duggup

Artist: Back of the Moon
Website: www.backofthemoon.co.uk/
Track Name: Lumsden’s Rant
Playback: mp3
Download?: Yes

Another week, another trip to Scotland, this time a nice gentle piece of acoustic folk (you know I’m lying right). OK it is acoustic and it is folk… oops I seemed to have misplaced the gentle. Oh well.

This wonderful tune is off their third CD “Luminosity”. The other 11 track’s feature a mix of songs and tune sets. The three singers in the band… Gillian, Finlay and Hamish all do justice to such songs as Glenlogie (Findlay), Nine Stone Rig (Gillian) and The Brewer Lad (Hamish). The tunes have tight and interesting arrangements . I find myself thinking of Fiddlers Bid, another band with fiddle and piano that have a huge sound.

If you aren’t a fan of pipes, you really aren’t going to see what the fuss is about, but believe me… it’s your loss.

Here is a a bunch of background stuff from their site…

In autumn 2000 the three founder members of Back of the Moon: Gillian, Hamish and Simon McKerrell (the bands original piper now replaced by Ali Hutton) were finalists in the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Awards under the title ‘Frame, McKerrell and Napier’. Findlay later joined the band after he, Gillian and Hamish had played that summer on Margaret Bennett’s solo album ‘In the Sunny Long Ago’ produced by Martyn Bennett (released on Footstompin’ records). Their debut album (also released on Footstompin’ Records) was recorded in July 2001, and was part of Gillian’s prize for winning the Young Scottish Traditional Musician of the Year 2001. ‘Gillian Frame and Back of the Moon’ won ‘Album of the Week’ on BBC Radio Scotland’s Travelling Folk programme. Promotion of the album took them to several large festivals in and around Vancouver in the summers of 2001 and 2002. Their second album ‘Fortunes Road’, was produced by Johnny Hardie (Old Blind Dogs) and was even more well-received by press and fans on its release in summer 2003. Closer to home the band have performed at several British folk festivals (including Celtic Connections, Cambridge and Sidmouth, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and are touring extensively around the British Folk Clubs. Back of the Moon made their third Lorient International Celtic Festival appearance in summer 2004, and during their second year there lifted the trophy for the ‘Best Celtic Band’ at the festivals prestigious Celtic group competition (won previously by groups such as “Danu” and “Capercaillie”). At the Scots Trad Music Awards 2003, the band won the ‘Best Up and Coming Band’ award. They were filmed by the BBC in May 2004 for Burn’s night 2005, and their live set at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall during Celtic Connections 2003 was broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland. Multi-instrumentalist Ali Hutton joined the band shortly after and recorded ‘Luminosity’, the bands third album, released in August 2005.

Their three albums are available from Foot Stomping Music. Well worth a listen.

They are also currently on BBC Radio 3 as well as some other people from the Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow.

thatch is fascinated by guitars, music, guitars, production, silly noises, guitars and used to be a musician. Did I mention the thing about the guitars?
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