Myself and Drew Wright - aka Bards Of Caledon (or these days Hoch Ma Toch -
hochmatoch.bandcamp.com) recorded these pieces in rehearsal for two live gigs we did together in February 2016.
The first was in The Living Mountain, which Lindsay Todd (
firecrackerrecordings.bandcamp.com) ran as an art space and occasional record shop in Edinburgh's Summerhall for just a couple of glorious years.
The second gig - and the main reason for us pulling this material together - was following the screening of the documentary Voice Of The Eagle - The Enigma Of Robbie Basho in Glasgow's very splendid Glad Cafe.
Arranged in part by lifelong Basho heids 12th Isle (
12thisle.bandcamp.com), who had caught wind of our activities via the Mac-Talla Nan Creag project on the aforementioned Firecracker Recs, which Drew and I made along with Neil McDonald aka Lord Of The Isles (
lordoftheisles.bandcamp.com) - it was a pretty special evening for many reasons.
We only really played this material a few times - first during this rehearsal, which is what you see and hear here; then at those subsequent gigs. Each performance was slightly different as it is fairly spontaneous in nature.
I unearthed the recordings recently and felt it was time they were aired & shared with the wider world. These should sound pretty much how they did when we played them - all live, no overdubs. The only post production I've really done here is a little EQing, level adjustment, and some light chopping of beginnings and endings. Due to the semi improvised approach there are of course wee imperfections here and there - no mistakes though, only happy accidents.
I hold a great fondness for this music and I hope you all can get something from it too.
OL x
released February 4, 2021