Highland Wolf
Muirsical Conversation with Duncan Chisholm
In 2010 Celtic rock band Wolfstone were celebrating twenty-one years of performing and recording with no signs of stopping anytime soon.
Duncan Chisholm, a founder member of the band and one of Scotland's finest fiddle players, is not just an integral part of Wolfstone, he's also sought after by other musicians in a touring capacity or to feature as a guest musician.
Duncan also records and performs as a solo artist and 2010 saw the release of his fourth solo album, Canaich.
Like the three albums before it Canaich features a musical soundscape – and landscape – far removed from the high energy performances and releases usually associated with Wolfstone.
Wolfstone is a large part of Duncan Chisholm's musical life but his recent solo works are, by their very nature and content, a part of Duncan Chisholm.
FabricationsHQ caught up with Duncan shortly after Wolfstone's performance at the Festival Theatre in the Perthshire town of Pitlochry, part of the band's 21st Anniversary shows.
And that's exactly where we started, Wolfstone and those twenty-one years...
Introduction: The Birth of the Litter
Ross Muir: So, Duncan. Wolfstone. Twenty one years. And counting.
How the hell did that happen?
Duncan Chisholm: (laughs) Well, the funny thing is it started out more as a an album project. Initially it was myself, Stuart Eaglesham and his brother Struan, and at this stage we weren't full time musicians. Stuart was studying in Aberdeen and I was still working in a bank.
It was a good time to record a Celtic/ folk rock album though as Runrig had paved the way and were making an impact in other areas such as England, Denmark, Germany... and Capercaillie were coming through.
The album, Wolfstone, which isn't available any more, was recorded at Rowan Recording Studios in Ross-shire and put out in the summer of 1989, around the time we played our first big gig at the Highland Traditional Muisc Festival in Dingwall.
It was also a good time to be playing in the north of Scotland because the Village Hall music scene in the Highlands was having a resurgence, and we found we could pack them in and get crowds of two hundred, three hundred, each night.
We were playing solely in Scotland, but it was a great time and we knew this was what we wanted to do.
And by 1990 we were actually making more money from it than the day jobs, but unfortunately David Foster...
RM: ...who was involved in the original recordings as producer, arranger and playing on the tracks?
DC: That's right, yes. But by 1990 David had different ideas, or wanted to take it in a different direction, maybe. Anyway, there was a clear parting of the ways.
II: The Wolf Pack
RM: Unleashed, released in 1991, was a significant album for the band.
DC: Yes, I'm very proud of that album and again the timing was right.
We had signed a deal with Iona Records and friend and musician Phil Cunningham produced the album. He helped us enormously with the music.
And singer songwriter Ivan Drever joined the band. Suddenly we had moved from predominately instrumentals to a vocal and instruments band.
Ivan made an immediate impact. He's a great songwriter, a good friend these last twenty years and we still work together. We also added other, permanent musicians to the band and that summer got the support slot at Runrig's Loch Lomond concert, at their invitation.
If I remember correctly Unleashed came out right after that. The next thing you know we're playing in Glasgow, at the Queens Hall in Edinburgh and touring across the entire country.
RM: There is no doubt the Runrig support slot was a significant factor in the bands progress, but this wasn't riding on their coat-tails. You don't play sell-out shows across the country if you don't have the material or musicality to back it up.
DC: Oh that's right, I agree, but that show opened up doors for us.
Muirsical Conversation with Duncan Chisholm
In 2010 Celtic rock band Wolfstone were celebrating twenty-one years of performing and recording with no signs of stopping anytime soon.
Duncan Chisholm, a founder member of the band and one of Scotland's finest fiddle players, is not just an integral part of Wolfstone, he's also sought after by other musicians in a touring capacity or to feature as a guest musician.
Duncan also records and performs as a solo artist and 2010 saw the release of his fourth solo album, Canaich.
Like the three albums before it Canaich features a musical soundscape – and landscape – far removed from the high energy performances and releases usually associated with Wolfstone.
Wolfstone is a large part of Duncan Chisholm's musical life but his recent solo works are, by their very nature and content, a part of Duncan Chisholm.
FabricationsHQ caught up with Duncan shortly after Wolfstone's performance at the Festival Theatre in the Perthshire town of Pitlochry, part of the band's 21st Anniversary shows.
And that's exactly where we started, Wolfstone and those twenty-one years...
Introduction: The Birth of the Litter
Ross Muir: So, Duncan. Wolfstone. Twenty one years. And counting.
How the hell did that happen?
