Dàimh kick off their Pirates of the Hebridean tour with a weekend of dates in Skye, South Uist and Glenuig before heading round the rest of the country. Aside from the “mainland” dates like Glasgow, Aviemore, Elgin, Tayvallich and Stonehaven the tour will also see the band take in the islands of Colonsay, Jura and Gigha and even a concert aboard a Frigate in Dundee Docks to add even more of a nautical theme to proceedings as they promote their most recent album, The Hebridean Sessions.
Even though Dàimh have described the material chosen for this album as tunes they’ve been playing for years, that’s belied by the freshness and vitality of the way they’ve approached them. I’ve worked a lot in the parts of Scotland Dàimh call home and been to a ceilidh or two there, but if they’d sounded as good as this I might never have left. Johnny Whalley (FRUK). Read the full review here.
“We recorded the album live during a series of intimate concerts across Mull, Skye Uist last year so it’s seems quite fitting that we are launching it with a tour covering five Islands and a 200 year old warship” laughed fiddler Gabe McVarish, an Islander himself now settled on Eigg. “We wanted to record our versions of the old traditional West Highland tunes we’d been playing for the last 20 years and capture them in their natural environment. It seems to have worked, I’d say it’s been our most well received album yet. We’ve toured it in the USA, Ireland, Canada and Iceland in the last 6 months and now we’re looking forward to bringing it home again!”
In addition to the rollicking West Highland tunes, concert goers can expect to hear one of the most exciting new sounds in the Scottish Music scene today, young Gaelic vocalist and rapidly rising star, Ellen Macdonald form Inverness. “I joined the band a little over a year ago and went straight into the recording process with them. Since then I’ve played in at least 6 different countries and we picked up “Folk Band of the Year” at the most recent Scots Trad Music awards. It’s been full on but also a great experience so far! We’re all looking forward to the Scottish tour though, it’s still our favourite place to play!”
Dàimh Tour Dates
JUNE
02 – Aros Centre, Portree
03 – St Peter’s Hall, Daliburgh, South Uist
04 – Glenuig Hall
17 – HM Frigate Unicorn, Dundee
18 – Ceòl ‘s Craic, GCA, Glasgow
22 – Old Bridge Inn, Avimore
23 – Drouthy Cobbler, Elgin
24 – Gigha Music Festival
25 – Tayvallich Hall
JULY
09 – Stonehaven Folk Festival
SEPTEMEBER
16/17 – Colonsay Music Festival
24 – Jura Music Festival