SCOTLAND’S traditional music scene has never been as strong as it is now, according to one of the genre’s top bands.
Skerryvore accordionist and founding member Daniel Gillespie said strong ticket sales and international touring has shone a spotlight on the scene.
The Celtic rock group has been on a momentous journey since it was founded in 2005 in Tiree. At the end of 2022, the eight-piece trad outfit played to some 8000 people at the Hydro in Glasgow. And they started 2023 strongly, with their single You & I receiving welcome airtime on Zoe Ball’s Radio 2 Breakfast Show. They are set to release their new album Tempus on April 28.
Those in the US are among their growing fanbase and the States is now one of their favourite places to tour.
But that was never part of the plan because there was no plan, Gillespie told The National. “We just got together for a summer,” he said. “It was a random meeting on Tiree.
“I and my brother Martin grew up there, and Fraser West and Alec Dalglish are from Livingston. They came up to holiday on Tiree. They needed some traditional musicians to play a ceilidh or something in Livingston and we joined.
“They weren’t traditional musicians. They were from a rock and jazz background. There was an immediate fusion of styles there. Then we went on a wee tour for the summer and it kept snowballing.”
The band have toured across Europe, the US and even China. Their songs have had millions of streams online. Spotify statistics show only two Scottish cities in their top five most streamed areas, with London taking the number one spot.
“I think we are on 36 countries now which is amazing,” Gillespie said. “We’ve always wanted to appeal to a wider audience and we’ve always been keen to change what’s possible and the stereotypical view sometimes of trad music and Scottish music.
“A lot of the time it’s very wrong. I mean, the trad scene right now is amazing. Some of the music that’s coming out of Scotland and Ireland right now is absolutely incredible.
“You’re seeing that in terms of ticket sales across the board, with Celtic Connections, for example but even when we were on tour in Scotland in September, you had Elephant Sessions sold out, you had Talisk sold out, all the venues sold out.”
Scottish musician Kim Carnie (below), a regular at Celtic Connections, said the Gaelic scene in particular is going strong. And it’s not just in ticket sales or streams. The Oban musician’s voice has also been heard on the game Black Mirror and Netflix blockbuster Outlaw King.
Carnie, like Gillespie, is seeing more international attention. She told The National: “What happens a lot is that people who don’t have a connection to the culture love the sound of the language and you’ll hear Gaelic in loads of wonderful places across the world.
“I think there’s so much going on in the Gaelic music world. It’s in a really good place. There are so many people interested in listening to music and going out to gigs. In the last few months, there’s been Gaelic on big, big stages such as the Hydro.
“There’s obviously a huge interest in Gaelic music. It keeps growing. It’s so good to be a part of that.
“But the people playing on those big stages today are thanks to bands like Capercaillie. I love it – and I think it’s only going to get bigger.”
For Gillespie, part of the beauty of playing for a new audience is to dispel the myth of what some people think trad music is.
He said: “Sometimes people think they’re going to hear something in a particular way but then there’s that element of surprise of what it does sound like, with trad instruments being in this rock-pop band.
“During Covid, we had a lot of rewards from all our touring abroad. When we did our livestreams, for one of them we had 26 countries tuning in and a lot of that was people who had seen us touring.”
Gillespie says that while the US is open to Scottish trad music it didn’t come without some stereotyping. He’s always happy to see the “shock and surprise” from an audience when they play.
“The reaction has been amazing in America, though,” he said. “And when they find out you’re an international band it’s a bonus. So many Americans never leave the country so they’re curious to speak to you and ask you questions.
“It is challenging, especially with the cost of America with eight in the band but last year it was our most toured territory. And we do love it and always get a great reaction. We have a good following now but America is so big it’s still small. Last year, we went to Alaska for the first time to two sold-out shows.
“It shows you can build up a great fanbase there.”
The success Skerryvore and other Scottish musicians have seen in the US is testament to the strength of the entire genre, according to Gillespie.
He said: “I’ve been in Skerryvore for 17-odd years now. I’ve been a musician for about 20 in total and I cannot remember a time when the scene was so strong.
“The number of bands that are doing it for a living, touring internationally, selling tickets – I know this from major promoters in the country, they can’t believe it either. You have multiple bands from the trad scene selling out the Barrowlands, venues in Edinburgh and other places. If we go back 15 years ago that was unthinkable.
“It says a lot about where it is, even from a festival side, seeing these bands and the reaction they have.”
And it’s not just those who have been fans for years. There is a growing number of young people attending trad shows too, Gillespie said. “That can only be good for the scene,” he added.