Duncan Chisholm: (laughs) Well, the funny thing is it started out more as a an album project. Initially it was myself, Stuart Eaglesham and his brother Struan, and at this stage we weren't full time musicians. Stuart was studying in Aberdeen and I was still working in a bank.
It was a good time to record a Celtic/ folk rock album though as Runrig had paved the way and were making an impact in other areas such as England, Denmark, Germany... and Capercaillie were coming through.
The album, Wolfstone, which isn't available any more, was recorded at Rowan Recording Studios in Ross-shire and put out in the summer of 1989, around the time we played our first big gig at the Highland Traditional Muisc Festival in Dingwall.
It was also a good time to be playing in the north of Scotland because the Village Hall music scene in the Highlands was having a resurgence, and we found we could pack them in and get crowds of two hundred, three hundred, each night.
We were playing solely in Scotland, but it was a great time and we knew this was what we wanted to do.
And by 1990 we were actually making more money from it than the day jobs, but unfortunately David Foster...
RM: ...who was involved in the original recordings as producer, arranger and playing on the tracks?
DC: That's right, yes. But by 1990 David had different ideas, or wanted to take it in a different direction, maybe. Anyway, there was a clear parting of the ways.
II: The Wolf Pack
RM: Unleashed, released in 1991, was a significant album for the band.
DC: Yes, I'm very proud of that album and again the timing was right.
We had signed a deal with Iona Records and friend and musician Phil Cunningham produced the album. He helped us enormously with the music.
And singer songwriter Ivan Drever joined the band. Suddenly we had moved from predominately instrumentals to a vocal and instruments band.
Ivan made an immediate impact. He's a great songwriter, a good friend these last twenty years and we still work together. We also added other, permanent musicians to the band and that summer got the support slot at Runrig's Loch Lomond concert, at their invitation.
If I remember correctly Unleashed came out right after that. The next thing you know we're playing in Glasgow, at the Queens Hall in Edinburgh and touring across the entire country.
RM: There is no doubt the Runrig support slot was a significant factor in the bands progress, but this wasn't riding on their coat-tails. You don't play sell-out shows across the country if you don't have the material or musicality to back it up.
DC: Oh that's right, I agree, but that show opened up doors for us.
The fiddle Unleashed: "I'm very proud of that album... the timing was right"
RM: From Unleashed you went from strength to strength, album to album, from The Chase to Year of the Dog. 'Dog' is a particularly strong album.
DC: I agree. Year of the Dog is a great album and it was a great time, too.
That was 1994. We had signed with Green Linnet Records, an American label, and piper Stevie Saint joined later that year.
RM: Interestingly, around this time I was in California, primarily the Bay Area, and I was telling everyone I could about Wolfstone. I was then made aware that not only were the CD's already available over there, they were also finding their way to the specialist shops that sell World Music, as African, Asian, Celtic and other ethnic musical forms are sometimes described.
DC: You lived in America?
RM: No, but this was back when my wife Anne and I took a lot of vacations in California. I had picked up on Wolfstone when Unleashed was released, so to see that album, The Chase and Year of the Dog over there was great – but it was sort of a double take! (laughs).
DC: That was through Green Linnet. We started to tour out there in 1994, and Canada; we've done over a dozen tours in the States. We get great receptions on the West Coast, San Francisco...
RM: ...that all ties in. I couldn't recall if my first sightings of the albums were during the '93 or '94 trips. Clearly it was 1994.
Year of the Dog is a cracking album, but when I'm asked about the band or where a Wolfstone virgin should start I don't recommend it first, or the compilation Pick of the Litter or even the live album. I always go with The Half Tail.
DC: Oh, The Half Tail was a wonderful time and it's probably my favourite, too. When I think of the songs on that album, Heart & Soul, Gillies... it described perfectly where we were at that time. It was produced by Chris Harley, Year of the Dog was the last Wolfstone album produced by Phil Cunningham.
Phil did a great job, but I wanted a different production value and we recorded The Half Tail at the CaVa Recording studios in Glasgow.
RM: Great tour that followed as well.
DC: It was, and that half dozen or so years from Unleashed to The Half Tail and for about a year after, was a great period for the band.
Heart & Soul (from The Half Tail)
RM: From Unleashed you went from strength to strength, album to album, from The Chase to Year of the Dog. 'Dog' is a particularly strong album.
DC: I agree. Year of the Dog is a great album and it was a great time, too.
That was 1994. We had signed with Green Linnet Records, an American label, and piper Stevie Saint joined later that year.
RM: Interestingly, around this time I was in California, primarily the Bay Area, and I was telling everyone I could about Wolfstone. I was then made aware that not only were the CD's already available over there, they were also finding their way to the specialist shops that sell World Music, as African, Asian, Celtic and other ethnic musical forms are sometimes described.
