“Ewen Henderson’s puirt à beul isn’t some arcane esoteric form: it is music to dance to.” Ticketmaster UK
I’m delighted to share with you the first single from my forthcoming album “Lèirsinn - Perception” and announce that the pre-order for the new album is now open!
You can also now pre-save the album to your favourite streaming services here. I can’t wait to let you hear it!
I’ve been working on some pieces of relaxed piano music recently - check it out on Spotify or wherever you get your music online!
It gives me great pleasure to announce that I’ve been asked to present BBC Radio nan Gàidheal’s bagpipe-music programme, Crunluath. Tune in on Thursdays at 4pm and Sundays at 1.30pm for one hour of the very best in piping!
I was delighted to be notified that my composition, ‘Clos nan Caman’ (‘Silence of the Camans’) had been awarded first place in a recent competition run by the Camanachd Association, the Royal Celtic Society and the Glasgow Celtic Society. You can can listen to the tune here and read the full story below!
Lochaber’s Ewen Henderson, one of Scotland’s finest musicians and composers has emerged as the winner of a unique competition which has been held to mark the 200th anniversary of the Royal Celtic Society and the fact that shinty has not been played this season.
The results of the final of the musical shoot-out were revealed at 1415 on Saturday afternoon (September 19) at the precise moment that shinty’s Big Day out, the Tulloch Homes Camanachd Cup Final, would have been throwing up in Kingussie had it not been for the intervention of the Coronavirus pandemic.
Three of Scotland’s oldest and most significant sporting and cultural bodies – the Royal Celtic Society, Glasgow Celtic Society and Camanachd Association - came together to offer a major set of prizes for an original musical competition marking the absence of shinty from this summer’s sporting calendar and looking forward to the return of play.
Led by the Royal Celtic Society (RCS), which is this year celebrating its 200th anniversary, and in partnership with the Glasgow Celtic Society and shinty’s governing body the Camanachd Association, supported by Tulloch Homes, the competition offered three prizes totalling £1,500 for an individual to compose an original competition.
Three finalists were chosen by a panel of judges after considerable and challenging assessment from an original entry list of more than 20. After serious and prolonged discussion, Chairman of the judges Gary Innes revealed the result, with Ewen Henderson emerging in first place, Mary Ann Kennedy second and Chris Gray third.
Ewen Henderson described his entry as follows: “I’ve composed a pipe-style ¾ march in three parts. The first reflects shinty’s proud history; the darker and repetitive second part symbolises lockdown and shinty’s hiatus; the optimistic third part looks to the future and shinty’s revival. Unique to Scotland, ¾ marches are a much underrated and neglected part of our musical heritage in the same way that shinty is sometimes overlooked in the wider sphere of Scottish sport. Also, many of the best of these marches were composed by army pipers in the war years – an appropriate nod to the only other times that shinty seasons have been cancelled.”
The RCS had originally intended that the winner of the competition could have
performed at this year’s Camanachd Cup Final at the post-match Final Fling. That game has now been re-schedule for Kingussie in September 2021. Royal Celtic Society Chairman Alan Hay said: “We are grateful to the Princess Royal for introducing the final competition for us in our significant 200th year when she has agreed to become our Patron. I am grateful to the Glasgow Celtic Society and Camanachd Association with the support of Tulloch Homes This was a huge undertaking for us and a unique set of circumstances against the background of a global pandemic, at a significant moment in our own and shinty’s history. I am grateful to the judges, who were unanimous that they found the entries a highly demanding challenge in terms of the separation for final choices and I know from personal experience how difficult it was to select a winner from such an accomplished set of entries. We were particularly encouraged by the number of young people who took part and also the fact that the clàrsach appeared on at least two occasions.”
Here’s a new music video featuring the stunning scenery of Camusdarach Beach in the West Highlands of Scotland. The music is track three from my debut solo album, Steall. Enjoy a little escape to the coast!
I’m delighted to announce that I’ll once again be teaching a five-day fiddle course at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig - Scotland’s Gaelic College - on the Isle of Skye. This has been a great week the last few years and this time it’ll be happening between the 17th & 21st of August.
It has booked-up fairly quickly in previous years so, if you fancy it, you should head over to the Sabhal Mòr website just now. There’s more information on the course available there too.
My debut (proper) solo album, “Steall” has been released! You can buy it on CD or vinyl and download it from my shop right here or you can catch it on Spotify, iTunes, Bandcamp and all good online purveyors of quality music!
It’s had some great feedback so far - pretty well chuffed!
"It’s a lovely listen packed with variety” - BBC Radio Scotland
"An utterly brilliant album” - Blues & Roots Radio
“It’s a great collection of music and gaelic song and I know that our audience will enjoy it as much as we have.” - BBC Radio nan Gàidheal
My forthcoming solo album “Steall” is set all set for release on the 31st of January!
The album features a range of mostly self-penned tunes alongside some lesser-known Gaelic songs from the tradition. Though the process took well over a year from inception to completion, it’s one I thoroughly enjoyed and this was in no small part down to the pleasure of working with musical intellectual Ewan MacPherson as producer and the brilliant Barry Reid as engineer. I also had the thrill of James MacKintosh, James Lindsay and Tom Gibbs joining me on a few of the tracks contributing percussion, double-bass and clarinet, respectively. Here’s a taste of what you can find on the album: Òran a’ Bhranndaidh (Song of the Brandy). Enjoy!
PS: If you want to get ahead of the curve, the album’s available right here, right now!
A song from Ewen Henderson's brand new album "Steall", available on CD and download now from https://www.ewen-henderson.com Òran a' Bhranndaidh (Duncan Ban MacIntyre) Duncan Ban MacIntyre lived between 1724-1812 and, to this day, is recognised as a true giant of Gaelic poetry whose work is still held in the highest regard by all with an interest in bàrdachd.
