Festival Interviews

The Megantic Outlaw Show at Heb Celt Fest

1. There is a strong Québec theme running through this year's festival and having the Megantic Outlaw open HebCelt 2009 will get it off to a great start. What are you hoping the festival audiences will get from your show?

First of all it is a great honour to be asked to perform at the festival on this year of homecoming and I hope that people will not only enjoy the show but also reflect and get to know this Megantic Story which links both Quebec (where the drama unfolded) and these Islands so strongly.

2. Will the show be easy to follow for non-Gaelic speakers.

I would definitely hope so. When we performed the show at Celtic Connections there was an English translation of the songs on a screen above the stage, along with a Gaelic narrator linking the songs; but on reflection this was a wee bit too much to take in visually

This time we hope to have a more informal Gaelic narration linking the songs with maybe the English translation on a separate concert programme.

The first half of the concert will consist of the complete Megantic Album. In the second half there will be an opportunity given to sample the great talents of some of the individual members of the band with a really varied programme of songs and instrumentals as well as some surprises.

3. Who are the members of your band that will help you put on this unique show?

From Scotland, Fraser Fifield Sax/Whistles/Pipes, needs no introduction, he is simply one of the most innovative and talented musicians Scotland has produced in years, he is joined in the band by his long time musical accomplice Guitarist Graeme Stephen, one of Scotland's finest Jazz players, Bobby Millar, Bass Guitar, hails from Edinburgh and is a regular player both on the live circuit as well as on numerous recordings; joining Bobby and making up a formidable rhythm section, from upstate New York by way of Nashville Tennessee is my good friend Drummer/Producer Peter Young who helped me co-produce the album, also from Nashville on Guitars/Dobro/Banjo/Mandolin is Scott Neubert a phenomenal multi-instrumentalist who is in great demand as a first call session musician in that musical town; he also played on the Megantic album.

Because Blair Douglas (my usual Keyboard player) was unavailable, as he has his own highly anticipated gig at the festival, I was very fortunate to be able to call on the services and great talent of Andrew Yearly to look after the Keyboard as well as the Accordion duties, and to complete the line up and helping me on Backing Vocal duties is my own daughter Isobel Ann Martin who is a former Mod Gold Medal winner and a great vocalist in her own right.

I would also like to acknowledge the vital support received from Bòrd na Gàidhlig, without whose help, this concert would not have been possible.

4. Will it be extra special for you to be playing in Lewis?

I think playing over in Uig Hall as a pre-festival concert is very special for me, due to the fact that, in many ways, the story has really come full circle back home to where it all began.

Murdo Morrison left Uig to start a new life for himself in Canada, married an island girl, and it was his youngest son Donald who was to become Canada's most famous outlaw.

5. Do you prefer performance or writing music, or is it impossible to separate the two?

In my younger days back in the 70s and 80s I much preferred the live performance side of things, but now I think I prefer the creative process of writing, recording, and collaborating with other musicians to produce my songs; there is not so much pressure, and I love the way a song can evolve from a germ of an idea into a fully fledged musical product.

I used to enjoy and expend so much energy back then performing, but nowadays, even though the voice and head might be up for it, I don't think it would be possible for me at my age and fitness level to sustain the energy required for many of these 2 hour shows.

I think two performances will be just about the limit; but let's see.

6. We're delighted to announce that you have written a very special song specifically for the HebCelt: 'Blue on Green'. It's an excellent track and really sums up the excitement of the big blue tent. Why did you want to write this new song?

When I was first invited to perform at Heb Celt I asked Caroline MacLennan the Festival Director if anyone had ever written a song or piece of music specifically for Heb Celt Fest and she told me no!

So I thought it would be very appropriate for me in this Year of Homecoming to write a song about the festival itself (my first English song in over 30 years). Hopefully it captures the uniqueness of this special event and especially the big blue tent on the Castle green, in a happy and summery way. This venue has become a bit of an institution in Stornoway during the middle of July for many a year, creating such a buzz, and attracting musicians and concertgoers from all over the world.

I would really love it if other bands and artists would also record and perform their version of the song and play it live at the festival in future years. Who knows?!

7. Your musical influences range from Buddy Holly to Calum Kennedy and The Beach Boys to The Lochies - with many others in between. What inspires your music these days?

I was very fortunate to be growing up during the 60s and 70s at a time when the new pop music revolution of the day was gathering pace, maybe a bit faster in English than in Gaelic; but nevertheless, for me at that time, there was no problem in absorbing the influences of the more progressive English pop sounds of the Beatles along with the Folk inspired Gaelic sounds of The Lochies, both of these types of artists created songs which had at their heart great melodies and great harmonies. I also loved the more progressive folk rock sound of Irish bands such as Horslips and Moving Hearts along with the tight harmonies of American acts like the Everly Brothers, Simon and Garfunkel and the aforementioned Beach Boys.

What still inspires me today is hearing great artists writing and singing great tunes; and there are plenty around.

It is often said that Gaelic is a more expressive language than English. Do you agree with that, and do you find songwriting easier in one language or the other?

For me Gaelic has always been a more expressive language but I suppose I am biased, after all, for the last 16 years I have had the privilege of teaching Gaelic music in education, but I am also acutely aware of the huge influence that English pop music continues to have on the lives of all our young people.

I just do not see that Gaelic as a language could not be used to express all these pop influences, just like I did way back in the 70s, along with others of my musical bi-lingual generation such as Blair Douglas and Calum and Rory Macdonald.

Let's encourage our new hugely talented Gaels to do likewise.

If I am being honest I would say that I find the lyric writing of songs (both English and Gaelic) much harder than the music itself, but if I was pressed I would say that Gaelic songwriting for me is a marginally more natural process.

back to interviews