Julie Fowlis - alterum '2017

Tracks list

Tracklist
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01. A Phiuthrag s a Phiuthar
02. Camariñas
03. Fear a Bhrochain / Dòmhnall Binn
04. Dhèirich Mi Moch, b Fheàrr Nach Do Dhèirich
05. Go Your Way
06. Dhèirich Mi Moch Madainn Cheòthar
07. Windward Away
08. Thèid Mi Do Loch Àlainn
09. Òran an Ròin
10. An Aghaidh Fàilte Na Mòr-Thìr
11. Cearcall Mun Ghealaich


From North Uist in Scotlands Outer Hebrides, Julie Fowlis is probably the most
successful artist ever to work predominantly with Scots Gaelic material with
some high-profile fans, including Björk, Ricky Gervais, and Phil Selway of
Radiohead. While Runrig and Capercaillie had previously achieved breakthroughs
of sorts with isolated outbreaks of Gaelic-language material, Fowlis threw
caution to the wind and achieved surprising mainstream acceptance concentrating
almost exclusively on the Gaelic tradition. Being raised in the Gaelic community
of the Western Isles gave Fowlis a strong sense of identity and tradition, and
she fully absorbed the areas strong singing, dancing, and piping traditions. Her
grandmother was recognized as a fine singer, her mothers family were all Gaelic
speakers, and Julie herself first started singing Gaelic traditional songs at
primary school, later taking up oboe and pipes. She moved to the mainland to
study music at Strathclyde University in Glasgow and from there went on to the
Isle of Skye, where she studied Gaelic at the Sabhal Mòr Ostaig learning
school.

There she met Skye clarsach (Scottish harp) player Eilidh MacLeod, a member of
the band Dòchas, and in 2000 Fowlis replaced Rachel Walker in the band,
making her debut with them on a TV show about Gaelic music. They toured
extensively over the next couple of years, releasing two attractive, energetic,
and well-received albums mixing Scots and Irish music, Dòchas and An Darna
Umhail. Fowlis was initially known primarily as an instrumentalist, specializing
on the whistle, fiddle, and oboe, but in 2004 she won the pan-Celtic sean-nós
singing competition in Tralee, Ireland, and was also nominated as Best Gaelic
Singer at the Scottish Traditional Music Awards. In 2005 she released her first
solo album, Mar a Tha Mo Chridhe (As My Heart Is), partly funded by the Scottish
Arts Council, exclusively featuring Gaelic material, mostly collected at home on
Uist. Backed by musicians of the caliber of John McCusker, Eamonn Doorley, John
Doyle, Kris Drever, and Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh, it made an immediate impact,
winning her a Horizon nomination at the BBC Folk Awards.

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