In 2016, Hamish Napier released his solo debut album ‘The River‘. In his own words: “The River brings to the surface vivid sonic images of occurrences, past and present, along the mile-long stretch of the Spey that flows past my childhood home. One of my brothers fished it, the other canoed it, my Uncle Sandy photographed it, my friends and I swam in it, my mother paints it, and there’s my father’s daily fascination with its erratically changing water level. It will always symbolize home and a strong connection to nature. However, no mortal’s relationship with the river can ever be truly harmonious, its ever-changing micro-climate, mysteriously dark depths and unrelenting power are both merciless and enchanting.”
Later this month, on January 10th, Hamish is releasing An t’Each Uisge [The Water-Horse], the name given to the kelpie, “the wicked (but awesome) river spirit of Scottish folklore”. The release is described as bonus material for ‘The River’ and will be released in five parts – ‘Child’, ‘Land’, ‘Love’, ‘Spirit’ and ‘Work’, respectively.
Part 1 – Child, features 2 tunes, 4 poems and 6 field recordings and lasts 13 minutes. It features contributions from leading Scottish poets Kenneth Steven and Jim Mackintosh, as well as guitarist and fiddler Innes Watson, who also plays in Hamish’s folk trio The Woods. It was edited, mixed and mastered by top Glasgow-based engineer Andrea Gobbi.
Listen to Fly Fishing below, featuring Fergus Napier & Jim Mackintosh. To a backdrop of the sound of the river and fly fishing, Jim reads a poem from ‘Flipstones’, published in 2018 via Tippermuir Books.
Hamish comments: “A great poet with an incredible voice, my good friend Jim Macintosh from Perth recited this highly evocative poem for me. It reflects on his childhood and his father’s love-hate relationship with fly fishing. My brother Fergus features here too – also a keen fisherman – swishing spey casts with his fly fishing rod on the Spey (recorded back in 2015).”
In our review of Hamish’s solo debut, Neil McFadyen concludes: “Through his music, Hamish paints portraits of the river’s endless moods and mysteries. Not only that, he paints those portraits with such care and depth of emotion it’s impossible to avoid the irresistible pull of the current.”
The same can be said of these new bonus offerings, and I look forward to Parts 2 to 5 of the Water Horse series (Land, Love, Spirit and Work), which Hamish will release over the coming winter months.
Pre-order this digital album via Bandcamp: https://hamishnapier.bandcamp.com/album/an-t-each-uisge-the-water-horse-part-1-child
It was quite an eventful 2022 for Hamish, alongside 12 new compositions (+ 10 co-writes with Duncan Chisholm & Ross Ainslie) and 92 shows, he also married the super-talented Su-a Lee (whose Dialogues album we reviewed here).
Live Dates
Hamish will also be performing at several Celtic Connections concerts –
19th January – Celtic Connections 30th Anniversary Concert
2nd February – Duncan Chisholm and Kim Carnie, which will see the premiere of Duncan’s new album ‘Black Cuillin’.
4 February – Nae Plans – with The Curlew and Roo & Neil
New Album: The Hill
Hamish is starting his new album ‘The Hill‘, which will be number 4 of 5 of his Strathspey Pentalogy – a 5-album musical odyssey in praise of his native Strathspey. The Hill focuses on the catchment area and hills of the River Spey and its tributaries, i.e. the Cairngorms, Monadh Ruadh, Cromdales and other hills of Badenoch & Strathspey.
You can help support that release in return for a number of perks via Patreon – https://www.patreon.com/hamishnapier