DC: You lived in America?
RM: No, but this was back when my wife Anne and I took a lot of vacations in California. I had picked up on Wolfstone when Unleashed was released, so to see that album, The Chase and Year of the Dog over there was great – but it was sort of a double take! (laughs).
DC: That was through Green Linnet. We started to tour out there in 1994, and Canada; we've done over a dozen tours in the States. We get great receptions on the West Coast, San Francisco...
RM: ...that all ties in. I couldn't recall if my first sightings of the albums were during the '93 or '94 trips. Clearly it was 1994.
Year of the Dog is a cracking album, but when I'm asked about the band or where a Wolfstone virgin should start I don't recommend it first, or the compilation Pick of the Litter or even the live album. I always go with The Half Tail.
DC: Oh, The Half Tail was a wonderful time and it's probably my favourite, too. When I think of the songs on that album, Heart & Soul, Gillies... it described perfectly where we were at that time. It was produced by Chris Harley, Year of the Dog was the last Wolfstone album produced by Phil Cunningham.
Phil did a great job, but I wanted a different production value and we recorded The Half Tail at the CaVa Recording studios in Glasgow.
RM: Great tour that followed as well.
DC: It was, and that half dozen or so years from Unleashed to The Half Tail and for about a year after, was a great period for the band.
Heart & Soul (from The Half Tail)
III: Lean Years
RM: Following The Half Tail and the subsequent tour there was a dip in the band's fortunes...
DC: Yes. Struan left later in 1996 and by 1998 Ivan had left. The core was myself, Stuart and Wayne MacKenzie [the band's bass player since Year of The Dog]. Things happen, and I don't blame anyone, but (pauses)... wrong decisions with management, touring places at the wrong times – we were in Kazakhstan when we probably should have been in Scandinavia – working parts of Europe when we should have been concentrating elsewhere, perhaps. 1998 to 2001 was a low period for the band.
RM: Today Wolfstone have a nice, but relatively small, piece of the musical pie with a loyal fan base, solid string of album releases and are a strong festival attraction across Europe. But Wolfstone should have a bigger slice of that pie.
Those "wrong decisions" and the "low period" you describe are clearly part of that problem. Would you accept that?
DC: Yes, I think that's true, but I don't regret any of what happened or how it happened, because these things do happen.
RM: Well, that's rock 'n' roll, baby. You're not the first or last to suffer such problems and you're in the company of about 90% of the pop or rock acts out there.
It's the nature of the beast, Duncan.
DC: (laughs) No, you're right, nature of the beast.
RM: And it's not as if you weren't delivering decent product. Seven, released in 1999, is another great Wolfstone album and one of my favourites.
DC: Seven has some great songs and I'm proud or that one, too. But then I can honestly say that there is not one album where I've come out of the studio after completion and regretted something we've done, or been disappointed in what we produced. But it was a difficult time and it would be 2001, 2002, before there was... almost a fresh start.
RM: A 21st century Wolfstone reboot?
DC: Yes, you could say that. A recovery, certainly.
RM: Before looking at that Wolfstone recovery, there is one other Wolfstone studio album from the nineties we haven't mentioned, 1998's This Strange Place.
It's certainly different, it's a lot lighter and it's interesting because Stuart doesn't seem to have contributed to it?
DC: No, and neither did I! (laughs). That was actually an album recorded in 1997 by Ivan and Wayne and it should have been released as Drever MacKenzie.
But this was right in the middle of the period where we were having difficulties, which included issues with Green Linnett. We were still contracted to do another record and we ended up with that album having the Wolfstone name on it.
I contributed to it, but I spent no more than two hours in the studio performing my fiddle parts (laughs). And Stuart wasn't near it!
RM: Well that explains a great deal, because it always sounded to me like an Ivan Drever solo album backed by Wolfstone. Turns out I'm doing Wayne a dis-service.
DC: Yes, it was always meant to be a project by the two lads.
Brave Boys (from Seven)
RM: Following The Half Tail and the subsequent tour there was a dip in the band's fortunes...
DC: Yes. Struan left later in 1996 and by 1998 Ivan had left. The core was myself, Stuart and Wayne MacKenzie [the band's bass player since Year of The Dog]. Things happen, and I don't blame anyone, but (pauses)... wrong decisions with management, touring places at the wrong times – we were in Kazakhstan when we probably should have been in Scandinavia – working parts of Europe when we should have been concentrating elsewhere, perhaps. 1998 to 2001 was a low period for the band.
