We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

The Drowning of the Silver Brothers, 1933

from The River by Hamish Napier

/
  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    REVIEWS IN THE PRESS/MEDIA:

    ★★★★★ “Scintillating…brilliantly vivid”
    - The Scotsman

    ★★★★ “Capturing the emotions and atmospheres of his Speyside inspiration…The River brought history, myth and mood into the present.”
    - The Herald

    “Through his music he paints portraits of the river’s endless moods and mysteries…with such care and depth of emotion it’s impossible to avoid the irresistible pull of the current.”
    - Folk Radio UK

    “An excellent flute player.”
    - The Guardian

    “The River is a glorious album, one of vigorous desire and plentiful absolution.”
    - Liverpool Sound & Vision

    “A stellar live ensemble…”
    - Sunday Herald

    “The most amazing whistle player and genius composer…a completely beautiful and inspirational album…beautiful from start to finish…a masterpiece.”
    – Phil Brown, BBC Radio Lancashire

    "The album sounds fantastic...loads of great tunes and it is absolutely jam-packed with great ideas, a superb album altogether...It's one of these albums you can go back to again and again and again, and get more out of it each time."
    Bruce MacGregor, BBC Radio Scotland 'Travelling Folk'



    Q: What do I get if I order the CD?
    A: The album comes in a gorgeous-looking black and white digipack, including a 16 page booklet, all artwork and design by the fabulous Somhairle MacDonald somhairle.co.uk. Also includes vintage photos of the River Spey taken by local photographers in the the 1930s and 40s.


    Q: Why 'The River'? What's it about?
    A: Well...growing up on the banks of the river Spey (100 yards from it!), I spent many hours practicing to the roar of the river in the background, so it's always been there in my music.

    This piece brings to the surface vivid sonic images of occurrences, past and present, along the mile-long stretch of the Spey that flows past my childhood home. One of my brother's fishes it, the other canoes it, my Uncle Sandy photographed it, my mother paints it, and there's my Father's daily fascination with its erratically changing water level. It will always symbolize home and a strong connection to nature. No mortal's relationship with the river can ever be truly harmonious, its ever-changing micro-climate, mysteriously dark depths and unrelenting power are both merciless and enchanting.

    For my first solo album I wanted to make almost exclusive use of all of my musical resources and so the piece features many flute, whistles, pianos and keyboards - the sounds that are at the core of all my music. There's a wee tip of the hat to my favourite folk band 'Flook', in the alto flute and bodhran combination, played by Admiral Fallow's flautist Sarah Hayes, and Treacherous Orchestra's bodhran player Martin O'Neill. Also performing is are two members of top Scottish folk band 'Breabach': bassist James Lindsay and piper Calum MacCrimmon who is actually not piping but instead singing Canntaireachd - the ancient chanting language of the bagpipes. The project was engineered and coproduced beautifully by Glasgow-based Italian electronica musician Andrea Gobbi (Laki Mera, Ross AiInslie & Jarlath Henderson and Treacherous Orchestra), who created most of the soundscapes on the album.

    www.andreagobbi.co.uk


    Q: Who's on the record"
    A: The album features a lineup of Scottish musicians that Glasgow's 'Sunday Herald' recently described as "a Stellar ensemble"':

    Hamish Napier - whistles, wooden flutes, piano, harmonium, Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer 200A, bean pod shakers and backing vocals
    Sarah Hayes - alto flute
    James Lindsay - double bass
    Martin O'Neill - bodhran
    Andrea Gobbi - synths and post-production
    Calum MacCrimmon - Vocals (Canntaireachd)
    Oystercatchers, Blackbirds, Curlews, Heron and River Spey - vocals

    Includes unlimited streaming of The River via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ... more
    ships out within 3 days

      £13 GBP or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      £1 GBP  or more

     

about

Drowning of the Silver Brothers (Hamish Napier)

After two locals lads Alexander and Joseph Silver mysteriously drowned at Craggan Sands in 1933, the town Provost and police assembled all the local children in the square to look upon the coffins as a warning to the dangers of the river.

Shortly after hearing of the tragedy, I came across the sinister tale of An I-Each Ban [the White Horse of Spey] in James Alan Rennie's Romantic Strathspey. This notorious kelpie would appear on the riverbank, its "saddle, bridle and stirrups of gleaming silver were encrusted with precious stones, white reigns and saddle-cloth of crimson velvet edged with gold." The passer-by would excitedly climb onto its back. Suddenly with a hideous scream, the horse would bolt into the river. As the rider held on for dear life, by some evil magic the skin of their hands would grow over the reigns and the spirit would drag them to their doom in the murky depths.

credits

from The River, released January 19, 2016
Hamish Napier - whistles, wooden flutes, piano, harmonium, Rhodes, Wurly, clavinet, bean pods and backing vocals


Sarah Hayes - alto flute

James Lindsay - double bass

Martin O'Neill - bodhran

Calum MacCrimmon - vocals (Canntaireachd)
Oystercatchers, Curlew, Heron & River Spey - vocals

All tracks composed by Hamish Napier PRS/MCPS. 
Canntaireachd lyrics by Calum MacCrimmon

All tracks arranged by Hamish Napier with invaluable contributions from Andrea Gobbi
Produced by Hamish Napier and Andrea Gobbi
Recorded and mixed at carrier Waves Studies, Glassgow
Mastered by Guy Davie at Electric Mastering
Photos, artwork and design by Somhairle Macdonald

For more info on The River visit www.hamishnapier.com
 
 
This album is dedicated to my mother, for sharing with me her vast musical knowledge and passion for composition and for first encouraging me to write and arrange music as a child; and to my father, for sharing with me his great love of nature, history and outdoor adventures. I cannot thank them enough for their love and support over the years.

Thanks to: Donald Shaw and the Celtic Connections festival team; The Spey Cast (Sarah Hayes, Martin O'Neill, James Lindsay, James Duncan Mackenzie, Ross Ainslie, Dave Milligan, Tom Gibbs and Andrea Gobbi); Duncan Lyall for the lend of his harmonium; James Duncan MacKenzie for the lend of his Martin Doyle E flat flute; Jarlath Henderson for the Uillean pipe drone sample; Niall Macauley for the field recorder hire; Calum MacCrimmon at The Big Music Society; Martin Hadden at Bimam CD; Alison Smith at Maxwell Music; Mike and Kirsty Shilson at Honeyrock Health; All the staff and students on the BMus Traditional Music degree course at The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland; The Ledinghams for the local photos; William and Muriel Grant for finding Beel Grant's old fishing photo albums; Bill Sadler at the Grantown Society; Caimgorm National Park; Adam Sutherland and Nae Plans; Cask Strength Ceilidh Band; Blas Collective; Man's Ruin; Mairi Maclnnes; Findlay Napier; Marc Duff; Jarlath Henderson; Ross Ainslie; Iain Macfarlane; Mike Vass; Fi Vass; Finlay MacDonald; Chris Stout; Dave Francis and Simon Thoumire.

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Hamish Napier Grantown On Spey, UK

Hamish is a multi-instrumentalist and composer from the Scottish Highlands.

contact / help

Contact Hamish Napier

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this track or account

Hamish Napier recommends:

If you like Hamish Napier, you may also like: