Louise Bichan - Out of My Own Light

The Guardian 60

(Swanbister)

Folk often pays homage to the ancestors, but in the case of this young Orkney fiddler the tribute is directed to her late grandmother, Margaret Tait. Bichan discovered that her grandmother, prior to her marriage, had undertaken a trip to Canada, where, like many Orcadians, she had relatives. Far from home, she would decide which of two suitors to marry. Bichan retraced her grandmother’s journey and captures its emotional arc on an elegant album of chamber folk, with her fiddle supported by piano, cello and bass. Brooding widescreen vistas contrast with jaunty airs and the odd vocal (more would have been welcome) and a 1950 Canadian performance by Tait herself. Wistful and heartfelt.