Nairn musicians release new album to celebrate town
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A GROUP of Nairn musicians have collaborated in the production of a CD to celebrate the town which has shaped their lives.
Encompassing different genres of music the self-penned tracks entitled ‘Nairn Sunsets Volume One’ received a rapturous response when they were launched at The Bandstand Bar music venue. The brainchild of local musical powerhouse Andy Fonseca Oxbow the album represents different genres of tracks which have been inspired by the musicians, most of whom were brought up in the town.
Andy said: “All of the musicians either grew up or live in Nairn and have been involved in the music scene here in one way or another.
“We have all been into music since our school days and for some of us that’s over forty years and we are still performing, still playing music. Some of us were into punk and the different tastes are reflected in the CD which should have a wide appeal.”
The cast includes Andy’s own band, Jason Dormer, Pete Gibson Ricky Cameron, Matthew Donnachie and John O’Brien (MJM), Fi McBean, brothers George and John Sutherland, David Rosie (DWR), Mark (Mork) Hudson and Joe Kinghorn who is based in Edinburgh and was the founder and songwriter for We Free Kings who toured the UK extensively in the 1980s.
The twelve tracks on the album include an eclectic mix covering a range of styles. The songwriters began making music in garages and perform in packed pubs on Nairn Games Day when the whole town celebrates the biggest summer event when exiles return home from across the globe.
The Wallace bandstand, a landmark on the Links, has been a venue for performances and at one rock concert staged on the Maggot (open space) near the harbour, the bands gear caught fire and had to be abandoned. Other music hubs during the ‘70s and ‘80s for the young rockers learning their trade were the Tradespark Hall, the old Community Centre in King Street and the ‘rocking’ Royal Hotel.
“Many of us are still performing live in and around Nairn but it’s important to point out the tracks reflect on our fondness for Nairn and how lucky we were to be brought up here,” Jason said.
“When we were young there was a fierce independence and DIY attitude and this has been fermented in our own creations with gigs and record labels and of course we are now aided by new techology and the internet.
“Two brothers on the album George and John Sutherland are sons of John ‘Scooby’ Sutherland who played with local bands from the sixties until the noughties.”
George now lives in New Zealand but with digital technology he was delighted to collaborate on the album from the other side of the world.
Dave Rosie’s contribution, a track entitled ‘Life’s a Beach’ he says could easily have been penned by The Beach Boys had they lived in Nairn and were inspired by being ‘passengers in a Vauxhall Viva driven across the Jubilee Bridge!’.
Joe Kinghorn’s track is based on the heady days of Nairn as a key fishing port. Behind his song ‘Stealt Wood’ is the story of Nairn fishermen believing that the wood on their craft was built from ‘he’ wood or ‘she’ wood. Stealt wood is stolen wood and ‘she’ could ‘sail faster by night’. Another contributer ‘Fi’ McBean was also responsible for the magnificent mozaic encapturing stories of Nairn on the wall of the Nairn Little Theatre in the Fishertown.
