Meadhan a' Chèitin, ciamar a thachair sin? Tha an ùine dol seachad cho luath 's gu leòr air a bhith tachairt. Tha mi sgrìobhadh seo an-dràsta a' coimhead a-mach air oidhche bhreagha 's an adhair dearg - 'n dùil am bi an tìde mhath a tha seo a' leantainn speileag eile!
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Time flies - here we are in the middle of May with sounds of the cuckoo and corncrake been reported in the west. We've had some great weather in the Highlands and our fingers are well and truly crossed that this is just the beginning of a fine summer.
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I've had a busy few months with work, teaching and an occasional gig or two. In Easter I usually spent a fortnight in Lewis; the first week at a residential event called 5 Latha (5 Days) where we work with young people giving them the opportunity to use and develop their language skills working with people in the local community taking part in a range of fantastic activities. We also stay in the wonderful Gearrannan Blackhouses, it's a very special place. For the second week we had a family holiday in Lemreway, Lochs where my father was born and brought up. The family home is still there and we had such a relaxing time walking, fishing, feeding the sheep and a few games of scrabble with mum and dad. Good times!
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At the beginning of May I was delighted to be invited to teach at Fèis Rois nan Inbheach (Adult Fèis) in Ullapool. I was there as a student 10 years ago just after handing in my dissertation at Aberdeen University - what a great weekend that was. I really enjoyed the weekend there this year as well, great students and we spent the weekend singing through a whole range of Gaelic songs.
Then on to the Inverness launch of Till at Eden Court on Saturday 6th May. It was great to sing the songs from the album to such an appreciative audience who were in fine voice too. Joining me on the night were James Mackenzie, Ross Martin and Alistair Paterson - three excellent musicians. We carried on the cèilidh in the Eden Court foyer with plenty of tunes and songs on the go.
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Next up is Hebcelt in July for the Lewis launch of Till. I'll be singing in An Lanntair on Friday 21st July. More info and tickets are available here
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After that it's on to Lorient, France in early August to some gigs with Blasta - a group of singers from my native Lewis. I'll be sharing more about that in my next post!
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'Till' is available to buy directly from the website here and can be downloaded from iTunes, Amazon and Google
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