Edinburgh Tradfest Artists to celebrate 1 May with new version of Wild Mountain Thyme

Left to right from the top: Eliza Carthy, Ali Hutton, Chris Stout, Ciorstaidh Chaimbeul, Daoirí Farrell, James Mackintosh, Kaela Rowan, Mike Vass, Nuala Kennedy & A J Roach, Rachel Newton, Sam Sweeney, Signy Jakobsdóttir

Edinburgh Tradfest will release a brand new recording and video of the popular Scottish/Irish song Wild Mountain Thyme on Friday (1 May 2020) – the day when the festival would have kicked off this year. Watch now >>

The 36 artists included on the recording include acclaimed folk musician and this year’s festival headliner Eliza Carthy. Also featured are Fiona Hunter (Malinky), Rachel Newton (The Shee), James Mackintosh (Shooglenifty), five leading Shetland fiddlers including Catriona Macdonald and Chris Stout, accordion player Phil Alexander (Moishe’s Bagel), and Irish folk-singer Daoirí Farrell among others.

The artists hail from Scotland, Ireland, England, California, Nova Scotia and Norway and recorded and videoed themselves at home for the project, under the expert guidance of Traditional Artist in Residence (University of Edinburgh) Mike Vass, who arranged and produced the recording.

Taking on the enormous task of editing all the videos into a well-synced whole is Edinburgh videomaker Ruth Barrie from Waltzer Films.

The song was selected by Jane-Ann Purdy, Producer of Edinburgh Tradfest and one of the founders of The Soundhouse Organisation, and Dr Lori Watson from the Department of Celtic and Scottish Studies at the University of Edinburgh; a key partner of the Festival.

Jane-Ann Purdy of Edinburgh Tradfest said:

“We were looking for an uplifting Scottish folk song with a summer vibe, no easy task! Wild Mountain Thyme is very popular and, like many other traditional tunes and songs, is claimed by both Scotland and Ireland. It’s also well known in North America and around the globe with many, many versions recorded over the years. However, ours is the first to include a mass band from Scotland, Ireland, England, California, Nova Scotia and Norway! We are hugely grateful to everyone who has united to create this new recording and hope that it will bring some joy to music fans worldwide, during these difficult times.”

Mike Vass (Traditional Artist in Residence at University of Edinburgh) said:

“This was quite an unusual but amazing project to work on. Like everyone else I was gutted to have my Tradfest performances cancelled but this has been a really positive thing to put my energy into whilst confined to my Glasgow flat.

“Last week I watched in awe as the emails with vocals and instrumental parts came flooding in from around the world. I ended up with 72 tracks to mix, by far the biggest thing I’ve ever produced. It’s a behemoth!

”One of the main challenges was that not everyone has state of the art equipment to work with so recording was handled on everything from smart phones in front rooms to professional quality kit in sound-proofed booths. Making everyone’s recordings sound like the belong together took some work but I’m really happy with how it turned out. It’s a big sound, and very joyful.” 

The video will be released at noon on 1 May on YouTube and social media.

The release of the recording will also kickstart the festival’s fundraising for 2021 via givey.com/edinburghtradfest2021 Anyone donating more than £5 will receive an MP3 of the track via email.

The dates planned for Edinburgh Tradfest 2021 are 30 April to 10 May.

The full list of artists appearing on Edinburgh Tradfest’s Wild Mountain Thyme is:

Clarsàch:

Rachel Newton (The Shee)

Pipes:

Malin Lewis

Mandolin:

Laura-Beth Salter (Kinnaris Quintet)

Guitar:

Kaela Rowan (Shooglenifty)

Jenn Butterworth (Kinnaris Quintet)

Pedal steel:

Ross Martin (Dàimh)

Banjo:

Evie Ladin

Bass:

Keith Terry

Cittern:

Aaron Jones (Old Blind Dogs)

Bouzouki/harmonica:

Steve Byrne (Malinky)

Drums/percussion:

James Mackintosh (Shooglenifty)

Donald Hay (Old Blind Dogs)

Signy Jakobsdóttir (The Shee)

On lead vocals:

Eliza Carthy

Fiona Hunter (Malinky)

Steve Byrne (Malinky)

Mike Vass (Malinky)

Daoirí Farrell

Nuala Kennedy

A J Roach

Olivia Ross (The Shee)

Kaela Rowan (Shooglenifty)

J P Cormier

Ciorstaidh Chaimbeul (Fèis Rois Ceilidh Trail)

Fiddles:

Holli Scott (Fèis Rois Ceilidh Trail)

Fiona MacAskill (Kinnaris Quintet)

Aileen Reid (Kinnaris Quintet)

Laura Wilkie (Kinnaris Quintet)

Eilidh Shaw (Shooglenifty)

Sam Sweeney

Catriona Macdonald (Shetland Springs)

Chris Stout (Shetland Springs)

Kevin Henderson (Shetland Springs)

Ross Couper (Shetland Springs)

Margaret Robertson (Shetland Springs)

Mike Vass (Malinky)

Accordion:

Phil Alexander (Moishe’s Bagel)

Whistle/flute:

Ali Hutton (Old Blind Dogs)

Mark Dunlop (Malinky)

Nuala Kennedy

Thanks to Creative Scotland, the William Grant Foundation and the City of Edinburgh Council for supporting this video.