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Councillor reveals other life... as a musician
AN Ellon councillor has his eyes on non-political stardom, after recording a CD of traditional Scottish music with his old band.
Cllr Richard Thomson plays the fiddle with the Canongate Cadjers Ceilidh Band, and has recorded a new CD with the group after a chance reunion in 2012.
The Cadjers, who specialise in ceilidh music with a modern twist, have performed on cruise ships, as well as at the ceilidh tent at the T In The Park music festival. The band have also previously travelled to the Middle East to perform for the Scottish ex-pat community.
Cllr Thomson, who is the grandson of well-known North-East fiddler and bothy ballad singer Gordon Easton from Tyrie near Fraserburgh, formerly worked as a reported for the Ellon Times and Inverurie Herald prior to his election. Since then, he has served as one of Ellon and District’s four local members.
Speaking to the Times, he told how his involvement in the band had diminished in recent years, but had been rekindled following the death last year of the band’s original fiddle player, Iain King.
Meeting up at a musical tribute evening held in Iain’s honour, the band had subsequently taken bookings at accordion and fiddle clubs around the country, and decided to make a return to the studio.
“It’s been really good to get back in tow with such a great bunch of musicians and friends”, Cllr Thomson told the Times.
“In our time playing together, we’ve travelled many thousands of miles and played millions upon millions of notes, mostly in the right order.
“The music we’ve played together and the time spent in eachothers’ company over the years has been such a big part of our lives. It’s been great to try and capture some of that for posterity on CD with some new tunes to update the band’s sound.”
Although mostly Edinburgh-based, the band has strong Aberdeenshire links, with Richard from Ellon and second accordionist Adam Young living until recently near Inverurie.
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Wednesday 22 May 2013
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