Peggy Seeger Oran Mor

The timeless story of songs and words

I enjoyed a gig last week at the Oran Mor Glasgow with the delicate clear voice of folk legend Peggy Seeger (wife of renowned folk  songwriter Ewan MacColl) She sparkled and shone at the age of 80 and took us into her world of music. She said that it is only music that uses all of our minds.

What a lovely classy, dedicated and informed lady!  She offered us some of her collection of stories she held in a large notebook – some were funny, some profound and some moving. Seeger is an accomplished musician and the daughter of folklorist Charles Seeger and her brother is the American folk singer songwriter Pete Seeger.

The Gig

Peggy played a full set with her two sons from 7.30 to 10, (there was no support) with a twenty minute interval. I was glad I wasn’t late!  I feel sure it must take careful thought to choose from a lifetime catalogue of traditional folk songs and stories to chose from. Peggy beamed and showered little pearls of wisdom. 

They began the set with the traditional folk song Hard Times. They sang of longings and of good times and the words, “The dark rolling sea between you and me, How I long for the days gone by.“ Neill and Callum sang Freight Train and also a couple of unaccompanied songs. 

She clearly enjoyed sharing the stage with her two sons with Neill and Callum, who provided lovely blended backing harmonies and guitar. They played some traditional folk instruments - autoharp, banjo, guitar, concertina and piano. Ewan and Callum sang Freight Train. and also a couple of unaccompanied songs. 

The family trio finished the set with the life-affirming Ewan song The Joy of Living. For their encore Peggy treated us to the real version of MacColl’s most famous song, First Time Ever I Saw Your Face. Folk artists sing with a realism and true heart and never over sing or over do the emotions. 

There are no pretensions or airs or graces around Peggy. She stood for several songs and for others she clutched her instruments. Occasionally she waved her hands and arms wide. Peggy beamed and showered little pearls of wisdom.  It was heartening to see Peggy still full of joie de vivre and ready to command the stage! At 80, not only is she wise and like the highest quality red wine, she is still challenging herself to be fresh and relevant. 

After Ewan died Peggy returned to America. She returned to the UK in 2010 and has recorded her first ever solo album which marks a musical rebirth after she suffered from serious ill health.

In 2015 Peggy released Everything Changes. She has said that she enjoyed greatly working with a full session band for the album, which was produced by her son Calum MacColl and features musicians Simon Edwards (Talk Talk, Kirsty MacColl), James Hallawell (The Waterboys, David Gray), Martyn Barker (Shriekback, Goldfrapp) and Kate St John (Dream Academy, Nick Drake). 

I was pleased with my photos and hope they tell the story of the gig - it is always a challenge and at a classy gig like this full of dedicated folk fans I don’t like to disturb the set and I always aim to be discreet.  I take photos either seated or at the side. This was a family affair with her sister-in-law managing the tour.

Women need to say STOP! 

One story from Peggy stood out – about an Amazon tribe where they considered the men tended to be destructive – they cut down trees for canoes, they killed animals for food and they fought wars. Wheras the women were the nurturers of the crops and the children. So they felt the women needed to tell the men when to stop. They would say STOP, we have enough canoes stop cutting down trees. They would say we have enough to eat, STOP killing animals. We don’t need any more wars STOP! When one of the tribe visited the western world she wondered why there were only male voices to be heard and why the women were not saying STOP.

Music is the healer and motivator.

Dick Gaughan Milngavie folk club March 2014

The folk club was busy for Gaughan’s return gig here with both young and older fans. He prefers to stand tall with his guitar as he plays and sings.  

Dick Gaughan is a Scottish traditional folk singer, songwriter and guitarist. He sings of Scottish heroes and of stories of our lost past and long forgotten voices.  Gaughan has been playing the circuits both at home and abroad for many years now and he is a legend among folk circles. He is also one of the most down-to-earth and likeable artists without pretensions of any kind.  

He sang songs by Brian McNeill, Robert Burns, Ewan McColl and Gaughan - What You Do With What you've Got, Yew Tree, Outlaws and Dreamers, No God and Few Heroes, Whatever Happened to We Shall Overcome, and the outstanding Burns song Westlin Winds.

