Wow, what a year..! When we finished up last year after all our gigs and said we’d like 2020 to be a bit quieter, this wasn’t quite what we had in mind…anyway, the start of the year was fairly hectic – we moved house on 21 Jan, to a property more suited to teaching and music. We unpacked as much as possible before heading off to Germany the following week to play at a Burns’ Night in the Odenwald Region. Falkirk is twinned with this beautiful area and this was our second invitation to play for them. As always, we received the warmest of welcomes even though the weather was chilly, and enjoyed a super evening of entertainment and food. Neil joined in with the Clan Pipers Frankfurt pipe band, he gave the address to the haggis and played for two dancers from Jenkins Highland Dancers, who went down a storm! Neil and I performed a number of Scottish songs and tunes as well. So glad we got this trip in before Covid-19 hit…
In February we enjoyed the Big Sing workshop in Linlithgow with folk singer/songwriter Christine Kydd. It was fun to learn new songs and sing with People from varied musical backgrounds. In March we played at Glintin ‘ Licht, a fundraiser for the beautiful Scottish island of Eilean Mor MacCormick. This was to be the last live gig of 2020 for Glenbervie…
We had spent two days in Castlesound Recording Studios, Pencaitland, in Dec and Jan, recording our first ever Glenbervie CD. We had hoped to have a proper launch party, but the CDs arrived as lockdown was announced on 23 March. Despite this, we managed to sell quite a few copies online – thanks to all who bought one! Please check out our ‘Buy CDs’ section of the website if you’re interested.
Sadly, Covid-19 put paid to the schools’ workshops we had planned to do at the historic Callendar House in Falkirk, as well as the Tryst Festival – although an online version of this went ahead. Of course, the local orchestra in which Kathryn plays clarinet has also been unable to meet. We were asked to submit a recording for the Yn Chruinnaght festival in the Isle of Man, which we’d enjoyed performing at last year. We also did a couple of livestream ‘gigs’ from home during lockdown. Good fun, but not quite the same as having a live audience in the room! We’ve also enjoyed taking part in Falkirk Folk Club’s online sessions. Kathryn has discovered a love of songwriting in the last year and is gradually adding recordings of these to our YouTube channel. Neil played outdoors for a couple of care homes and during the Clap for Carers. We also recorded some outdoor videos at local places of interest, with our Highland Dancer friend Kayleigh. In June, Neil was asked by the local Provost, Billy Buchanan, to play in Allandale to honour those lost at St Valery. He also played for an event held at Duncarron Fort in the Carron Valley, organised by Primal Adventures. We both joined them on a very wet day in Findhu Glen, to perform a couple of tunes outdoors for guests. We were thankful that the rain had eased a little by the time we came to play!
Neil has been very fortunate during the pandemic, in that he has been able to continue teaching. All his pupils went over to Skype lessons. In fact, he received so many teaching requests that he had to pass new pupils on to three other tutors – all personally recommended by Neil, of course! We will review the situation in the New Year. Some of his pupils took part in the CLASP online competition, and some of them were successful in securing places.
Neil’s daughter Morag gave birth to a beautiful baby boy in April, a wee brother for Eden. We’re eager to see if he shows the same enthusiasm for music as his big sister! Another new addition to the family is that of Milo, a young Border Collie, who appears to like piobaireachd but is still getting used to the sound of the clarinet…some of the pupils will have heard him vocalising in the background, no doubt. He takes his job as security at Falkirk Piping HQ very seriously…
Finally, we had some changes made to our website and apologise for any hiccups during the transition period. We hope that it is now easier to navigate. Please take care, stay safe, and support music and the arts in whatever way you can!
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