Liza Mulholland sings the praises of the new album from an unassuming but ubiquitous North music presence
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There is no doubt we are fortunate in the Highlands to have more than our fair share of immense music talent, and there’s nothing I love doing more in this column than sharing news of great new projects and celebrating that homegrown talent.
Music lights up our lives in troubled times and good days alike, and there is a local musician who has been doing this consistently for years.
He may not be a household name – yet – as, in the many bands he plays for, he is not often out front but instead usually found in back, behind his drum kit or on electric guitar.
He is multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter Derek Urquhart, one of the most sought-after musicians around these parts; Lush Rollers, Davy Cowan & the Stormchasers, Dorec-a-belle, Punching Elvis, Ashley & the Cosmonauts, and Wooden Tooth being just some of the line-ups he has graced.
He is one of those players who is a joy to work with because he knows, from a lifetime in music, that one of the first things a musician should do is – no, not play – but listen. Listen to what is happening around them, what bandmates are doing, what the instrumental textures are, how the vocals and harmonies are working, and add to it sympathetically and sensitively.
Derek has musical sensitivity in spades, as instrumentalist, vocalist and composer, amply evidenced in Nevertheless, an instrumental album composed and recorded during lockdown. On the sleeve notes he quotes a most appropriate observation by Neil Peart, late drummer with rock band, Rush: “If a piece of work was an honest expression of its maker, it was also a milestone of his progress and a benchmark to build upon in the future.”
This new project is all these things. With a debut album and several EPs already, this is Derek’s first fully instrumental work, truly a thing of beauty, reflecting and expressing his diverse musical influences and experience.
From glorious rhythms and dancefloor hooks to gorgeous gentle melodies on acoustic guitar, from harmonically rich pieces with more than a hint of classical flavour to atmospheric soundscapes transporting you to undersea worlds or Italian movies.
Derek might just have struck gold here. I could imagine any of these tracks in film or television, more remarkable because much of it he recorded himself at home, with additional recording by Marc Clement and Huey Dowling.
Esther van der Veer’s beautiful cover art features the wonders of the Northern Lights, and how fitting, for in the firmament of Highland music our friend Derek Urquhart is not just a phenomenal musician but also a really nice fella; a true star!
Nevertheless is out on August 27 www.derekurquhartmusic.co.uk
