A group of artists who were due to perform at this year’s Edinburgh Tradfest have released a new recording of Wild Mountain Thyme on the day the festival was due to start.
36 artists have collaborated on the new version of the classic song, with the festival rescheduled for 2021.
Artists featured on the recording include acclaimed folk musician and this year’s festival headliner Eliza Carthy, Fiona Hunter of Malinky, Rachel Newton from The Shee, and Shooglenifty’s James Mackintosh.
Five leading Shetland fiddlers including Catriona Macdonald and Chris Stout as well as accordion player Phil Alexander of Moishe’s Bagel, and Irish folk-singer Daoirí Farrell are also included, among others.
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.”
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 at the 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.
Mike 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 they belong together took some work but I’m really happy with how it turned out. It’s a big sound, and very joyful.”
The release of the recording will also kickstart the festival’s fundraising for 2021 via https://www.givey.com/edinburghtradfest2021
The dates planned for Edinburgh Tradfest 2021 are 30 April to 10 May.
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