Year 32 No 3 - November 2007
‘Failte gu club bocsa is fidheall Uibhist is Bheinn na Faoghla” or, if you have no Gaelic, “Welcome to the Uist and Benbecula Accordion and fiddle Club”. We would like to introduce ourselves to the rest of the ‘Accordion and Fiddle Club World’ through the Box and Fiddle. Our Club was formed in 1994 by a small core of keen musicians and it has gone from strength to strength since then. We meet every second Saturday from September to May in the Church of Scotland Hall in Griminish on the Isle of Benbecula with is situated between the Islands of North Uist and South Uist. Our numbers were swelled once the causeways to the Islands of Berneray and Eriskay were completed in 1999 and 2002 respectively, and we now have over 50 members who think nothing of making the 60-mile round trip on mainly single-track roads on dark and stormy winter evenings.
There is a strong musical tradition in Uist with piping to the fore, however, as well as a few fiddlers, there are many box players (piano, button key and melodeon) who either play at home for their own amusement our out at ceilidhs and family gatherings. Many are self-taught and do not use or read music, but have innumerable tunes in their repertoire and, if encouraged, can easily play all night (and often do!!)
The Club offers opportunity to learn and share tunes and, above all, is a social event for the musicians and our appreciative audience. We encourage musicians of all ages and abilities to play and the supportive atmosphere allows people to get used to playing in public.
Our Club may run a little differently to other Clubs. Due to the expense and vagaries of travel during the winter months, it is not easy to arrange regular guest artistes, so most Club nights are just ourselves, however we often have holiday-makers joining in and going their ‘turn’. In the summer months, we arrange ‘Club Specials’ in different locations, usually involving hiring a coach to transport everyone and their instruments to the destinations. These ‘Specials’ also serve to introduce the Club to different audiences who perhaps cannot travel far and they certainly go down well with locals and holiday-makers who appreciate the live music. The Club is striving to arrange more guest artistes to venture here.
This summer we had a successful evening with Duncan Mackinnon, a 3-row button-box player who has recently returned from Glasgow to live in his native Isle of Barra.
We have links with both the Lewis and Harris and the Isle of Skye clubs and arrange exchange visits with them which are always popular as often relatives and friends meet up whilst enjoying the music. We are heading to the Isle of Skye Club on 10th November and will be proudly showing off our new burgundy-coloured polo and sweat-shirts resplendent with the new Club logo, designed recently by one of our members.
Our main reason for affiliating to the NAAFC and including ourselves in the Box and Fiddle is to advertise our existence to those of you who may visit the Islands and would like to join us on a Club night, or perhaps those who had never considered coming here before and could perhaps make a holiday of it. Any potential guest artistes would be very welcome too!
We look forward to reporting about our Club and having a regular contribution to the ‘Around the Clubs’ section.
‘Failte gu club bocsa is fidheall Uibhist is Bheinn na Faoghla” or, if you have no Gaelic, “Welcome to the Uist and Benbecula Accordion and fiddle Club”. We would like to introduce ourselves to the rest of the ‘Accordion and Fiddle Club World’ through the Box and Fiddle. Our Club was formed in 1994 by a small core of keen musicians and it has gone from strength to strength since then. We meet every second Saturday from September to May in the Church of Scotland Hall in Griminish on the Isle of Benbecula with is situated between the Islands of North Uist and South Uist. Our numbers were swelled once the causeways to the Islands of Berneray and Eriskay were completed in 1999 and 2002 respectively, and we now have over 50 members who think nothing of making the 60-mile round trip on mainly single-track roads on dark and stormy winter evenings.
There is a strong musical tradition in Uist with piping to the fore, however, as well as a few fiddlers, there are many box players (piano, button key and melodeon) who either play at home for their own amusement our out at ceilidhs and family gatherings. Many are self-taught and do not use or read music, but have innumerable tunes in their repertoire and, if encouraged, can easily play all night (and often do!!)
The Club offers opportunity to learn and share tunes and, above all, is a social event for the musicians and our appreciative audience. We encourage musicians of all ages and abilities to play and the supportive atmosphere allows people to get used to playing in public.
Our Club may run a little differently to other Clubs. Due to the expense and vagaries of travel during the winter months, it is not easy to arrange regular guest artistes, so most Club nights are just ourselves, however we often have holiday-makers joining in and going their ‘turn’. In the summer months, we arrange ‘Club Specials’ in different locations, usually involving hiring a coach to transport everyone and their instruments to the destinations. These ‘Specials’ also serve to introduce the Club to different audiences who perhaps cannot travel far and they certainly go down well with locals and holiday-makers who appreciate the live music. The Club is striving to arrange more guest artistes to venture here.
This summer we had a successful evening with Duncan Mackinnon, a 3-row button-box player who has recently returned from Glasgow to live in his native Isle of Barra.
We have links with both the Lewis and Harris and the Isle of Skye clubs and arrange exchange visits with them which are always popular as often relatives and friends meet up whilst enjoying the music. We are heading to the Isle of Skye Club on 10th November and will be proudly showing off our new burgundy-coloured polo and sweat-shirts resplendent with the new Club logo, designed recently by one of our members.
Our main reason for affiliating to the NAAFC and including ourselves in the Box and Fiddle is to advertise our existence to those of you who may visit the Islands and would like to join us on a Club night, or perhaps those who had never considered coming here before and could perhaps make a holiday of it. Any potential guest artistes would be very welcome too!
We look forward to reporting about our Club and having a regular contribution to the ‘Around the Clubs’ section.