Oban Times
20th February 2023
Kathie Griffiths
Island band gets Lismore back up and dancing
February 20, 2023
Acclaimed folksinger, songwriter and musician Mairi Campbell is on a mission to bring more island communities back to the dance floor – starting with Lismore
Lismore is back on the dance floor.
The revival is thanks to island resident and acclaimed folksinger, songwriter and musician Mairi Campbell who set up a dance band after Covid last year to help get folk out of their houses and back together again.
Lismore Dance Band’s next public appearance will be Saturday May 20th
Mairi rounded up nine locals to join the band, meeting up for weekly rehearsals and now have all the sets “pretty much ready” she says.
“I thought, let’s see if we can create a Scottish dance band with local
islanders. We have a good number of musicians here, mostly amateur but if
we could get some sets of tunes together, then we could put together enough sets for a full night. So that’s what I’ve done and I think we’re sounding great ” she said.
A good crowd turned out to the dance band’s last gig “and the feedback was terrific”, added Mairi.
With Mairi on the fiddle, she is joined by Katy Crossan on piano, Shona Wright on guitar, Davy Maddock on bass, Yorick Paine on drums, Noelle Odling and Lorne McDougall also on fiddle, Arthur Cross on whistle and Anne Barr on accordion.
“I think dances have fallen away for two reasons: bands cost more money
than many small communities can cover with the number of people
attending. You’d pay £500 to £800 for a band for the night, ( travel, accommodation and a fee) That requires 50 to 80 people minimum to attend, which is
a lot in a community of 160. The other factor was Covid and lockdown, and we’ve never got back to the same numbers of folk going out. The average drop in live event attendances has been around 30 per cent.
“We rehearse weekly and we’ve got all the sets pretty much ready,” said Mairi.
A helpful factor has been that everyone can learn the tunes in their own time
– by ear or music. Mairi has a platform on her website for learning and listening
to all the sets and tunes. All the music is there, available for anyone to learn.
“It’s a game changer,” she said.
Sign up to her mailing list at www.mairicampbell.scot and you get the password for the Tunes to Learn where there are over 200 tunes plus 24 sets for dancing.
“I’d love to see local dance bands springing up all over the country. This is
possible. “Our sets are available to listen to for anyone to learn – they’re great tunes, very West Coast on the whole. The kind of tunes I remember listening to when I was growing up on Lismore. Bill Black was a regular here. We’re inspired by the great Scottish dance band players, like Jim Macleod, John Carmichael and Jimmy Shand.”