Tannas (Gaelic music group)
Sean V. Kelley
I recently purchased Tannas "Ru-ra" and Tannas "Oighreachd".
I'd like to see them write more of their own music in
Gaelic rather than relying so much on traditional songs.
I think that is one thing that sets Runrig apart from
other bands that sing in Irish Gaelic or Scots Gaelic.
But what is the level of fluency of the two women,
Sandra MacKay and Doreen MacKay?
Sean
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sean V. Kelley O rhyfeddod per yw bywyd
ske...@primenet.com a ni yw'r pererinion!
Craig Cockburn
Ann an sgriobhainn <slrn5h3gjh....@usr10.primenet.com>, sgriobh
"Sean V. Kelley" <ske...@primenet.com>
>I recently purchased Tannas "Ru-ra" and Tannas "Oighreachd".
>
>I'd like to see them write more of their own music in
>Gaelic rather than relying so much on traditional songs.
>I think that is one thing that sets Runrig apart from
>other bands that sing in Irish Gaelic or Scots Gaelic.
>But what is the level of fluency of the two women,
>Sandra MacKay and Doreen MacKay?
>
Sandra and Doreen are reasonably fluent, I was speaking to Sandra at the
Aidrie Mod
--
Craig Cockburn ("coburn"), Du\n E/ideann, Alba. (Edinburgh, Scotland)
http://www.scot.demon.co.uk/ E-mail: cr...@scot.demon.co.uk
Sgri\obh thugam 'sa Gha\idhlig ma 'se do thoil e.
sdh
Ah, but when are they going to have a new album out? that's
what I'd like to know. If I knew an e-mail address for KRL
or Tarla, I'd ask myself.
I'm surprised they aren't recommended more to newcomers;
surely their music is some of the most accessible, and
Ru-ra is one of the best CDs I own: they could have named
it Gaelic for "Promise Fulfilled."
As long as I'm being opinionated, I think the future of the
group may lie in their friendships and acquaintances far and
wide. Julia and Malcolm's presence are my best argument, not
to mention Donald Shaw's production. Imagine an album produced
by Catherine-Ann MacPhee and/or Jim Sutherland 8v)
Craig Cockburn
Ann an sgriobhainn <3311E8...@vcnet.com>, sgriobh sdh
<s...@vcnet.com>
>Ah, but when are they going to have a new album out? that's
>what I'd like to know. If I knew an e-mail address for KRL
>or Tarla, I'd ask myself.
>
>I'm surprised they aren't recommended more to newcomers;
>surely their music is some of the most accessible, and
>Ru-ra is one of the best CDs I own: they could have named
>it Gaelic for "Promise Fulfilled."
>
>As long as I'm being opinionated, I think the future of the
>group may lie in their friendships and acquaintances far and
>wide. Julia and Malcolm's presence are my best argument, not
>to mention Donald Shaw's production. Imagine an album produced
>by Catherine-Ann MacPhee and/or Jim Sutherland 8v)
the band are currently going through some personnel changes - I don't
know when or if there's going to be a third album. I really like this
album and by coincidence was listening to it last night - here's what I
wrote about it 2 years ago:
From cr...@scot.demon.co.uk Sat, 09 Sep 95 18:00:25 GMT
Path: scot.demon.co.uk!craig
From: cr...@scot.demon.co.uk (Craig Cockburn)
To: mail...@news.demon.co.uk
Cc: gael...@irlearn.ucd.ie
Bcc:
Newsgroups: rec.music.celtic,soc.culture.celtic,soc.culture.scottish,rec
.music.folk
Subject: Recommended new album "Ru Ra" by Tannas
Message-ID: <810668...@scot.demon.co.uk>
Date: Sat, 09 Sep 95 17:36:07 GMT
Organization: Mo dhachaidh, Edinburgh
Reply-To: cr...@scot.demon.co.uk
Followup-To: rec.music.celtic
X-Newsreader: Demon Internet Simple News v1.30
Lines: 69
<English follows Gaelic>
Fhuair mi an clar ur aig am buidheann ciuil Tannas o chionn goirid, a
Dun Eideann. Tha e gle mhath gu dearbh, agus beagan coltach ri
Capercaillie deich bliadna air ais. Tha an ceol air gle bheothach agus
tha seineadarain math da-riribh. 'S toil leam na orain air cuideach -
tha mi toilichte ri orain ur faicinn air.
I got the new record from the Edinburgh based Gaelic group Tannas
recently. It's exceptionally good, and a bit like Capercaillie 10 years
ago (two of the current Capercaillie line up are on the album). The
music is very lively and the singing is also very good. The choice of
songs is also good - not to many "Gaelic top 40" and a few new songs
too:
Track listing:
1a Orain/Song: Mairead nan Cuiread (Tha mulad)
b Fonn/tune : Bob Parson's Strathspey
2a Orain: O ho na ribeannan
b Fonn: Sean Truibhas
c Orain: Faca tu saor an t-sabhaidh
3a Fonn: Lucy Cassidy
b orain: Ruidhleadh Cailleach
c Fonn: an drochaid chluiteach
d Fonn: the smith of killiechassie
4 orain: Nach fhreagair thu Cairistiona
5 Orain: cum 'ur gealladh (new song by world famous piper Alan
MacDonald)
Side Two:
1 orain: 'S i Morag
2 orain: Coill' an fhasaich
3a orain: 'n uair bha mi na mo mhaighdinn
b orain: 'fhearr mar a bha mi 'n uiridh
4 Fonn: Mrs Mary Stitt
5 orain: Caillte a chaoidh (new song by Fred Morrison of Clan
Alba/Capercaillie)
Produced by Donald Shaw
Guest musicians include Donald Shaw (Capercaillie), Fred Morrison
(Capercaillie/
Clan Alba)
Full lyrics included in Gaelic and English
Order from:
Klub Records Ltd
9 Watt Road
Hillington
Glasgow
G52 4RY
Ref: ZCLDL1231 (album is on the Lochshore label)
Might be useful to mention the Internet when ordering, or enclosing a
copy of this message to get the record company on-line!
