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Highland ceilidh band look forward to successful season in 2021 following pandemic

Tweed have had to reschedule more than £30,000 worth of shows this year.
Tweed have had to reschedule more than £30,000 worth of shows this year.

Members of a Highland ceilidh band say they are eager to get back on the road after the pandemic left them forced to postpone dozens of gigs.

Graeme Mackay, Sam Macleod and Duncan Farquhar, collectively known as Tweed, played their last live gig in March with hopes reuniting on stage a short time later.

However, due to the restrictions imposed by the pandemic the trio were forced to reschedule more than £30,000 worth of festivals, live gigs and weddings until 2021 as well as put prospects for a new album on hold.

Mr Mackay said: “We started with a bit of optimism and hope that it was only going to last a few weeks or months but now we have no idea when it is going to kick start again.

“The chances of us getting back to work anytime soon is pretty minimal.

“So far we have rearranged about £30,000 worth of work as its leading right the way up to December. It’s been terrible as we have had everything cancelled.

“We have got a very healthy diary for next year, purely because it is mostly this year’s events and weddings that have been transferred across but there is a good chance that if this continues then it may be the same story for next year, we just don’t know.”

The trio have undertaken a number of individual projects in recent months.

Sam Macleod has been working as a site manager on a construction site as fellow band member Duncan Farquhar worked as a carpet-fitter in the Speyside area.

Meanwhile, Mr Mackay has established an online audience by creating the ceilidh cabin hosting a series of online shows each week.

He added: “It does bring it home and just a complete change of lifestyle and it’s not something that’s going to be temporary, as it has been for other people.

“I am always on the road then all of a sudden I am here in Elgin for 24 hours a day for months on end when I am used to doing 35,000 miles a year in my van.”

The group are urging people to simply follow the rules to enable musicians to get back to work.

Mr Mackay said: “We are used to seeing each other for four to five nights a week for the last eight or nine years and it’s almost like people missing their families. We have missed each other as much as that.

“It would be good to get back to work at some stage to find some kind of solution. There has been a lot of these drive in concerts and socially distanced concerts but I don’t see them being viable.

“I can’t image anyone making enough money for these to be a viable option if these go forward so it would just be good if people could behave themselves, get the disease out the way so we can go back to work and start partying again.”