After decades of informal collaboration, Scottish musicians Donald WG Lindsay and Alasdair Roberts are set to release their first duo album, Welcome Home My Dearie. The album, recorded live to tape at Glasgow’s Green Door Studios, promises to capture the raw energy and variety of their live performances. Featuring a rich blend of traditional and original material, the ten-track album showcases Lindsay’s signature ‘Lindsay System’ chanter on Scottish smallpipes (more on below) alongside his 12-string guitar and whistle, with Roberts on six-string acoustic guitar. Both musicians contribute vocals, presenting everything from Scots narrative ballads to contemporary songs.
The duo self-funded the recording, mixing, and mastering sessions, and are now raising funds, via Crowdfunder, to cover the final production costs. The 500-copy CD run will be manufactured by the renowned Scottish company, Birnam CD. Any funds raised beyond the target will support album promotion and touring expenses.
Friends for thirty years, Lindsay and Roberts formally presented their work at a showcase at The National Piping Centre in early 2024, followed by an autumn tour of Scotland and England. The album’s title track, a Lowland pipe tune, is a fitting centrepiece for a collection that brings together diverse influences. Here is a video by Martin Forry, filmed at Green Door Studio, of a set of jigs which feature on the album, followed by a bothy ballad with an urban setting, Jock Hawk’s Adventures in Glasgow.
About the Set of Jigs
The first tune in the set, ‘Banais an Tàilleir’ (‘The Tailor’s Wedding’), has been a favourite jig of Donald’s for many years; He originally learned it from William Gunn’s early 19th-century Highland pipe collection. It also appears in O’Neill’s Music of Ireland. The second tune, ‘Old Joe’s’ – also known as ‘Footing the Turf’ or ‘Old John’s’ – he first heard this one from Martin Hunter at the Glad Café session in Glasgow. ‘The Lilting Banshee’ (also known as ‘The Miller of Glanmire’) came over from the whistle, before crossing to the Lindsay System chanter after that emerged. Closing the set is the modern classic ‘Jig o’ Beer’ by Gordon Duncan – a tune that fits on any chanter.
Jock Hawk’s Adventures in Glasgow
A bothy ballad with an urban setting, Jock Hawk’s Adventures in Glasgow is usually sung to the jaunty tune of The Guise o Tough. Ali’s darker tune is related to those used for the Dundee song The Overgate, which itself resembles Jock Hawk’s Adventures in theme and content. In Jock Hawk’s Adventures, however, the young ploughboy gets no further than the bar. After a rowdy night he’s left in charge of the bar tab for the girl who accompanied him there, a group of sailors who arrived shortly after him, and from the sounds of it probably whoever else was drinking there that night.
The pipes Donald’s playing here are of his own Lindsay System design. These pipes take a unique approach to extending the range of the Scottish smallpipes without the use of keys, something formerly thought impossible due to the different physics of smallpipes (cylindrical) as compared to Uilleann, border and some European pipes (conical). The code was finally cracked by Donald in a Glasgow 3D print lab and makerspace in early 2013 – 12 years later, the design is downloadable to 3D print from Thingiverse, and the community of players is estimated to number in the thousands worldwide.
You can help support the release of the album, which includes both digital and CD Albums as rewards, here: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/donald-wg-lindsay-alasdair-roberts-new-duo-album
CD copies of the album will be ready in time for our October/November duo tour dates in Scotland and England:
Tour Dates
Oct 2nd: CRIEFF Crieff Folk Club
Oct 3rd: BIRNAM Birnam Arts
Oct 4th: ARGYLL Lunga House
Oct 29th: SHEFFIELD Cafe #9
Oct 30th: BIRMINGHAM Kitchen Garden Cafe
Oct 31st: LONDON The Goose is Out! (The Ivy House)
Nov 1st: WINCHESTER Hyde Tavern
Nov 2nd: BRISTOL Folk House