Ian Hardie - Westringing

(December 2007) 14 tracks: Carn Gorm to Blue Ridge * Karen's Waltz * Burnsville Loop * Cape Fear * Da Scalloway Lasses * Tollaidh * The Grey One Goes West * The Rejected Suitor * The 6844 Stomp * Pass Of The Sword * Dip The Hood * The Lone Ash Waltz * Banjo Branch Fiddle * The Highlands Of Nairnshire.

Fiddle player Ian Hardie shows both his mastery of playing and composing.

All the tunes are in non-standard tunings and are recorded with no double tracks or overdubs.

"In Westringing, Hardie, a one-time member of the veteran folk group Jock Tamson's Bairns who these days spends much of his time playing with the Occasionals and Ghillies dance bands, has recorded the album using unorthodox fiddle tunings throughout, inspired by old-time Appalachian fiddle styles. The ringing, double-stopped sound is both familiar to anyone acquainted with American music, yet can also give an intriguing new feel to established Scottish material." (The Scotsman)

"…his first entirely solo album, and he employs a range of altered tunings to splendid effect on both fiddle and viola. Other than a smattering of arrangements of traditional material, the compositions are all his own, and include a Pibroch for fiddle, The Highlands of Nairnshire, as well as a range of tunes inspired by old-time Appalachian, Scottish and Shetland fiddle styles." (The Scotsman)

"Hardie's own strong compositions join a few old Shetland and Scottish reels, with witty sleeve notes. A must for those interested in our great evolving fiddle tradition." (Scotland On Sunday)

"The former Jock Tamson's Bairns fiddler goes solo on an album that vividly captures the connection between the music that blossomed in Appalachia with the Scots diaspora and its Highland fiddling and bagpiping roots. Using altered fiddle tunings and self-accompaniment techniques, he becomes a one-person dance band on sweetly turned waltzes and the more vigorous numbers…" (The Herald)

"…the album is by no means all hell-for-leather. It includes a beautiful version of his air, Tollaidh, and ends with a stately fiddle pibroch, The Highlands of Nairnshire, its resonant, droning strings mimicking some bagpipe pibroch fingerings, and bringing this wandering music securely back home." (The Scotsman)

"Hardie, a fantastic Scottish fiddle player followed the trail and learned and re-learned his craft in the old time communities of the Blue Ridge Mountains in recent years and from that rebirth he has produced a wonderful album of fourteen instrumental tracks." (Irish Music Magazine)

"Hardie is a lovely player, with excellent control and expression in his playing... Westringing is a superb example of a 'concept' album that hews closely to its stated theme and delivers in spades. Lovers of good fiddle music will find a lot to like here." (Gary Whitehouse, Greenmanreview)

"...a must for all lovers of fiddle music." (The Reel Magazine, London)