Skye musician and piper Brighde Chaimbeul has announced that she will be releasing her debut album on River Lea Records. ‘The Reeling’ will be launched at a special concert at Celtic Connections 2019 (on 18 January – tickets). It is performed entirely on smallpipes in C and is inspired by old tunes from Gaelic song and canntaireachd traditions, as well as global piping traditions that have been of significant influence to Brìghde’s music. It features acclaimed fiddler Aidan O Rourke (who also produced the album), the amazing Radie Peat (Lankum) on concertina and the legendary Rona MacDonald Lightfoot of South Uist whom Brighde performed with at Lau Land earlier this year. Rona is credited as the first woman to win a major piping competition. The album was recorded in the historic East Church in Cromarty.
Brighde won the 2016 BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award, and was a 2017 Scots Trad Music Awards ‘Up and Coming’ nominee. She is a native Gaelic speaker, her style is rooted in her indigenous language and culture, but draws inspiration from a variety of piping traditions such as from Cape Breton, Eastern Europe and Ireland. Watch Brighde performing alongside Ross Ainslie and Steve Byrnes (Tunes: Green Light of the Lonely Souls / Bob the Banter / Peel Pier Fear).
The River Lea label is a collaboration between Geoff Travis and Jeannette Lee of independent music champions Rough Trade Records and fRoots magazine writer Tim Chipping. The new label is dedicated to releasing beautiful and strange traditional folk music from the British Isles and beyond. The first release on the label was from Lisa O’Neill, currently Folk Radio UK’s Artist of the Month (Album Review / Interview).