Tannas are:
Sandra & Doreen MacKay (vocals) both from Lewis
Julia Legge - fiddle, backing vocals
Malcolm Stitt - guitar, bouzouki , highland pipes, whistles
Their first album was good but this is a great step forward.
sdh
Ah ... hmm ... I suppose the best to hope for is that all
the (former?) band members continue in their art/careers
in some capacity.
The personel changes between "Oighreachd" and "Ru-ra" did
not dismantle the band's basic identity, perhaps current or
further changes will not either.
As much as I liked and admired Malcolm's contributions to
"Ru-ra" (I suspect Mr. Stitt could do back-flips in a hurricane,
spot-on, musically speaking), I would be more ... sad ... if
changes involved Julia or Doreen. I won't presume to comment
on the unique combination of Sandra and Doreen's work together,
but I will say I feel the integration of Julia's fiddle playing
in sets with the songs was sublime.
This brings to mind a question: I saw somewhere on the web
that some members of Tannas played in an earlier band called
"Fire in the Glen". If so, what was the lineup in that incarnation?
Did they record, and if so, on what label?
Last but not least, I read Sandra appeared at the Celtic Connections
festival
as part of a group (?) called Scgatha (sp?). I believe Malcolm did too,
along with several other Scots notables. Are they recording?
Ah, nothing like a quick look at the past, near and far, to put things
in perspective 8v)
Craig Cockburn
Ann an sgriobhainn <33134F...@vcnet.com>, sgriobh sdh
<s...@vcnet.com>
>This brings to mind a question: I saw somewhere on the web
>that some members of Tannas played in an earlier band called
>"Fire in the Glen". If so, what was the lineup in that incarnation?
>Did they record, and if so, on what label?
>
album. As Fire in the Glen, they were the winners of the world's first
ceilidh band championships. This was 93 or 94 and they changed their
name a few months later not long before the first Tannas album.
>Last but not least, I read Sandra appeared at the Celtic Connections
>festival
>as part of a group (?) called Scgatha (sp?). I believe Malcolm did too,
>along with several other Scots notables. Are they recording?
>
Dunno. These people mostly got together because of a course Proiseact
nan Ealan (the National Gaelic Arts project - same people who run the
Scottish Ceolas course) ran. This course was for people wanting to work
in the music business and the group previewed at last year's Edinburgh
Fringe. I think I wrote a review in the Fringe WWW pages of that
concert.
Dominic Morley
In message <3311E8...@vcnet.com>
sdh <s...@vcnet.com> writes:
> I think the future of the group may lie in their friendships and
>acquaintances far and wide. Julia and Malcolm's presence are my best
>argument, not to mention Donald Shaw's production. Imagine an album
>produced by Catherine-Ann MacPhee and/or Jim Sutherland 8v)
>>I was speaking to Sandra at the Aidrie Mod
I may be wrong but I am told that Sandra is the only one left with
Julia and Malcolm both on to pastures new. Sandra has got a new set
of Musicians so I am told.
sdh
Groan - uh, wait a minute - last I heard, Malcolm was
also a member of Deaf Shepherd. Is he still? Now, I
have also read they have a very good fiddler, but
given they already have two good pipers, perhaps another
fiddler might be a step forward? Baseless speculation
of course, but an easy change to follow.
I guess what really gives me pause is a certain ignorance
on my part about how an artist may gain (or in this case,
lose) the minimum visibility necessary to sustain an
audience. I feel like a fish petitioning a hook-maker
for a surer barb - what's the emoticon for crossed eyes
and a smile? Maybe we could start a Deanta thread like
this one. Heh heh heh heh ...
For a CD showing how artists can re-crystalize into
a new gem, check out Fernhill's "Ca Nos". Really
impressive stuff. Really really really ...
Scott MacKinnon
> Klub Records Ltd
> 9 Watt Road
> Hillington
> Glasgow
> G52 4RY
> Ref: ZCLDL1231 (album is on the Lochshore label)
>
> Might be useful to mention the Internet when ordering, or enclosing a
> copy of this message to get the record company on-line!
>
>I recently got the KRL e-mail and web link addresses but I've yet to check them out. Only thing I can say is the availability of record label internet info. is woefully incomplete, and the Dirty Linnen address list don't do it for me! Here's KRL...<e-mail: k....@dial.pipex.com> web: <http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/k.r.l/>
Good Luck!
Tannas are:
> Sandra & Doreen MacKay (vocals) both from Lewis
> Julia Legge - fiddle, backing vocals
> Malcolm Stitt - guitar, bouzouki , highland pipes, whistles
>
> Their first album was good but this is a great step forward.
>
GRosson250
I understand that TANNAS is currently in or about to go into the studio
for another recording on Lochshore. I also understand that the lineup has
changed again, but is as strong or stronger than before.