Skerryvore Singer Previews NMU Concert

Scottish folk-rock group Skerryvore will return to Northern Michigan University on Thursday, March. 14. The band's frontman Alec Dalglish participated in a Zoom interview to preview the concert and provide some background on the group. Skerryvore is a three-time winner of Scotland's "Live Act of the Year" award and performs for audiences worldwide.

The band has reinvented traditional music for a modern, multicultural audience. It is named after Scotland's largest lighthouse, which sits about 11 miles southwest of Tiree, the most westerly island of the Inner Hebrides. This is where Skerryvore originated 19 years ago, with Dalglish among its four founding members.

"Fraser [West] and I were from central Scotland and met the Gillespie brothers while we were on holiday on Tiree," said Dalglish, the group's lead vocalist, guitarist and songwriter. "Our musical backgrounds were different, but we became friends and started jamming together, starting with traditional Scottish tunes and then making it up as we went along. We did it for fun, not really expecting it to go anywhere. We started to play gigs at weddings and other functions, and spread out from there. It's been a long and steady road for us, but jumped more over the last four or five years as we've gotten some wider acclaim."

Skerryvore's latest release, Tempus, climbed to No. 1 in the Official Scottish Album and UK Folk Album charts. "You & I," the second track written by Dalglish, spent six weeks on the BBC Radio 2 Playlist.

"I generally come up with a song by myself first with the music and lyrics all together," said Dalglish in explaining the creative process. "Most of my songs that I write for the band have an instrumental break built in for the guys to play. Once I've got a good form of the song together, I'll take it to the guys and see if it's something that interests them. And by that point, I'll already probably have made a demo of the thing in my own studio. If they like it, we'll work out arrangements for the other instruments and add more parts."

Skerryvore boasts a diverse mix of instruments that blend seamlessly during their high-energy shows. There are two bagpipes, a fiddle, accordion, bass, drums, a keyboard and whistles. The group's repertoire ranges from love songs, including the most-requested "Take My Hand"-a popular backdrop for first dances at weddings in Scotland-to rollicking dance numbers.

"It's a fusion of very different musical tastes that combines each person's preference, but we call it folk rock because that crosses the boundaries and explains it in a couple of words." Dalglish said. "There are pop and rock elements, but it's very important to us that we have the traditional Scottish theme underlying it as well. For people who don't have tickets yet, I would say don't let the bagpipes and fiddles fool you because it's probably not going to be what you'd expect. We promise to try our best to make you have a great night and enjoy yourselves. We like to party as much as anybody else."

Dalglish estimated that Skerryvore began touring the United States about a dozen years ago. He said the band has developed a loyal fan base here and their number of gigs here has increased over the years. They've also made repeat visits to several cities, including Marquette. The NMU concert is one of 10 stops on the U.S. portion of their tour. They will also visit the U.K., Ireland, Germany and Denmark this year.

"We could just play in Scotland and leave it at that, which would be fine, but we had the ambition to create a bigger market so we could share our unique style of music with a wider audience. We love touring in the U.S. It's great to see new places and meet new people. We've always been a band that enjoys socializing and speaking to the audience afterward to see what they thought of the concert."

The band members also host whisky tasting events featuring stories and song before some of their shows. One could not let Dalglish disconnect from the virtual interview before asking which Scotch whisky he recommends. He said he prefers "smooth, sweeter" varieties from the Speyside region-home to about 50 distilleries-over "peated, smoky" types.

Skerryvore's concert at NMU begins at 7:30 p.m. in Forest Roberts Theatre. It is part of the annual Winter Roots Festival co-sponsored by the Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center, Hiawatha Traditional Music Festival and Ore Dock Brewing Company.

Tickets are available at nmu.universitytickets.com. Prices are: general public, $20 in advance and $22 at the door; NMU students and those under 18, $10 in advance and $12 at the door.