When the first Covid-19 lockdown brought much of the world to a shuddering halt two years ago, internationally-renowned Scottish folk music band Breabach suddenly found all their gigs were cancelled.
They had been looking forward to collaborating with award winning and highly acclaimed band Le Vent du Nord in Canada.
A leading force in Quebec’s progressive francophone folk movement, plans to share a stage with them at Celtic Connections in January were also scuppered as a number of live performances were pulled.
Monifieth-raised Breabach founder Calum MacCrimmon said the rejigging of plans “unfortunately became the norm” during the pandemic.
Breabach eventually managed to tour in October when it became apparent how much more relaxed the Covid-19 rules were in England to Scotland.
Now, as Covid-19 restrictions are all but lifted, the band are “super excited” to be back on tour including a gig in Perth on March 25.
Very appreciative
“I certainly feel very appreciative to be getting out on a tour,” says Calum.
“There’s a lot of musician friends of mine who’ve not managed to get a tour organised for one reason or another.
“The thing that music lovers don’t fully see is how many times these tours have been rescheduled.
“Our agent has had to reschedule for all of our nights so many times in the last two years.
“And rescheduling doesn’t bring any money in.
“For the people that organise the shows it’s been an exceptionally difficult time.”
Calum admits that when Breabach toured mostly down south in October, they were “on edge a bit”.
The more relaxed Covid-19 rules in England meant there were next to no facemasks.
This contrasted with the Scottish gigs where most people were being much more cautious.
With the new tour underway, he appreciates that for many fans it might be the first time they’ve been out in large crowds since the pandemic began.
He imagines that even now, “our Scottish gigs will be rooms full of people with facemasks on and our English gigs will be rooms full of people with no facemasks on”.
Strange times
He admits it’s a “strange time” which they are “still navigating”.
However, he also knows that people coming to shows will do so because they “really need some live music in their lives”.
It’s a side of the times that he finds “quite heart-warming and exciting”.
“We’ve been working on a brand new album,” says Calum, when asked what fans can expect at Breabach’s Perth gig.
“We will be involving new numbers along with the story behind those numbers on the tour.
“There’s lots of new material and a lot of it has taken inspiration from these last two years.
“There’s one song I wrote on the new album that I wrote in the first year of lockdown.
“That very much is about being in a confined space but re-imagining what it’s like to be outside.
“There’s a lot of influence from nature and the outdoors in the new music.
“It’s made us appreciate.”
Lockdown materials
Calum says they’ll also be including some of the Dusgadh material that was worked on last year.
As featured in The Courier, Breabach teamed up with Scottish BAFTA-winning animator Cat Bruce to create a beautiful film and score based on Scottish folktale The Sea Maiden.
The film, called Dùsgadh (n. awakening), was accompanied by a virtual tour across the UK with Dundee Rep securing a spot.
“We’re including a little bit of Dusgadh as well because it still feels so fresh,” he says.
“We haven’t really had much of a chance to take that out on the road.”
Calum was happy to be involved in videoed performances during the trials and tribulations of lockdowns.
It was all about adapting and being creative, and they could be fulfilling in their own right, he says.
Live experience
However, it’s definitely not the same as feeling the energy of a live audience while performing on stage with his Breabach colleagues Megan Henderson (fiddle, vocals, step dance), James Lindsay (double bass, moog, percussion, vocals), Conal McDonagh (Highland/Uilleann bagpipes, whistle, flute, vocals) and Ewan Robertson (acoustic/electric guitar, vocals, cajon).
“When you get into a room with folk there’s interaction and there’s intimacy there that you just can’t get really from screens,” he says.
“Even when you are using a screen to speak to family – it’s important and it’s lovely but it’s just not the same thing. It’s not as organic or free flowing as when you are in a room together.
“I think on an emotional level as well as a musical level, playing to a live audience is really what it’s all about for me”.
Overseas influences
Based in Partick, Glasgow, it’s been a busy few months for Calum. Not only did he recently turn 40, he also became a father to daughter Ada in January.
Calum’s piping career began in Edmonton, Canada, at the age of nine under the instruction of Pipe Major Arnie Stone.
In 1991, Calum and his family moved to Monifieth where his feelings for traditional Scottish music deepened, inspired also by a long-standing piping tradition on his dad’s side of the family.
After leaving Monifieth High School, he moved to Glasgow.
In 2004, Calum graduated with honours from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (latterly Royal Scottish Conservatoire).
This marked the start of his career as both performer and music tutor in Scotland and in many other countries such as Jordan, Canada, Australia and throughout Europe.
Between 2004 and 2008 Calum was acting musical co-director/accompanist/tutor for the National Youth Pipe Band of Scotland.
This band was set up by the National Piping Centre to provide a platform for talented young pipers and drummers to push the boundaries of a pipe band stage performance.
Calum received two separate commissions to compose music for large ensembles in 2010. ‘Perception’ was written for The Gordon Duncan Experience.
‘Times Change’ was written for the internationally renowned Mr McFalls Chamber as part of the Distil Showcase 2010.
In 2010 Calum also released a debut solo album of his own work which crossed the genres of folk and funk – affectionately termed ‘Flunk’ by his all-singing, all-dancing, all-mental band, Mans Ruin.
Founding of Breabach
Breabach, meanwhile, are renowned for uniting deep roots in Highland and Island tradition with the innovative musical ferment of their Glasgow base.
They have released six increasingly acclaimed albums, while fuelling their creative appetites in collaborations with indigenous Australasian artists, Quebec’s Le Vent du Nord, and most recently as artists-in-residence at 2019’s Celtic Colours festival with Cape Bretoners, Beolach.
Their 16-year adventure has included live performances from Sydney Opera House to Central Park NY.
They have racked up an impressive array of accolades including five Scots Trad Music Awards, nominations as ‘Best Group’ in the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards and ‘European Album of the Year’ in The Songlines Music Awards.
‘Coming home’ to Tayside
Calum says that when Breabach play gigs in Tayside, it definitely feels like he’s “coming home”.
“I moved to Monifieth when I was in primary six,” he reflects, “so I did most of my schooling there and my lifelong friends are still in Monifieth and Dundee.
“When I get back and get to see a bunch of folk and catch up with them – everybody’s lives have kind of moved on in some way – it’s so valuable to catch up with them.
“And my folks are still staying in Monifieth as well, so it’s very much a trip home.”
When the tour ends in Milngavie on March 26, attention will turn to forthcoming trips to Denmark and Northern Ireland. It’ll be the first time they’ve travelled away in a while.
Calum describes the post-Brexit paperwork and additional costs now facing bands when they travel to Europe as “just crazy”.
It’s especially painful for struggling folk and independent musicians who never made much money from these kind of trips anyway.
He’s encouraged, however, by the broad fan base who now support their field of music.
Diverse audience
“I would describe folk music as holding a different meaning now to maybe 30 years ago,” he says.
“Perhaps it’s more ambiguous now.
“There’s a lot more cross-over and folk music can also be roots music which is a slightly different thing and maybe opens a few more creative doors now than it used to, which is great.
“The result of that is a much younger team of people getting involved and putting their stamp on what they do with roots music, wherever they are from.
“Also the audiences in turn become a bit more interested and attached to it because there’s a bit more currency than just being entirely traditional.
“That’s something we feel happens in our music. We love the old music and that’s certainly what keeps us all going.
“But we are still creative and writing our own material that’s inspired by old music.
“Any music that’s built around dance I think is in good shape.”
*Breabach play Perth Theatre on Friday March 25, www.horsecross.co.uk/whats-on/breabach-160402
