Maggie MacInnes researched historic recordings of her mother, acclaimed traditional Gaelic singer Flora MacNeil, for her album Uiseagan Bharraigh. Its title means “Barra Skylarks.”
Australian-born folklorist Dr. James Kalokerinos recorded MacNeil between 1955 and 1961. Raised on the Isle of Barra, she learned many of the songs through her family and local community. The archive contains established pieces that MacNeil later helped bring to wider audiences, alongside rarer material that MacInnes has now selected for the project.
With support from Creative Scotland, MacInnes digitized the recordings and developed a related stage production, The Kalokerinos Tapes. She then chose songs from the collection for Uiseagan Bharraigh and commissioned new arrangements.
The album features Calum Park, Dan Brown, Robyn Gray, Ailis Sutherland, Wendy Weatherby and Alex Palmer.
Author: World Music Central News Room
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