_1733 'Imar' "There are many reasons to be excited about new Glasgow-based five-piece \u00cdmar \u2013 not least a line-up featuring current and former members of M\u00e0nran, RURA, Talisk, Barrule, Cara, Mabon and The Lowground, whose collectively crammed trophy-cabinet includes a BBC Young Folk Award and several All-Britain\/All-Ireland titles. By far the best and biggest reason, however, is how excited the band are themselves. \u201cAs soon as we all sat down to play together properly, it just worked,\u201d says bodhr\u00e1n player Adam Brown (RURA), originally from Suffolk. \u201cWe were a bit stunned, to be honest; all looking round at everyone else, thinking, \u2018Is it just me, or was that really good?\u2019\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s definitely more of a pure-drop trad sound than most of the other bands we\u2019re involved in,\u201d adds Cork-born uilleann piper, flautist and whistle player Ryan Murphy (M\u00e0nran), \u201cbut I think that\u2019s partly why it feels so natural. We\u2019re going back to the music we started out playing \u2013 which is ultimately the reason why we\u2019re all here as musicians.\u201d \u00cdmar\u2019s formation also embodies a more personal reconnection with its members\u2019 formative years, dating back long before their recent camaraderie around Glasgow\u2019s justly celebrated session scene. All five of them \u2013 also including fiddler Tom\u00e1s Callister and bouzouki ace Adam Rhodes (Barrule\/Mabon), both from the Isle of Man, plus Glasgow native Mohsen Amini (Talisk) on concertina \u2013 originally met as teenagers through Comhaltas Ceolt\u00f3ir\u00ed \u00c9ireann, the Irish traditional music network that tutors budding players throughout the British Isles and beyond, and stages the annual schedule of Fleadh competitions. Mairead Stewart was born and raised in the village of Upper Coll on the Isle of Lewis, where song and poetry surrounded her as a child. This fostered her great love of Gaelic song and she later went on to win the coveted Gold Medal at the Royal National Mod in Airdrie in 1993. Since then her reputation as a singer has spread far and wide. Ewen Henderson hails from the Scottish West Highland town of Fort William and has been naturally steeped in the traditional music and Gaelic culture of the area from an early age. Now in his twenties, Ewen started learning the fiddle at five years of age and since then has mastered an impressive array of instruments, having had the privilege of learning from many of the true masters of West Highland traditional music such as Aonghas Grant Snr. on fiddle and Angus MacColl on bagpipes, whilst also being influenced by his strong family musical heritage. Over the years, Ewen has been fortunate enough to play all over the world from Shanghai to the Isle of Skye with a host of top Scottish and global cross-genre bands including the world-renowned Battlefield Band, with whom he toured for several years." Music Traditional "There are many reasons to be excited about new Glasgow-based five-piece \u00cdmar \u2013 not least a line-up featuring current and former members of M\u00e0nran, RURA, Talisk, Barrule, Cara, Mabon and The Lowground, whose collectively crammed trophy-cabinet includes a BBC Young Folk Award and several All-Britain\/All-Ireland titles. By far the best and biggest reason, however, is how excited the band are themselves. \u201cAs soon as we all sat down to play together properly, it just worked,\u201d says bodhr\u00e1n player Adam Brown (RURA), originally from Suffolk. \u201cWe were a bit stunned, to be honest; all looking round at everyone else, thinking, \u2018Is it just me, or was that really good?\u2019\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s definitely more of a pure-drop trad sound than most of the other bands we\u2019re involved in,\u201d adds Cork-born uilleann piper, flautist and whistle player Ryan Murphy (M\u00e0nran), \u201cbut I think that\u2019s partly why it feels so natural. We\u2019re going back to the music we started out playing \u2013 which is ultimately the reason why we\u2019re all here as musicians.\u201d \u00cdmar\u2019s formation also embodies a more personal reconnection with its members\u2019 formative years, dating back long before their recent camaraderie around Glasgow\u2019s justly celebrated session scene. All five of them \u2013 also including fiddler Tom\u00e1s Callister and bouzouki ace Adam Rhodes (Barrule\/Mabon), both from the Isle of Man, plus Glasgow native Mohsen Amini (Talisk) on concertina \u2013 originally met as teenagers through Comhaltas Ceolt\u00f3ir\u00ed \u00c9ireann, the Irish traditional music network that tutors budding players throughout the British Isles and beyond, and stages the annual schedule of Fleadh competitions. Mairead Stewart was born and raised in the village of Upper Coll on the Isle of Lewis, where song and poetry surrounded her as a child. This fostered her great love of Gaelic song and she later went on to win the coveted Gold Medal at the Royal National Mod in Airdrie in 1993. Since then her reputation as a singer has spread far and wide. Ewen Henderson hails from the Scottish West Highland town of Fort William and has been naturally steeped in the traditional music and Gaelic culture of the area from an early age. Now in his twenties, Ewen started learning the fiddle at five years of age and since then has mastered an impressive array of instruments, having had the privilege of learning from many of the true masters of West Highland traditional music such as Aonghas Grant Snr. on fiddle and Angus MacColl on bagpipes, whilst also being influenced by his strong family musical heritage. Over the years, Ewen has been fortunate enough to play all over the world from Shanghai to the Isle of Skye with a host of top Scottish and global cross-genre bands including the world-renowned Battlefield Band, with whom he toured for several years." 57.086430621903496 -5.880611272552528