Homecoming Hò-rò rise from the ashes
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ON Tuesday, September 5, Hò-rò’s entire world was thrown into a sudden and horrible chaos.
Considered as some of the fastest-rising stars of Scottish traditional, the young Inverness-based six-piece band returned to their trusted tour van in Glasgow, only to find it torched.
The band lost their transport, as well as the majority of their instruments and sound equipment, and were left to pick up the pieces without the equipment essential to their very livelihood.
“We’re still kind of coming to terms with it a bit,” Sean Cousins – Hò-rò’s guitarist and co-founder – said. “It’s been a bit hectic since then because obviously that was our main source of transport for getting everywhere that we needed to be.
“Our schedule didn’t slow down any when that was going on, so we had to, we’ve been hiring vehicles and just chasing our tails a little bit.
“We’re just glad it wasn’t worse than it was, because we managed to save a couple of our instruments, and we still managed to gig – it hasn’t stopped us from doing anything as such.”
What helped more than anything was the huge groundswell of support that sprung up in the immediate aftermath of the fire. The Scottish traditional community closed ranks, offering help wherever they could to get Hò-rò back on their feet – and back on the road.
A crowdfunder, set up by Ewan Phillip of EPL Events without the band’s knowledge, raised more than £5000 within its first 24 hours. It ended at the start of October with more than £9000 donated by 358 people. “We were still in kind of panic mode whenever that was set up,” Sean explained.
“We were still talking to the police at this point, giving statements and everything, and while we were doing that all this money was coming in. We were like, ‘Oh my goodness!’ We didn’t really know what to do, we were like, ‘Uh, should we tell them to stop? Do we accept it?’
“It was absolutely amazing. Everyone that donated, we can’t thank them enough – it’s been incredible.”
On top of the fans, their fellow musicians were generous with their time and equipment, pulling out all the stops to help out the former Danny Kyle award-winners.
“The likes of Trail West and Heron Valley, they were there straight away offering us equipment and stuff,” Sean said. “I mean, if they weren’t then we probably couldn’t have carried on gigging for a wee while because we’d have to organise getting gear and all that – but they were just like, ‘Yeah, use our’s, it’s totally fine.’
“Everyone understood that kind of situation we were in – especially Trail West, because something similar happened to them last year where their van was stolen and all of their stuff was gone and they never got it back.
“They know how it feels to be stranded a wee bit, so it was really nice of them to offer a hand.”
That sense of connection goes back a lot further than this incident however – the two bands have been long-time friends, with an upcoming gig together at the Ironworks this Saturday a long time in the making.
“We wanted to put on another gig at the Ironworks because the last one went so well we were like, ‘We have to do that again, but let’s make it BIGGER this time,’” Sean explained. “We wanted to do something different.
“So we’d chatted with Trail West, because we thought it’d be a really good night to do with them – have them go on before us to get the crowd total pumped for a ceilidh, and then we’ll just go on and just play a big energetic set to finish off the night.”
The gig serves as a homecoming for the band – and particularly for Sean, born and raised in Inverness – after a year that has seen them play across the Highlands and Europe – with dates in France, Germany and Belgium. “We’ve been looking forward to this one for a while – it’s rounding up our year really. We’re kind of taking it as a big celebration for the busy year we’ve had and we’re really excited.
“It’s always good playing at home. Crowds away are amazing too, but there’s something about a home crowd that’s just pretty mental!”
And Hò-rò’s star continue to rise – with a debut slot at their home city’s annual Hogmanay celebration, the Red Hot Highland Fling. “We were over the moon whenever the organisers got in touch with us!
“We had mentioned to them a couple of years ago that we really wanted to get involved with it, but I don’t think we were at the stage then to draw such a crowd.
“Those kind of gigs used to kind of scare us a bit, but now we love doing them – big stage, big crowd, it’s amazing!”
And beyond the new year, Hò-rò continue to take stock of their future – Sean hinted a big announcement was due to be made within the next couple of weeks.
First thing’s first though – the band will need new wheels. “I think once we’ve got a van, that’ll be us – back on the road straight away!
“We’ve still got that busy schedule so we’ve still got to keep going for that.”
Hò-rò come to the Ironworks on Saturday along with Trail West. Support comes from Scottish singer Ella Munro. For more information or to book tickets, go to www.ironworksvenue.com