 
He prefers to learn from the generations before that have all the knowledge. ‘If you're lucky you can add a wee bit'   He said, 'I don't go for autobiographical songs, there's more interesting topics than me.’ He took traditional folk stories and songs from the library archives and put new melodies to them and he draws from both the Irish and Scottish folk traditions. He also spoke of legend songwriter Yip Harburg who wrote Over the Rainbow and Finnegan's Rainbow (who found a pot of gold and it destroyed him)     

His songs can seem hard hitting but are also full of thoughtful optimistic themes. Like American folk singer Dylan his songs and voice don't come easily to the shore and they tell of straight talking stories. He is also a stand out guitarist and plays with a unique style with open chords and dramatic timing that he learnt from guitarist Davy Graham. 

I first heard Gaughan play in the 70s in Edinburgh when I was dating a folk guitarist who raved about how incredible and very distinctive his playing was. Many years later I heard Dick again at Milngavie Folk club in 2007 and this was an intimate gig where his chat between songs was worth going for alone. 

One of the great troubadours of life's journeys. You come away from his gigs questioning but ultimately renewed in the faith of our shared humanity. He sang, 'Keep your eyes on the road ahead, Keep looking at the light.... '

At this gig I thought - music is not about how good an artist might feel about their music but rather how much joy they can give their audience.  

Gaughan was well supported by guitarists Robin Miller, and Mike Simons. 

Robin Miller

Its' not just what you're born with, but what you do with what you've got.
What's the use of two strong legs, if you only run away.
And what use is the finest voice if you've nothing good to say?
What's the use of two good ears, if you don't hear those you love.
Words &  Music by Si Kahn

He sang not of resolutions but of holding on to your vision. Gaughan was warmly received and seemed to enjoy the gig. I felt that his substance, refreshing honesty and questioning words must have impacted on the younger members of the audience and on the older ones too!  Dick Gaughan Photo gallery - http://pkimage.co.uk/dickgaughan

The folk songs

Pete Seeger

The folk music world is more interested in the heritage and building on the past then on fashions or commercial motivations.

Folk songs are often about social commentary of the conditions or situations people found themselves in and in the human condition. Folk musicians write new songs in old folk styles.

American folk singer **Pete Seeger who died recently left a rich heritage of now classic folk songs - such as Turn Turn Turn, Where Have all the Flowers Gone.  His light delivery sometimes masked a clever commentary on the times. The song Little Boxes was his only chart hit (written by Malina Reynolds) and the song commentated on our decline towards cultural shallowness ' Little boxes all made out of ticky, tacky and they all look just the same'

Seeger was blacklisted in the McCarthy era and shunned by radio and tv. Like Woody Guthrie and his song 'this land is our land', Seeger sang about the rights of everyman. He was respected as a cult hero in the folk worlds by musicians such as Dylan or Springsteen and by folk musicians here in the UK. 'He was a folk commentator with a bitingly humanist touch.'  Quote Times.  Seeger was 95 and had lived through 17 presidents.  

Bob Dylan & Pete Seeger

My journey. I had my own journey into folk music in my early twenties when I dated a guitarist folk singer from Ayr. He played folk rhythms along with fiddles and banjos at Sandy Bells bar Edinburgh. It was a new world to me of live gig playing, melodic fiddle, harmony singing and foot tapping and hand clapping reels. It was wonderful.  

Before this I had mostly heard my music via vinyl Beatles LPs (also wonderful in a different way) radio, theatre music with a small orchestra, singing in school choirs, playing piano, my father singing Irish songs and some live gigs such as Jethro Tull and Cream.  My father used to ask me to accompany him on piano while he sang.  

I also developed a love of the classic masters through playing piano. I had lessons over several years from age 7 to 15 and I was very fortunate that my first teacher taught me firstly the joy of playing and to use the correct touch on the piano keys. I eventually studied and played Bach, Beethoven and Mozart Sonatas. At first I thought Mozart’s piano music had too many notes! but after some practice.... I realised he was rather a genius at expressing emotional melodies.   

My folk boyfriend introduced me to traditional music such a Dick Gaughan, who I saw live in Edinburgh, and to his record collection that included other great guitarists - John Martyn, Richard Thompson and more.  We went to folk festivals. I was taken in by the difference in the folk world to the other music worlds.

Folk songs care about the message and the story of the song and music is also considered a shared experience. 

Today there are folk singers here (and elsewhere) who continue this tradition of singing about the human condition – such as in Scotland Karine Polwart, Dick Gaughan, Rab Noakes,

 I don't believe in socialism or hand outs - but I believe in equality.