RM: Today Wolfstone have a nice, but relatively small, piece of the musical pie with a loyal fan base, solid string of album releases and are a strong festival attraction across Europe. But Wolfstone should have a bigger slice of that pie.
Those "wrong decisions" and the "low period" you describe are clearly part of that problem. Would you accept that?
DC: Yes, I think that's true, but I don't regret any of what happened or how it happened, because these things do happen.
RM: Well, that's rock 'n' roll, baby. You're not the first or last to suffer such problems and you're in the company of about 90% of the pop or rock acts out there.
It's the nature of the beast, Duncan.
DC: (laughs) No, you're right, nature of the beast.
RM: And it's not as if you weren't delivering decent product. Seven, released in 1999, is another great Wolfstone album and one of my favourites.
DC: Seven has some great songs and I'm proud or that one, too. But then I can honestly say that there is not one album where I've come out of the studio after completion and regretted something we've done, or been disappointed in what we produced. But it was a difficult time and it would be 2001, 2002, before there was... almost a fresh start.
RM: A 21st century Wolfstone reboot?
DC: Yes, you could say that. A recovery, certainly.
RM: Before looking at that Wolfstone recovery, there is one other Wolfstone studio album from the nineties we haven't mentioned, 1998's This Strange Place.
It's certainly different, it's a lot lighter and it's interesting because Stuart doesn't seem to have contributed to it?
DC: No, and neither did I! (laughs). That was actually an album recorded in 1997 by Ivan and Wayne and it should have been released as Drever MacKenzie.
But this was right in the middle of the period where we were having difficulties, which included issues with Green Linnett. We were still contracted to do another record and we ended up with that album having the Wolfstone name on it.
I contributed to it, but I spent no more than two hours in the studio performing my fiddle parts (laughs). And Stuart wasn't near it!
RM: Well that explains a great deal, because it always sounded to me like an Ivan Drever solo album backed by Wolfstone. Turns out I'm doing Wayne a dis-service.
DC: Yes, it was always meant to be a project by the two lads.
Brave Boys (from Seven)
IV: Re-birth of the Litter
RM: After Seven and stepping out of the Green Linnet contract, you released the live album Not Enough Shouting! on your own Once Bitten label.
The recordings were lifted from Scottish shows around January and February of 2000 and that seemed to begin the recovery...
DC: Yes. Like I said earlier there was a regrouping around 2001, 2002, and we had a new impetus.
RM: And that led to Almost an Island. Funny thing about that album is I don't automatically cite specific songs from it, or describe it in normal "good" or "solid" review terms, but instead use the word "feel."
It really does have it's own feel or light rock vibe, while being very much a Wolfstone album.
DC: I know what you mean, and I think it does have it's own feel.
But I think all our albums have their own feel; they represent where we were at that time as a band and represent who was in the band.
I was, very recently, just thinking about how many people have been associated with Wolfstone over the years – contributing to an album or playing on a song.
Including session players and guest musicians it's over fifty!
But I used that as a strength and took what each musician had to offer, musically or creatively, and incorporated that into our music.
RM: Different textures, different musical flavours, whilst still retaining that Wolfstone sound and that trademark Duncan Chisholm sound.
DC: Yes. Exactly. But I don't think it has the "trademark Duncan Chisholm sound."
I think that is defined in my solo work. In the band I'm just one part of the Wolfstone sound. I'm very lucky to have that balance. I can be part of a band with Wolfstone and then have total control with my solo projects.
RM: Well in recent years Wolfstone have been a six-piece and are currently a sextet, but when the band fires on all six is it not fair to say that a couple of the cylinders might have been bored out to be a little larger?
DC: Stuart and I are the founder members, but if you ever see us in the studio it's a very democratic rehearsal process and makes for a very creative environment.
It's only when it comes to things such as deciding what song makes an album, or doesn't, that Stuart and myself will have the final say.
RM: That whole concept of taking what each musician or contributor has to offer and using that as a strength, or direction, is certainly true of the 2007 Wolfstone album Terra Firma. Singer songwriter guitarist Ross Hamilton seemed to be very much driving that album.
DC: Yes he did and he also produced it, along with Brian McNeill. I learned a lot about production and studio technique from Ross and that helped with my own later solo albums, Farrar and Canaich.
But again, it was taking a strength that was available and yes, Ross came in and drove that album. Stuart had little input but as I mentioned earlier I've never walked away from a studio after completing an album with any regrets or wishing it had been done differently.
DC: Terra Firma is a very good album, but we only play a couple of songs from it in our shows because it's not truly representative of the current line-up.
RM: And that line-up, in my opinion, is the strongest Wolfstone has ever had, both in individual talent and as a collective whole.
