go together. To my unfamiliar ears, they seemed cut from the same tartan—both two part tunes, in D major, with the same number of bars in each part, and similarities in melodic shape and phrasing. My goal was to weave them as one big four part tune. To start, I focused on just learning the melodies and being able to recall any of the parts without the others. On the morning of the session, I woke up with a thought: call the parts of tune one A & B, and the parts of the second tune C & D. We would morph from one tune to the next, with the “big” tune one time in the middle. The form looks like this: ABABCABCDBCDCDA.
It was an overcast day (even raining and hailing at times), which was great for the filming. I set up in the cozy Arisaig house bar, with a fire to keep the room warm, in front of the giant picture window. The overcast sky meant I wouldn’t have challenges with back lighting…or so I thought. Once Eilidh and Ross arrived, we tested the gear and started to work out our arrangement - basically trying to remember the order of the parts. By the time we started recording, the sun had broken through…and then it set quite fast. This made my lighting challenging for the video, but didn’t hamper the music.
We took the song a few times and had lovely interactions in each one, all with different energies. Eilidh has an amazing drive on the fiddle, and I loved her choice of harmonies and registers. Ross is subtle, solid as a rock, and his knowledge of the tunes allows him to compliment the melodies beautifully. Happy with the afternoon we spent together, they headed back home to receive their kids from school, and I took my time packing up with the help of a bottle of Scotch whisky…technically, it is a bar (don’t worry Arisaig House, I came prepared).
A few days later my family attended a Christmas ceilidh to benefit activities at their son’s school. Eilidh & Ross were the house band and I joined, along with her 81 year old father on accordion. It was a totally local event at the Morar Hotel, and we were warmly welcomed into the bunch. I can’t imagine a better way to cap off my time with Eilidh & Ross.
CREDITS
Songs: The Smith's a Gallant Fireman / Donald Blue / ’S Ima Rud a Chunna Mi
Music Arranged by: Casey Driessen, Eilidh Shaw, Ross Martin
Fiddle: Eilidh Shaw
Guitar: Ross Martin
Fiddle & Audio/Video: Casey Driessen
Special Thanks:
Arisaig House
Emma Weir
Sarah Winnington-Ingram
Drew & Kirsten Harris