And the folk traditionalists are right,  the 'equality' raises us all up! - not by dragging us all down but by raising standards! 

Kris Drever and Eammon Coyne Milngavie Folk Club

When Irish and Scots folk blend something fun and very unique happens. Both Kris and Eammon are very personable and with their easy manner put their packed audience at ease when they began their set with some energising tunes.  

Eammon is an accomplished banjo player from Dublin who has played with many well known Irish folk players and now lives in Edinburgh. I noticed Eammon first with Salsa Celtica and I noticed how much he enjoyed himself on stage.

Kris Drever

 Eammon Coyne

Kris is from Orkney and he is one of the most popular contemporary Scots folk singers. Drever originally played with the ceilidh band Session A9.  He was persuaded by John McCusker to record his own solo material and he released his debut album ‘Black Water’ to good reviews in 2006. He has worked with some of the top Scottish folk musicians and toured with Kate Rusby’s band.

They played a excellent selection of tunes and folk ballads. I particularly enjoyed Drever’s own composition Steel and Stone and we sang along to the Tannahill Weaver’s fine song Farewell to Fuinery Drever also sang the Burn’s song Parcel of Rogues to the Nation to good effect

Their tunes and reels were very well played and full of character. Kris has a fine voice and he performs quality songs. The music is an interesting mix of their own compositions and traditional folk and country influences. In 2007 Coyne released a cd with Kris Drever called ‘Honk Toot Suite’ and is worth checking out. 

SET  ( I read this set list upside down so I hope it is correct!)

Call and Answer/ Isle of France/ La Bestai/ Wild Hurricane/ Harvest/ Poor Mans Son

II Mthe/ Mazurka/ Crown of London/ Parcel of Rogues/ Twenty Quid/ Black Water/ Shady Grove/ Steel and Stone/ Farewell to Fuinery Honk Toot Suite.
 

I’ve seen Kris a few times before at Celtic Connections festival and at the folk club and I thought this gig was a step on with both Kris’s performance and Coyne providing colourful playing. I would perhaps have enjoyed hearing more chat about the songs. I also preferred his new look longer hair! 

When he moved from Orkney Drever started out playing at Sandy Bells Edinburgh, a place I have very fond memories of. Drever also plays with the band Lau with Martin Green and Aidan O'Rourke, and they performed on Jools Holland last year.  They prove to be one of the most promising new folk music collaborations.
Kris Drever PHOTOS - http://pkimage.co.uk/krisdrever

Celtic Connections 2013!

Beth Neilson Chapman

Capercaille

Eddi Reader

Julie Fowlis

Celtic Connections is a major Scottish festival. The festival starts January 17^th and runs for nearly three weeks Glasgow city centre over 13 venues.

Celtic is a dynamic festival of warm energetic folk tunes, foot-stomping Scottish reels and the rhythms of world music with African drums and haunting songs.

The festival in 2013 will host some big names in the folk world - Kate Rusby, Cara Dillon, Martha Wainwright, Salif Keita, The Mavericks, Jerry Douglas, Aly Bain, Phil Cunningham, Dick Gaughan and Dougie McLean. 

There is a special concert this year to remember renowned Dundee singer songwriter Michael Marra who died in November. The concert is organised by Rab Noakes and is called All Will Be Well. Last year Noakes organised  a concert at Celtic to remember Gerry Rafferty.

Michael Marra

Celtic hosts the well renowned Transatlantic Sessions; Gaelic concerts; Showcase Scotland; World Music; Americana; Blues and Jazz; ceilidh nights at the Fruitmarket venue and more.

Richard Thompson

Also younger folk and Indie artists, such as Bellowhead, Aimee Mann, Roddy Hart, Rachel Sermanni. 
The festival also holds open mic sessions every day at the concert hall on The Danny Kyle Open Stage which are well worth a visit. The Glasgow concert hall is the central venue for the three week festival.

The festival offers many interesting and unique collaborations -  watch out for these.

It is where old traditions meet new ones. While the heart of the festival is folk and traditional music the fact that musicians come from all over the world opens Scottish music up to many new influences. 