DC: I believe it is too. Without doubt this is the best line-up we have ever had.
RM: Well, when you start with someone of the calibre of Alyn Cosker at the back in the engine room...
DC: ...and I know you don't need me to tell you what a great drummer he is.
Then we have Colin Cunningham on bass alongside Stuart, Stevie and myself.
And Davie Dunsmuir is such a great guitarist.
RM: And of course the next album would be the first to feature Davie and this particular line-up.
DC: Yes, which will hopefully truly define the band and where we are now.
RM: After Seven and stepping out of the Green Linnet contract, you released the live album Not Enough Shouting! on your own Once Bitten label.
The recordings were lifted from Scottish shows around January and February of 2000 and that seemed to begin the recovery...
DC: Yes. Like I said earlier there was a regrouping around 2001, 2002, and we had a new impetus.
RM: And that led to Almost an Island. Funny thing about that album is I don't automatically cite specific songs from it, or describe it in normal "good" or "solid" review terms, but instead use the word "feel."
It really does have it's own feel or light rock vibe, while being very much a Wolfstone album.
DC: I know what you mean, and I think it does have it's own feel.
But I think all our albums have their own feel; they represent where we were at that time as a band and represent who was in the band.
I was, very recently, just thinking about how many people have been associated with Wolfstone over the years – contributing to an album or playing on a song.
Including session players and guest musicians it's over fifty!
But I used that as a strength and took what each musician had to offer, musically or creatively, and incorporated that into our music.
RM: Different textures, different musical flavours, whilst still retaining that Wolfstone sound and that trademark Duncan Chisholm sound.
DC: Yes. Exactly. But I don't think it has the "trademark Duncan Chisholm sound."
I think that is defined in my solo work. In the band I'm just one part of the Wolfstone sound. I'm very lucky to have that balance. I can be part of a band with Wolfstone and then have total control with my solo projects.
RM: Well in recent years Wolfstone have been a six-piece and are currently a sextet, but when the band fires on all six is it not fair to say that a couple of the cylinders might have been bored out to be a little larger?
DC: Stuart and I are the founder members, but if you ever see us in the studio it's a very democratic rehearsal process and makes for a very creative environment.
It's only when it comes to things such as deciding what song makes an album, or doesn't, that Stuart and myself will have the final say.
RM: That whole concept of taking what each musician or contributor has to offer and using that as a strength, or direction, is certainly true of the 2007 Wolfstone album Terra Firma. Singer songwriter guitarist Ross Hamilton seemed to be very much driving that album.
DC: Yes he did and he also produced it, along with Brian McNeill. I learned a lot about production and studio technique from Ross and that helped with my own later solo albums, Farrar and Canaich.
But again, it was taking a strength that was available and yes, Ross came in and drove that album. Stuart had little input but as I mentioned earlier I've never walked away from a studio after completing an album with any regrets or wishing it had been done differently.
DC: Terra Firma is a very good album, but we only play a couple of songs from it in our shows because it's not truly representative of the current line-up.
RM: And that line-up, in my opinion, is the strongest Wolfstone has ever had, both in individual talent and as a collective whole.
DC: I believe it is too. Without doubt this is the best line-up we have ever had.
RM: Well, when you start with someone of the calibre of Alyn Cosker at the back in the engine room...
DC: ...and I know you don't need me to tell you what a great drummer he is.
Then we have Colin Cunningham on bass alongside Stuart, Stevie and myself.
And Davie Dunsmuir is such a great guitarist.
RM: And of course the next album would be the first to feature Davie and this particular line-up.
DC: Yes, which will hopefully truly define the band and where we are now.
21st century Wolfstone: "This is the best line-up we have ever had"
V: The Howl of The Wolf
RM: On the subject of new material, just where are you as regards plans for a new Wolfstone album?
DC: Well we have plans, but right now it's more a case of having bits and pieces! Scheduling everybody, or finding time, is the main problem.
RM: Well you need to tell Cosker to quit playing about with the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra and to stop gallivanting around with Davie Dunsmuir and Ross Hamilton in his jazz fusion trio.
DC: Okay, I'll tell him! (laughs).
RM: Joking aside, that is part of the problem, with band members having other strings to their bows and other musical projects.
DC: Yes, and Alyn is such a talent; but he's such a down to earth lad.
RM: Well meanwhile we have those Wolfstone shows, and the way I tend to describe them is that the audiences always leave with a silly big smile on their faces.
DC: (laughs) Well I'd like to think that's true! We always have a great time on stage so hopefully the audiences are having a good time, too.
