Soooooooo…Alice Allen and I have been working on some pretty exciting music by the amazing Eddie McGuire and the first single, Rant is released today and well, it’s quite a milestone for me, in more ways than one.

I first played Rant whilst studying for my PG Diploma in violin performance at the RNCM - Royal Northern College of Music and back then I was a confused wee fiddler in Breabach who didn’t know where she fitted in. I didn’t know how all of the violin and fiddle jigsaw pieces fitted together and whether furthering my technical abilities in such a way would be a good or bad move, ultimately. I remember that time vividly and it felt really tricky to navigate, figuring out my musical identity and style, note by note.

I genuinely don’t remember when everything clicked but fast forward a couple of decades and returning to this piece has felt like a bit of an epiphany! It makes sense to me now and I feel like I can just play this music without any judgement and most importantly, be myself. I’m very lucky!

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a mad piece and it’s probably the bravest I’ll ever be in terms of laying my playing bare, flaws and all, but somehow it just feels right to have made this recording now.

Eddie is a brilliant composer and it’s an honour to put this iconic piece of Scottish fiddling repertoire firmly on the digital music map. So, give it a whirl if you have a spare 9 minutes, preferably on Bandcamp and you can also enjoy the super-cool artwork from the crazy versatile and talented, Somhairle Macdonald.