CELTIC CONNECTIONS FOLIO -

 http://www.musicfootnotes.com/2011/01/celtic-connections-portfolio_19.html

CELTIC CONNECTIONS Photos -
http://pkimage.co.uk/celticconnections

Transatlantic Sessions

Some of the world’s biggest names in folk, blues, jazz and traditional music will celebrate Celtic’s 20th year. Across two weeks, 2,100 artists from across the world will play at 300 events. Celtic is one of the world's biggest folk festivals with many sell out events.  http://www.celticconnections.com/

Celtic Connections 2013

Celtic Connections 2013 line-up was announced last week, with some of the biggest names in folk, blues, jazz and traditional music landing in Glasgow to celebrate it's 20th year. Across two weeks, 2,100 artists from across the world will play at 300 events. Celtic is one of the world's biggest folk festivals with many sell out events.

The festival will host some big names in the folk world - Kate Rusby, Cara Dillon, Salif Keita, The Mavericks, Jerry Douglas, Aly Bain and Dougie McLean. Its well renowned Transatlantic Sessions; Gaelic concerts; Showcase Scotland; World Music; Americana; Blues and Jazz; ceilidh nights at the Fruitmarket venue and much more!
Plus younger folk and Indie artists - Bellowhead, Aimee Mann, Roddy Hart will perform.  
The festival is also a stomping ground for new talent with open mic sessions at the concert hall with The Danny Kyle Open Stage which is well worth checking out. The Glasgow concert hall is the central venue for the three week festival. The festival includes many dynamic and unusual collaborations, so watch out for those.  

Artistic Director Donald Shaw -  At no other festival do musicians embrace the opportunity to collaborate with acts from different countries and musical genres quite like they do at Celtic Connections. As ever in our 20^th year trad and folk will be at the heart of the festival but other musical genres such as world, jazz, blues, electro, Americana and Country will also be showcased.”  Celtic is promoted by Glasgow Life. 

TICKETS ARE NOW ON SALE -  http://www.celticconnections.com/

Celtic Connections gallery - http://pkimage.co.uk/celticconnections
Salif Keïta. Salif is famous for taking his West African roots and infusing them with pop, jazz, Latin and Islamic influences, for a truly unique performance. 

*Dick Gaughan Interview with Phil Cunningham

This photo of Gaughan was taken at Milngavie Folk Club in 2011

Dick Gaughan Interview with Phil Cunningham Radio Scotland March 2012

Dick chose five songs that have influenced him –

(1) Big Bill Broonzy – Glory of Love

(2) The Shadows – Apache

(3) The Beatles – Love Me Do

(4)  Bob Dylan – Subterranean Homesick Blues

(5)  Davy Graham – 67

Gaughan talked about his musical influences. His chat is often profound, sometimes humorous and always entertaining.

He said that The Shadows were the first eclectic guitar group and that back then we were discovering all these new sounds for the first time. Before that nearly every American singer  seemed to be called ‘Frankie’ and sang songs about what it was like ‘to be a young lad at summer camp!’   

Gaughan said that ‘Love Me Do’ from the Beatles was another defining song.

He became obsessed with songs - he was like a magpie and studied songs at the National Library. In 1979 the Thatcher government made him first think about ‘why’ he was singing the songs and he became a political artist then. He said that Traditional music is about fair play, the totality of life and about the community.

Nowadays the barrage of media attempts to put forwards ‘one’ message he claimed and he likes to be part of what he calls the ‘awkward squad’ who are the grain of sand in the ointment and have other ways of looking at reality - and try to at least think about it!

He spoke about Dylan’s beautifully crafted songs that punched out images such as ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’. Gaughan played with Aly Bain’s Boys of the Lough and a punk band called Five Hand Reel. Like many others on the folkscene back then he developed a drink problem and then he had a breakdown. He had to clean up and dry up.

Lastly he talked about Davy Graham’s guitar which was tuned differently. His musical ideas were unbelievably creative - he was predictably unpredictable!  Hearing Graham's guitar it becomes clear where Gaughan had learned his distinctive playing style from. His list of favourite song choices is interesting too and shows the breadth of his roots in both traditions and more contemporary musical styles. 

Gaughan is best known for singing the songs Both Sides the Tweed and Westlin’ Winds. 