RM: Oh I wasn't joking about the "smile on their faces" line, it's a defining trait at a Wolfstone gig. With the music you play, from rock to jigs to reels to acoustic or lighter pieces, it's hard not to enjoy yourself. And there is such an energy and enjoyment coming from the stage that the audience senses that and feeds off it, which then feeds back to the band...
DC: Yes, we do have a great time playing together and there is an energy.
I've stood at many concerts and you can tell when a band is enjoying themselves and when that energy is there. And it does go both ways.
RM: Before moving on, I'd like you to recount a couple of the Wolfstone anecdotes you sometimes share with the audiences.
DC: Sure, that'd be great.
RM: Lately you have been telling of the gentleman who approached you in Inverness a couple of years ago?
DC: Yes, and it's absolutely true. I was out shopping when he came up to me and said "Duncan Chisholm, I'd like to shake you by the hand." He then proceeded to tell me how his daughter had been conceived at a Wolfstone gig some eighteen years prior!
RM: That's quite a claim to fame for the band and those who featured in the story!
DC: Yes! (laughs).
RM: The punchline being that he even recalled the song that was playing at the time, Cleveland Park. Although that was bettered by your own comments that it's a good going song but not the most romantic of tunes...
DC: ...and only three minutes long! (laughter)
RM: Of course you missed the opportunity for a double punchline in your recounting of a story from even earlier days...
DC: What was that?
RM: When you talk of the period before the first album, when you had cassette tapes of some of your recordings?
DC: Oh, this relates to when Stuart, his brother Struan and I were performing dates for Ross and Cromarty District Council, including such stellar gigs as performing in Tombola tents [small lottery events] at fetes (laughter).
But only the tombola girls were listening as everyone else was out in the sun enjoying themselves!
RM: And you then put up a cassette tape as a prize, only to see a young boy win it. Who then traded it in for a packet of crisps...
DC: ...salt and vinegar crisps.
RM: Sorry, yes, salt and vinegar (laughs). But you should have followed up by saying that the name of that young boy was... Stuart Eaglesham.
DC: (laughs) I may have to use that!
VI: Wolf in Different Clothing
RM: 2010 has been a fairly busy year for you and Wolfstone. Not only was there the band's 21st anniversary celebrations and a number of festival performances, you performed with Julie Fowlis at a couple of folk festivals in England.
One of those shows was the night before the Wolfstone gig in Pitlochry...
DC: Yeah, that was a bit of a logistical nightmare (laughs), but it's always a pleasure to play with Julie and her band.
RM: How did that association come about?
DC: I've actually known Julie for a few years, actually, ten years now, since she was about twenty. I was asked if I would like to be part of her touring band in 2007 when John McCusker [noted multi-instrumentalist who has worked with Julie] couldn't commit, or wasn't available.
RM: She has the ability to be as emotive and descriptive on a pop song, such as Paul McCartney's Blackbird, as she does traditional Gaelic tunes.
DC: She just paints such great pictures with her singing. Even if you can't understand the lyric, or don't know what the song is about, you always get something from her performances. And Julie usually introduces each tune with a story about the song or what it means.
RM: She reminds me of Karen Matheson [of Capercaillie] in phrasing and ability, and that's no bad thing in my book.
DC: Oh, she's a real talent. We were talking about balance earlier... it's a three-way balance for me, like the points of a triangle. I have Wolfstone, other work such as playing with Julie, and then my solo albums, which are completely different in that I have full control from the compositions right through to choosing the fonts for the title on the album cover.
RM: Best of both worlds. Well, three, in this case.
DC: Yes, it really is.
VII: Lone Wolf
RM: Earlier this year you released your fourth solo album.
DC: Yes. I'm very proud of Canaich and the album before it, Farrar, won Album of the Year in 2008 at the Scots Traditional Music Awards.
RM: Well, as much as most artists would be happier seeing Gold or Platinum sales here or Stateside, I'm guessing receiving awards such as that one is extremely gratifying for a Scottish musician.
DC: Those sales would be nice, yes (laughs), but winning that award was such an honour. It's very pleasing to have received it.
V: The Howl of The Wolf
RM: On the subject of new material, just where are you as regards plans for a new Wolfstone album?
DC: Well we have plans, but right now it's more a case of having bits and pieces! Scheduling everybody, or finding time, is the main problem.
RM: Well you need to tell Cosker to quit playing about with the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra and to stop gallivanting around with Davie Dunsmuir and Ross Hamilton in his jazz fusion trio.
DC: Okay, I'll tell him! (laughs).
RM: Joking aside, that is part of the problem, with band members having other strings to their bows and other musical projects.
