A Northerly Land -
CD
Released on 2nd Dec 2013.
A great price for the CD and book together
for a limited time, only £14
A Northerly Land - Book of
Poetry.
“This is an
emotionally substantial creation”
– Norman Chalmers
"Quite banging”
–
Anonymous
Listen for free in our player
Released Dec 2013
This is an
emotionally substantial creation, fused together from the creative imagination of the
Skye-based musician, programmer/composer and percussionist, with the input of a variety
of musicians, plus Gaelic singer Fiona J Mackenzie and poet George Gunn. Formed from the
experience of their shared residency in the Mackay Country of northwest Sutherland, the
nine tracks distil the cold landscapes into deeply moving collages, especially with the
archive ‘Ossianic’ recording of the late Gaelic traveller, Ailidh Dall, and his
storyteller granddaughter Essie Stewart’s vocals. The beautiful architecture from all
the ancient and contemporary sounds sits happily under Copeland’s supervision and
obvious groovemastery.
Norman Chalmers - Scotland on Sunday
“A Northerly Land speaks to themes
of local and seasonal migrations woven into centuries of cultural change. It
speaks of who we are and where we come from, while also signposting where we are
trying to go. The voices, in terms of instruments and spoken word, are immediate
and international – but equally they are emphatically local and embedded in
place and people.”
(Dr Isobel MacPhail, Mackay Country Community
Trust)
It’s not often that album endorsements come from leading academics
– but then Iain Copeland’s debut solo release, A Northerly Land, is no ordinary
album. Created during a year-long artist’s residency in the furthest north-west
corner of mainland Scotland, as part of an innovative community history project,
it’s a brilliantly multilayered, sumptuously textured tapestry of traditional
and contemporary elements, live instrumentation and digital wizardry, music and
the spoken word, by turns euphorically funky, thrillingly adventurous and
profoundly moving.
Released Dec 2013
There is no
doubt Gunn is a true standard-bearer of "the carrying stream': An excellent collection
of poems.
Dan Mackay - Caithness Courier
George Gunn is based in Caithness
where he lives and writes. Previously artistic director for The Grey Coast
Theatre Company, George now concentrates on his writing and teaching in Thurso.
A well kent name in the north, George was asked to produce some poetry for the
Mackay Country project ‘Moving Times and Telling Tales’ some of which appear in
this book
SEPTEMBER
(For PD)
When times are good
when there
is butter in the dish
& tatties in the pail
& the fish lies fresh
& white
on the board by the sink
this is when I see the pattern
in
the stone
& the runes hanging
in the West blown clouds
are all the
instruction I need
to hear the birds in the birch trees
to follow the
ageless black paths
signalled in the curls of your hair
how you are
September & how you dance