Some very few artists have the ability to transport and transcend the moment, and Dick does so with forceful guitar playing and classic traditional songs with a strong message and a deep expressive, growling voice.  He draws from both Irish and Scottish folk traditions. I first heard Gaughan play in the 70s in Edinburgh when I was dating a folk guitarist who raved about how incredible and very distinctive his playing was. Many years later (after being in America for nearly ten years and having three children) I heard Dick again at Milngavie Folk club in 2007, and this was an intimate gig where his chat between songs was worth going for alone. In his own so distinctive style, Gaughan hammers and speaks with his acoustic guitar. He performs traditional folk tunes, Robert Burns, favourite cover songs and his own songs.

He doesn't play the predictable smoothed-over sugar box 'tartan shortbread' songs - and he may not be to everyone's taste. Gaughan is plain spoken and holds firmly held beliefs on the rights of everyman and at one time he took past folk stories and songs from the library archives and put new melodies to them. You come away from his gigs questioning but ultimately renewed in the faith of our shared humanity. Dick Gaughan is a Scottish living legend, and he usually performs every January at 'Celtic Connections' Glasgow.   

 

*Celtic Connections Festival Glasgow 2012!

Held when we feel the winter blues, Celtic offers the warm glow of dancing fiddles, energetic guitars and free flowing singers....

In my twenties I dated a folk guitarist in Edinburgh and visited Sandy Bells and Arran folk festivals. The immediacy and passion of live traditional reels and folk songs were infectious and I was hooked. 
The recent successes of younger artists such as Mumford, Laura Marling and Bellowhead, show there is now renewed interest in the musical traditions worldwide. Aly Bain commented stated that there is little acoustic music on tv these days. Celtic started in 1994 when Aly Bain was the only professional fiddle player in Scotland and he wondered would they sell 100,000 tickets in January in Glasgow.....? Well yes they did and now in 2012 Celtic is one of the largest gatherings of folk music worldwide. 

My guitarist son and I take a front row seat every year at the Transatlantic Sessions, one of Celtics highlights which is led by musical directors Aly Bain and Jerry Douglas. This concert, which is held in the Glasgow Royal Concert hall, has an energetic impact where the folk traditions of close live collaborations and instrumental skills abound.

The mix of Scottish traditional lilting tunes alongside its' partner the fun rhythms of American bluegrass and country music works a treat. Nashville legend Dubro guitarist Jerry Douglas leads the Americans on the right if the stage and backing bands don't come any better then this!  Image, age and celebrity matter not one bit. What matters is the live music, nothing else. There are no flashing lights, gimmicks or egos - the music is simply down to the quality of the sound, instruments and playing skills. One of the main aspects I enjoy at Celtic are the very interesting and sometimes usual collaborations. 
 

The band includes veterans Danny Thompson on double bass, Bruce Molsky on guitar, Phil Cunningham on accordion, and also Michael McGoldrick, John McCusker, Donald Shaw, Darrell Scott, John Doyle, Russ Barenberg and James Mackintosh. 

After a couple of reels we have the pleasure of several singers from Tim O'Brien to the likes of Gaelic singer Julie Fowlis last year in a royal blue velvet dress.  James Taylor, Emmylou Harris and Nanci Griffith have also attended.  This year the sessions include Raul Malo, Ruth Moody, Declan O'Rourke, Eddi Reader and Karen Matheson. This concert is pure class - acoustic music at it's very best.  Long may it last!   Transatlantic now goes on tour after the festival, check for dates.  http://www.celticconnections.com/ 

 

The festival centres around the concert hall with open mic sessions, concerts and more, as well as many other Glasgow venues that include the Old Fruitmarket, City halls, The Arches, Classic Grande, the ABC, Oran Mor, more.   
This is one of my favourite festivals and 2012 will be my fifth year covering Celtic.

*Dick Gaughan Milngavie Folk Club June 2011

Dick Gaughan is a Scottish traditional folk singer and guitarist, a songwriter, composer and record producer. He sings of Scottish heroes and of stories of our lost past and long forgotten voices.  Gaughan has been playing the circuits both at home and abroad for many years now. He is a legend among folk circles and also one of the most down-to-earth and likeable artists without pretensions of any kind.  
 

I arrived early at the venue and met Gaughan and he seemed to know me from his last visit here. He spoke of playing with Emmylou Harris and what a nice person she was.

Gaughan sang Burn's Now Westlin Winds, his favourite songs of all time; a traditional song re-interpreted by Gaughan Both Sides The Tweed;  What You Do With What You've Got, the best opening song (Si Kahn);  Thomas Muir of Huntershill; Why Old Men Cry; No God and Precious Few Heroes (Brian MacNeill); Song For Ireland; Huntershill. He also played a powerful guitar instrumental and a song by the Scottish poet Hamish Henderson. 