DC: Yes, and Alyn is such a talent; but he's such a down to earth lad.
RM: Well meanwhile we have those Wolfstone shows, and the way I tend to describe them is that the audiences always leave with a silly big smile on their faces.
DC: (laughs) Well I'd like to think that's true! We always have a great time on stage so hopefully the audiences are having a good time, too.
RM: Oh I wasn't joking about the "smile on their faces" line, it's a defining trait at a Wolfstone gig. With the music you play, from rock to jigs to reels to acoustic or lighter pieces, it's hard not to enjoy yourself. And there is such an energy and enjoyment coming from the stage that the audience senses that and feeds off it, which then feeds back to the band...
DC: Yes, we do have a great time playing together and there is an energy.
I've stood at many concerts and you can tell when a band is enjoying themselves and when that energy is there. And it does go both ways.
RM: Before moving on, I'd like you to recount a couple of the Wolfstone anecdotes you sometimes share with the audiences.
DC: Sure, that'd be great.
RM: Lately you have been telling of the gentleman who approached you in Inverness a couple of years ago?
DC: Yes, and it's absolutely true. I was out shopping when he came up to me and said "Duncan Chisholm, I'd like to shake you by the hand." He then proceeded to tell me how his daughter had been conceived at a Wolfstone gig some eighteen years prior!
RM: That's quite a claim to fame for the band and those who featured in the story!
DC: Yes! (laughs).
RM: The punchline being that he even recalled the song that was playing at the time, Cleveland Park. Although that was bettered by your own comments that it's a good going song but not the most romantic of tunes...
DC: ...and only three minutes long! (laughter)
RM: Of course you missed the opportunity for a double punchline in your recounting of a story from even earlier days...
DC: What was that?
RM: When you talk of the period before the first album, when you had cassette tapes of some of your recordings?
DC: Oh, this relates to when Stuart, his brother Struan and I were performing dates for Ross and Cromarty District Council, including such stellar gigs as performing in Tombola tents [small lottery events] at fetes (laughter).
But only the tombola girls were listening as everyone else was out in the sun enjoying themselves!
RM: And you then put up a cassette tape as a prize, only to see a young boy win it. Who then traded it in for a packet of crisps...
DC: ...salt and vinegar crisps.
RM: Sorry, yes, salt and vinegar (laughs). But you should have followed up by saying that the name of that young boy was... Stuart Eaglesham.
DC: (laughs) I may have to use that!
VI: Wolf in Different Clothing
RM: 2010 has been a fairly busy year for you and Wolfstone. Not only was there the band's 21st anniversary celebrations and a number of festival performances, you performed with Julie Fowlis at a couple of folk festivals in England.
One of those shows was the night before the Wolfstone gig in Pitlochry...
DC: Yeah, that was a bit of a logistical nightmare (laughs), but it's always a pleasure to play with Julie and her band.
RM: How did that association come about?
DC: I've actually known Julie for a few years, actually, ten years now, since she was about twenty. I was asked if I would like to be part of her touring band in 2007 when John McCusker [noted multi-instrumentalist who has worked with Julie] couldn't commit, or wasn't available.
RM: She has the ability to be as emotive and descriptive on a pop song, such as Paul McCartney's Blackbird, as she does traditional Gaelic tunes.
DC: She just paints such great pictures with her singing. Even if you can't understand the lyric, or don't know what the song is about, you always get something from her performances. And Julie usually introduces each tune with a story about the song or what it means.
RM: She reminds me of Karen Matheson [of Capercaillie] in phrasing and ability, and that's no bad thing in my book.
DC: Oh, she's a real talent. We were talking about balance earlier... it's a three-way balance for me, like the points of a triangle. I have Wolfstone, other work such as playing with Julie, and then my solo albums, which are completely different in that I have full control from the compositions right through to choosing the fonts for the title on the album cover.
RM: Best of both worlds. Well, three, in this case.
DC: Yes, it really is.
VII: Lone Wolf
RM: Earlier this year you released your fourth solo album.
DC: Yes. I'm very proud of Canaich and the album before it, Farrar, won Album of the Year in 2008 at the Scots Traditional Music Awards.
RM: Well, as much as most artists would be happier seeing Gold or Platinum sales here or Stateside, I'm guessing receiving awards such as that one is extremely gratifying for a Scottish musician.
DC: Those sales would be nice, yes (laughs), but winning that award was such an honour. It's very pleasing to have received it.
RM: Just prior to this conversation I was listening to Canaich. Not because of this chat, because neither of us knew exactly when we would be getting together, but because I wanted something instrumental where I could switch off and just be... somewhere else.
