Scots band celebrates 10th anniversary

traditional folk group enjoys year of success touring north america

By Leanna MacLarty

Published:

A SCOTS band whose songs are inspired by traditional folk music from Aberdeenshire and Angus enjoyed their first successes across the Atlantic – as they celebrated their 10th anniversary.

Although they have been together for a decade, folk band Malinky enjoyed a year of firsts.

Already popular across Europe, they spent much of the last 12 months touring in the United States and Canada.

Band member Steve Byrne says they have struggled to raise their profile in Scotland, partly because of a lack of promotion of traditional music.

“The music is still very popular, but in a different way, a more community-oriented way,” he said. “There are hundreds of young musicians out there looking for gigs.

“Having so many more musicians is great for the music, but there are not many more gigs.

“There are so many areas in Scotland which have had such a rich tradition of music but people are just not aware there are these local things.”

Until last year the band was part-time, partly because of the difficulty which comes with making most of their living outside of the UK. At the beginning of last year the group quit their jobs to concentrate on singing and touring.

“The whole year was a bit of a celebration,” said Mr Byrne, the guitar and bouzouki player.

The group has used the Aberdeenshire-based Greig Duncan collection of folk songs to inspire their music and enrich their knowledge of Scots traditional music.

Gathered in the early 20th century by two local men, the collection is one of the most extensive in Europe, consisting of around 1,900 songs.

Available for anybody to access, the music has helped them write songs based on local legend, like Edom o’ Gordon and other tunes.

The 10th anniversary celebrations will culminate in a special performance at next year’s Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow in February.

“I am quite proud we are still here and we are still considered innovators,” said Mr Byrne. “The impact we are making for Scottish songs in particular. We must still be doing something right.”