The Main Stage may attract the biggest stars and the Slam tent the most cutting edge dance artists but T in the Park regulars know the Ceilidh tent is where the party never stops. Stv.tv caught up with Skerryvore, “the boy band of traditional Scottish music” following their set.
Singer and guitarist Alec obviously enjoyed the experience: “It’s our first time here, and at something as big as T in the Park. We’ve done a lot more of the smaller festivals that are suited to our style of music.” The boys had also made time to catch some of the other acts.
Alec said “We managed to see Jason Mraz. He was awesome, exactly as you would expect him to sound.” Accordionist Martin had been to check out someone else who had a traditional Scottish element to their sound: “We caught Paolo Nutini as well, just before we went on and he had another accordionist, Phil Cunningham, playing with him on the main stage.”
So, where does that intriguing name come from? Accordionist Martin explains: “We’re from the island of Tiree, myself and my brother and it’s a very famous lighthouse about 10 miles off the coast of Tiree. So we pinched the name from the lighthouse.”
The band’s sound isn’t limited to its West Coast roots though. Daniel, the band’s piper describes it as “sort of Celtic rock now. When we started off we were basically a ceilidh band but now we’re writing a lot more songs and our own material, not just for dancing.” Alec thinks of it as “a kind of fusion” and Martin explained: “We’ve got six members, three sort of traditional instruments, with Alec singing and three guys doing the sort of rock background so it’s a mix of traditional and rock and funk and things like that.”
T in the Park may be the highest profile gig of the summer but the band will hardly pause for breath in the coming months. “We’ve got about 30 dates over the summer around Scotland and then we’re off to Beijing, China in September,” said Martin: “And we’ve got a new album recorded but there isn’t a name for it yet. Any suggestions?”
Answers on a postcard….