DC: Well, that's exactly how I compose and play on my solo work. I paint a picture in my mind first. It could be from childhood, a favourite place, a more recent memory of something that inspires me, and work from that. I want the songs to create a landscape, a scene of music. And, for the listener, it may be a totally different picture. A memory of their own, perhaps, but still creating that visual.
RM: Emotive and descriptive. That's how I just described Julie's singing but it also describes your playing, especially on your solo albums.
DC: Yes, and thank you.
DC: Well, that's exactly how I compose and play on my solo work. I paint a picture in my mind first. It could be from childhood, a favourite place, a more recent memory of something that inspires me, and work from that. I want the songs to create a landscape, a scene of music. And, for the listener, it may be a totally different picture. A memory of their own, perhaps, but still creating that visual.
RM: Emotive and descriptive. That's how I just described Julie's singing but it also describes your playing, especially on your solo albums.
DC: Yes, and thank you.
Canaich: "I want the songs to create a landscape, a scene of music"
RM: And your last two albums are very important and personal to you, being part of what you describe as the "Strathglass Trilogy." Could you elaborate on that?
DC: Farrar and Canaich are parts one and two of that trilogy and are personal to me in that they form memories, stories or pictures of the Chisholm lands in Inverness, where I was born and grew up. They have been part of the Chisholm family and ancestral history for hundreds of years.
There was around three years between recording Farrar and Canaich, and there will probably be a similar gap between Canaich and the final part of the Strathglass Trilogy.
RM: I would surmise that has a lot to do with just knowing when you'll be ready... when those pictures will start forming?
DC: Yes, that's part of it. It's very important to me so it will be at the right time, for the right reasons.
DC: Farrar and Canaich are parts one and two of that trilogy and are personal to me in that they form memories, stories or pictures of the Chisholm lands in Inverness, where I was born and grew up. They have been part of the Chisholm family and ancestral history for hundreds of years.
There was around three years between recording Farrar and Canaich, and there will probably be a similar gap between Canaich and the final part of the Strathglass Trilogy.
RM: I would surmise that has a lot to do with just knowing when you'll be ready... when those pictures will start forming?
DC: Yes, that's part of it. It's very important to me so it will be at the right time, for the right reasons.
RM: So, new Wolfstone material before the next Duncan Chisholm album?
DC: I'd like to think so!
RM: Well, let's just finish where we started, with Wolfstone and those twenty-one years. Another twenty-one to follow?
DC: Actually, I don't see why not. We enjoy playing together so much that I honestly hope we are still together twenty-one years from now!
RM: Well let's continue this conversation in twenty-one years time. You can play me a tune on the fiddle while I write an update to the Wolfstone history...
DC: Right, that's a deal!
RM: Duncan, this has been an absolute pleasure. Thanks for taking the time to talk to FabricationsHQ.
DC: The pleasure has been all mine, Ross. Thanks for featuring me, and Wolfstone.
DC: I'd like to think so!
RM: Well, let's just finish where we started, with Wolfstone and those twenty-one years. Another twenty-one to follow?
DC: Actually, I don't see why not. We enjoy playing together so much that I honestly hope we are still together twenty-one years from now!
RM: Well let's continue this conversation in twenty-one years time. You can play me a tune on the fiddle while I write an update to the Wolfstone history...
DC: Right, that's a deal!
RM: Duncan, this has been an absolute pleasure. Thanks for taking the time to talk to FabricationsHQ.
DC: The pleasure has been all mine, Ross. Thanks for featuring me, and Wolfstone.
Ross Muir
Muirsical Conversation with Duncan Chisholm
August 2010
Official Websites:
Duncan Chisholm: http://www.duncanchisholm.com/
Wolfstone: http://www.wolfstone.co.uk/
Photo credits:
Annie Tuite (Duncan Chisholm #1); Craig MacKay (Wolfstone);
Reeaz Mohammad (Duncan Chisholm #2);
Canaich painting/ album cover by Jacqueline MacKenzie
Audio tracks presented to accompany the above article by kind permission of Duncan Chisholm.
No infringement of copyright is intended.
Muirsical Conversation with Duncan Chisholm
August 2010
Official Websites:
Duncan Chisholm: http://www.duncanchisholm.com/
Wolfstone: http://www.wolfstone.co.uk/
Photo credits:
Annie Tuite (Duncan Chisholm #1); Craig MacKay (Wolfstone);
Reeaz Mohammad (Duncan Chisholm #2);
Canaich painting/ album cover by Jacqueline MacKenzie
Audio tracks presented to accompany the above article by kind permission of Duncan Chisholm.
No infringement of copyright is intended.