A review of Julie Fowlis playing the Grassroots stage on the 3rd of August at Belladrum 2013.
‘Feasgar Math, Ciamar a tha sibh?’ asks Julie as she opens her set at the Black Isle Beer tent, justly proud of her Gaelic heritage all òran sung here are ann a Gaidhlig. ‘Hùg Air A’ Bhonaid Mhòir’ is one of my favourite songs and she obliged by singing it early on in her set.
Her band is comprised of a fairly stellar lineup of husband Éamon Doorley on bouzouki, Matheu Watson on guitar and Duncan Chisholm on fiddle. The tent was packed again and her set breezed past all too quickly. A mix of trad tunes and sets of reels had Belladrum clapping along with the pace only really easing for a gorgeous cover of ‘Blackbird’ by the Beatles. Sung entirely in Gaelic of course!
The number of kids in the audience would imply that many were here to listen to the theme from the Disney film ‘Brave’. In fact I did hear a few wee voices plaintively query when it was coming, unfortunately they were left disappointed. On a positive note they were given the chance to watch one of our best folk artists play and hopefully show that Gaelic and traditional music is still a force to be reckoned with and damn good fun too.
Photos by Roddy McKenzie, click to contact the photographer.
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