Young talent Graham brings it back home

EVERY year the finalists in the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician competition head out on a tour that makes a point of visiting the finalists’ home towns.

This year’s tour begins on Monday, bringing former Culloden Academy pupil Graham Mackenzie back home for the show at Croy Hall.

Joining him will be this year’s other finalists on the Traditional Music and Song Association of Scotland (TMSA) Young Trad Tour: fellow fiddlers Rona Wilkie from the north Highlands and Hannah Fisher from Dunkeld, pianist Anrew Dunlop from Argyll, accordionist Grant McFarlane from Paisley, piper and whistle player Scott Wood from Erskine and 2013 Young Traditional Musician of the Year, accordionist Paddy Callaghan from Glasgow.

Mackenzie is no stranger to winning awards himself, having already won the inaugural Highland Young Musician of the Year title, the Scottish Fiddle Championships at junior and senior level, the Invitational Masters Competition in Oban and was a runner-up in the Glenfiddich Fiddle Championships held in Blair Castle. He also, with his younger brother Robbie, collected the best Celtic Folk Group trophy at the International Eistedffod in Wales and is the youngest ever winner of the Danny Kyle Award for new talent at Glasgow’s Celtic Connections Festival.

Getting the seven Young Trad finalists together had not been easy, Mackenzie pointed out, as individually there were all very busy, but as well as this month’s short tour, the group have played together at Jura Music Festival and Dougie MacLean’s Perthshire Amber.

They also found time to record a CD at Castlesound Studios in Pencaitland

Mackenzie has been enjoying the opportunity to play with his erstwhile title rivals.

"We’ve definitely gelled as we’ve gone on," he said.

"It’s a very diverse set of musicians. A couple of us come from really strong classical traditions. A few others were studying traditional music at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Paddy Callaghan, who won, comes from a background where you pick up tunes by ear.

"It’s very different from how I learned. It’s a lot to take in when you are trying to learn material quite fast and everyone has different learning techniques."

The musical backgrounds of the seven finalists also vary. Callaghan, for example, comes from a background in Irish traditional music, though he also plays with Rockabilly/Cajun band The Chihuahuas.

Fortunately Mackenzie is not unfamiliar with Irish music himself.

"In Manchester there’s a strong Irish community, so I was quite involved in the Irish side of it when I was studying there," he explained.

"The rest of the musicians on the tour come from a Scottish traditional background, but it’s nice to have both.

"It’s been really hard work to get everything together considering the rehearsal time we have had, but we have really enjoyed the whole process of recording the CD and doing the gigs. I’m sure we would all love to continue doing something together, but it all comes down to how busy we are."

Having completed a degree in classical music at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, 21-year old Mackenzie is now studying for a Masters in traditional music at the Royal Conservatoire in Glasgow.

"I’m really enjoying being in Glasgow where traditional music is really at the forefront of things," he said, although he acknowledged that the shift in focus from classical to traditional did involve a different way of thinking.

"It’s hard to describe. When I was down in Manchester doing the classical course, there was more traditional music than I thought there would be," he continued.

"There were a few other traditional musicians on my course, so I managed to do a few gigs with them. I knew I wanted to do more traditional music and in Glasgow I knew I would get that. But classical music is very much driven by practice, where traditional music is about picking up on certain things that other people do and a lot of learning comes from playing with each other. In that sense it’s a different mindset for learning.

"Because I have just started, a lot of my focus has to be on traditional music, but having done a four year classical degree, I wouldn’t want to just give up that side. Maybe not right now, but I’d love to continue it. I have the option of taking classical violin lessons as well in Glasgow and that was something that was really important for me."

However, Mackenzie’s focus will be firmly on the traditional in January when he returns to the stage at Celtic Connections to share the bill with two of Scotland’s more established fiddle players in Jenna Reid of Blazin’ Fiddles and Session A9’s Gordon Gunn at St Andrew’s in the Square on Friday 17th January.

"I’m really, really looking forward to that, playing with two really terrific fiddle players," Mackenzie said.

• Graham Mackenzie is part of the TMSA Young Trad Tour, which begins on Monday 25th November at Croy Hall, even miles east of Inverness, at 7.30pm. Tickets are £8 and £4 and available by phoning 01463 794823. The 2013 TMSA Young Trad Tour CD will be available on the night.