Scottish folk singer Julie Fowlis has released a new three-track digital EP titled Source to Sea. The songs, which feature a number of special guests, was recorded to accompany the Source To Sea podcast series in which Lee Craigie and Jenny Graham travel the length of three major Scottish rivers (The River Dee, River Tay and River Clyde).
If the shelves of our local bookstores are anything to by then connecting with nature and slowing down are themes that resonate deeply with many. There is a thirst for deepening our knowledge of nature to better appreciate the changing seasons on our walks, whether that be the wildlife seen along our hedgerows and riverbanks or the winter migratory birds that visit these shores. In the case of Lee Craigie and Jenny Graham, their sustainable travel options to traverse three Scottish rivers from source to sea was bike, packraft, and foot. Along the way, they capture colourful sounds, descriptions and thoughts about the landscapes as the rivers take them from Scottish Highland to urban industrial. We hear them meeting people, animals and birds along the way, interwoven with Julie’s music.
Julie’s voice seems to be the perfect accompaniment for such explorations; nature writer Robert Macfarlane recently described her voice: ‘If snow could sing, it would sing like Julie Fowlis….’
Hailing from the Outer Hebrides and now based in the Highlands, Julie Fowlis is a multi-award winning singer whose music is deeply influenced by the Hebridean islands where she grew up and the Highland landscapes where she now resides.
For this project, she has composed music to reflect each river on the Source To Sea journeys, taking inspiration from wild Atlantic salmon, the Scottish writer Nan Shepherd, and traditional Gaelic texts.
On each track, she is joined by a number of guest musicians who each bring a special magic to proceedings; there are elemental moments throughout – the harp plays with the torrent of the River Dee and the fiddle dances along with the valley winds.
Guests on each Track:
- The Hill Burns (River Dee) feat. Eamon Doorley, Jim Molyneux, Laura Jane Wilkie, Rachel Newton
- Craobh nan Ubhal (River Tay) feat. Charlie Grey and Joseph Peach
- Silver in the Blue (River Clyde feat. Eamon Doorley, Kris Drever, Euan Burton
Julie wrote the lead single ‘Silver in the Blue’ for the journey along the Clyde, and to COP26 specifically, like the rest of the songs on this EP, it has a gorgeous contemporary twist but never loses that connection to nature. Like the fellow artists she appears alongside on the recent Spell Songs album, Julie has such a strong rapport with nature that she forms the perfect accompaniment here.
Source to Sea offers an alternative solution to our climate and health crises, while governments continue to focus on the advancement of technological solutions. The podcast promotes physical and mental health messages alongside sustainable, simple, and local travel and adventure; it offers listeners the inspiration and motivation to remain everyday active, protect our natural environment, and take pleasure in the simplicity of adventuring from your doorstep.
Source to Sea was produced by Tandem Productions in association with the Adventure Syndicate and with the support of the Audio Content Fund.
You can hear the songs and the Podcast Series here: https://linktr.ee/sourcetosea
The EP is now available via streaming services and you can also purchase the digital EP (MP3s or high def audio) directly from Julie at https://www.juliefowlis.com/product-category/digital-downloads/
Credit: EP Artwork created by Seth Tinsley Illustration