Composer, arranger, performer, producer, teacher – Mike Vass seems to seed new projects in unexpected circumstances. He told us in an interview with Neil how his Decemberwell 2011 project, which toured last year, was inspired by a weather-enforced break from work. He spent a large part of last summer in hospital with a very nasty case of Lyme disease. In the case of Mike…ideal nesting ground for another new project as he recently explained:
Whilst recovering in my hospital bed, my Dad lent my a copy of Neil Gunn’s ‘Off in a Boat’ an account of a summer adventure sailing the West Coast of Scotland. After a bit of daydreaming about sailing adventures, I hatched a plan to recreate Gunn’s trip. I wanted to try and include my two passions, music and the sea, and the idea for ‘In the Wake of Neil Gunn’ was born. What started out as a small project has since grown arms and legs, and will now be a big focus for me in the coming months.
Mike has received a ‘Trad Arts Commission’ from Creative Scotland to write some music inspired by “my May voyage, so June and July will be spent writing and recording. In October I will tour the project with a 9 piece band. Much in the same way I did a daily blog for ‘DecemberWell’ (back in 2011!) I plan to blog regularly about my new project and its progress.”
Live Dates: In the wake of Neil Gunn
May
02 – Red Roof Cafe, Skye
09 – Eigg Community Hall
10 – Astley Hall, Arisaig
17 – Iona Village Hall
24 – Duror and Kentallen Community Centre
June
01 – Nairn Sailing Club
Those of you who want to keep track of Mike’s progress can follow his new project website (see link below) where you can sign up to receive regular updates from the blog.
www.inthewakeofneilgunn.com