Acclaimed folk band releases songs after 25 years
An acclaimed folk band have shared songs from their debut album in celebration of its 25th anniversary.
Shoormal are marking the quarter century milestone with the official release of the 12 songs from Indigo Skies - which led to the band being nominated for two Mike Harding Folk awards.
Singer-songwriter Freda Leask, who founded the band, has released a song every week from the album on her YouTube channel - with the sixth being released yesterday (Friday).
While the album was released as a CD at the time, Leask said it was never released digitally - until now.
“Indigo Skies was just done in the bedroom of JJ Jamieson’s flat at the time,” she explained.
“It was just a hobby to get some oh wir songs doon, so it’s no available onywhar.
“I just thought it’s no oot there and it might get some new listeners and the music hasn’t dated that much when you listen back to it.
“I contacted everybody in the band and they all agreed, so I’ve been putting it out track by track on my YouTube channel.”
Leask grew up in Yell and began singing as a child after being inspired by her mother Andrina Tulloch - also a gifted vocalist.
“Me folk ai had music going on in the house, mam could sing and there was always a tune going on around Christmas and Newerday or the regattas,” she said.
“We ai had concerts in the halls around that time and everybody encouraged you, if you were showing a bit of interest then you were involved. I was singing harmonies we me midder fae a very early age and it’s just dyud fae dare.
"In the winter they had all these Islesburgh travelling concerts that dyud aboot all the halls and the organiser took an interest in my singing and I was involved in that fae I was aboot 11, so it got you keenin’ a lot oh folk and some of them are still playing. Local songs and tunes aroond the hoose is really how it all started.”
After her own children grew a little older, Leask decided to return to music - leading to the formation of Shoormal.
“We were all different ages and stages of life,” she said.
“I was in my mid-thirties at the time. My bairns were at a certain stage and I thought ‘I’d quite like to get back into music’ I was really interested in harmony and I thought ‘If I do get something going, I’d like it to be a three-part harmony.”
Despite their varied ages, Leask said that “ower a period oh time it gelled.”
• While Indigo Skies was not released digitally 25 years ago, it was released as a CD. This is a clarification as this week's newspaper stated the songs had previously been unreleased.