He wondered on No God and Precious Few Heroes (Brian MacNeill) whether we have forgotten the protest voices of the 60s and sang - 'Whatever happened to ' We Shall Overcome' and 'What Are We Fighting For'.  On Why Old Men Cry he told of how he had felt connected to his paternal grandfather while visiting the first World War graveyards in Germany. His grandfather had died when he was half Gaughan's age from mustard gas poisoning and he connected this to the faces he remembered well as a child.  Now, he said, he understood the sadness in the eyes of old miners. 

There is an urgency and force about Gaughan's music as if he feels strongly he has important messages to get off his chest in his music. Gaughan searches below the surface of songs. He plays open chords on guitar and his playing is melodic and strongly emotive.  His voice has a poignant edge and is both harsh and deep in tone and it hits home hard. The words of his songs ring true and with his opening song 'What You Do With What You've Got (which he said he would keep as his opening song until he found a better one) he sang - 

Its' not just what you're born with, but what you do with what you've got.

What's the use of two strong legs, if you only run away.

And what use is the finest voice if you've nothing good to say?

What's the use of two good ears, if you don't hear those you love.

Words & Music : Si Kahn

He sang not of resolutions but of holding on to your vision. Gaughan was warmly received and seemed to enjoy the gig. I felt that his substance, refreshing honesty and questioning words must have impacted on the younger members of the audience.  On the older ones too!  

LYRICS
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Now Westlin Winds (Written by Robert Burns as sung by Dick Gaughan)

Now westlin winds and slaughtering guns
Bring autumn's pleasant weather
The moorcock springs on whirring wings
Among the blooming heather
Now waving grain, wild o'er the plain
Delights the weary farmer
And the moon shines bright as I rove at night
To muse upon my charmer

The partridge loves the fruitful fells
The plover loves the mountain
The woodcock haunts the lonely dells
The soaring hern the fountain
Through lofty groves the cushat roves
The path of man to shun it
The hazel bush o'erhangs the thrush
The spreading thorn the linnet

Thus every kind their pleasure find
The savage and the tender
Some social join and leagues combine
Some solitary wander
Avaunt! Away! the cruel sway,
Tyrannic man's dominion
The sportsman's joy, the murdering cry
The fluttering, gory pinion

But Peggy dear the evening's clear
Thick flies the skimming swallow
The sky is blue, the fields in view
All fading green and yellow
Come let us stray our gladsome way
And view the charms of nature
The rustling corn, the fruited thorn
And every happy creature

We'll gently walk and sweetly talk
Till the silent moon shines clearly
I'll grasp thy waist and, fondly pressed,
Swear how I love thee dearly
Not vernal showers to budding flowers
Not autumn to the farmer
So dear can be as thou to me
My fair, my lovely charmer

What You Do With What You've Got  ( Music and Words by Si Kahn as sung by Dick Gaughan)

You must know someone like him
He was tall and strong and lean
With a body like a greyhound
And a mind so sharp and keen
But his heart, just like a laurel,
Grew twisted round itself
Till almost every thing he did
Caused pain to someone else

It's not just what you're born with
It's what you choose to bear
It's not how big your share is
But how much you can share
And it's not the fights you dreamed of
But those you really fought
It's not what you've been given
It's what you do with what you've got

Now what's the good of two strong legs
If you only run away?
And what use is the finest voice
If you've nothing good to say?
And what good is strength and muscle
If you only push and shove?
And what's the use of two good ears
If you can't hear those you love?

Between those who use their neighbours
And those who use a cane
Between those in constant power
And those in constant pain
Between those who run to evil
And those who cannot run
Tell me which ones are the cripples
And which ones touch the sun?

Dick Gaughan Photo gallery - http://pkimage.co.uk/dickgaughan
Dick singing Burn's Westlin Winds, his favourite song.  http://www.dickgaughan.co.uk/  

Gaughan was born in Glasgow and was raised in Leith Edinburgh. His mother was a Highland Scot, his father a generation away from Ireland. From childhood, he was immersed in Scots and Irish musical traditions by both sides of his family. Gaughan is a national treasure. He is a world weary traveller of stories and music.