For a small island, The Tiree Music Festival, which takes place next week, is a pretty big hitter.
“Over the years we’ve attracted top acts such as Toploader, Scouting for Girls, The Fratellis – they love playing here because the festival has such a good, friendly atmosphere,” said organiser Daniel Gillespie.
A man of many talents, Daniel plays accordion in the band Skerryvore, and recently organised the popular Oban Live! event.
“I was fortunate enough to get music tuition when I was growing up in Tiree,” said Daniel.
He was taught to play accordion by the legendary Gordon Connell alongside his brother Martin and friend Angus MacPhail (Skipinnish).S
After leaving Tiree, Daniel initially followed a sporting path, becoming a youth coach for Glasgow Rangers FC for four years become making the commitment to becoming a full-time musician 11 years ago.
He and his brother Martin formed Celtic rock group Skerryvore (named after a lighthouse) along with friends Fraser West and Alec Dalglish.
“I’d be travelling around the world with Skerryvore attending different festivals and part of me thought why can’t I do something like this for Tiree?” said Daniel.
“I thought it would be great to have a similar event at home, one where we could share the beauty and atmosphere of Tiree with visitors and give local musicians the chance to perform too.
“We started the festival in 2010 so this will be our ninth one. Next year will be our 10th so fans can expect something special and hopefully we can announce some plans for it later on.
“At the first festival we attracted 600 people, which was pretty much the island’s population. We’ve grown a fair bit since then and now attract around 2,000 fans, but the feeling among the community is that we wouldn’t want it to get much bigger, it makes it special. It’s an adventure to come to the festival, there’s no doubt about that!
“You have to make a commitment to it and plan it as it requires you to catch a ferry or plane.
“The festival site itself is amazing, really beautiful and with a great atmosphere.
“Most folk stay on the site all weekend so you can find yourselves being together for five days. Many families make the festival part of their annual summer holiday and we have people coming to it from all over the world.”
With postcard-perfect white sandy beaches and lush countryside to be explored between acts, it’s no wonder so many people clamour to attend the multiple-award-winning festival on the island known as the “Hawaii of the north”.
“This year we have quite an eclectic mix of acts, but it’s always been that way because we like to keep a very strong traditional element,” said Daniel, who was delighted to discover Skerryvore’s newly launched album, Evo, was sitting at number 12 in the charts just days after being released.
“There is a wave of energy in Scotland just now for local music which is just great. Our album is overtaking the likes of Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift – crazy.”
Scottish singer-songwriter Be Charlotte is the headline act for the festival, which runs from Friday July 13 until Sunday July 15. Pop rock band The Hoosiers are Sunday’s headline act.
“Be Charlotte is an amazing musician as well as a fantastic ambassador for music in Scotland and we are really looking forward to welcoming her.
“We’re also delighted with the Elements programme, designed with events in mind the whole family can enjoy and based around four elements: sand, sea, wind and sun.”
Sand in Your Eye makes the most of Tiree’s white sandy beaches creating some spectacular sand sculptures and designs. Festival goers will get the opportunity to get involved with interactive workshops taking place on the Sunday.
Sea Tours will give visitors the chance to see Tiree from a slightly different angle, while the wind element offers visitors a chance to try extreme watersports such as windsurfing and paddle boarding.
The sun element at this year’s festival comes in the form of DeLighters, a physical performance company based in Edinburgh and specialising in multi-artform performances. They will lead flash-mob workshops and perform a fire show centred around the sun.
“New for this year is the Elevate Outdoor stage which we are all very excited about as it is supported by Scotland’s Year of Young People 2018. The programme for it was put together by local lad Jamie MacDonald and it’s exciting as word has spread about it among young musicians from all over Scotland,” said Daniel.
“It’s great to be supporting up-and-coming young Scottish artists, and as always there will be plenty of Tiree musicians taking part – they are a key part of the festival.
“It’s been some journey since that first festival. I don’t think we ever imagined it would become what it has become today and part of that success is due to the great team of more than 100 volunteers we have. They are amazing and come back year after year,” said Daniel.
Tiree Music Festival runs from Friday July 13 to Sunday July 15. For further details or to buy tickets visit www.tireemusicfestival.co.uk
