Scottish harper Rachel Hair and Manx Gaelic singer Ruth Keggin will release their new album, Lossan, on July 8. The CD will be available for purchase on Hair’s website, and on iTunes and streaming platforms.
We asked Hair to tell us more about the project.
How did you and Ruth Keggin decide to record this album together?
It’s something we’ve always wanted to do, having performed together at concerts both on the Isle of Man and at the Edinburgh International Harp Festival back in 2018. With both of us having performing careers already, we just couldn’t find time in our diaries when we were both available. And then came COVID… and we suddenly had time!
Can you tell us how you chose the name of your new album?
It’s called Lossan, which is a Manx Gaelic word, with meanings including “light, glimmer, sheen, flame.” It also became associated with luminous particles in the sea (bioluminescence) as well as the aurora borealis. We love the idea of the word meaning tiny particles of light in the darkness—particularly as we began work on the album during COVID lockdowns—and the connection that the word has to the sea and sky; the things that connect us both, and are so important to both of our homelands (Scotland and the Isle of Man).
How did you fund your album project?
We were very fortunate to receive some funding from the Isle of Man Arts Council, who recognized it was worth funding an album that showcases Manx Gaelic song and the playing of the harp. We also were fortunate to be accepted into a new joint initiative by Creative Scotland and Crowdfunder. We were one of 10 artistic projects chosen to compete for matched funding. We all launched our crowdfunding campaigns at the same time and within 48 hours we reached our stretch target, meaning that Creative Scotland doubled our funds.
We were so grateful to our crowdfunders—we’ve repaid them with rewards from tunes, calligraphy, lessons, and even Scottish tablet candy!
Can you describe the style of Manx Gaelic music? How did you choose which songs to include on your album?
Manx Gaelic is the native Celtic language to the Isle of Man, the smallest of the Celtic nations. It’s from the same family as Scottish and Irish Gaelic and is rooted in the culture of the island. Many of the melodies from Manx songs are known as tunes in their own right.
For the last 10 years I’ve been visiting the Isle of Man once a month to teach a host of young harp players Manx music, so I’ve gotten to know many of the traditional Manx songs on the island and regularly teach them to my harp students as melodies.
For the album, we spent a wonderful week last August where we sat down looking through collections of Manx music and songs—both old collections and new collections. We found songs that we’d forgotten we knew and discovered new-to-us old songs, and combined them with some wonderful newer compositions by song writers we know on the island. I also recorded a few harp solo numbers too, of traditional melodies.
I know you couldn’t travel to teach on the Isle of Man during the pandemic. What is it like to be back to teaching there?
Yes, even though my husband is Manx, we were completely banned from visiting the island for 15 months. This was very hard, not only for my teaching, but for our mental health in not being able to see our immediate family there. I’m now back there monthly (I just returned recently) and it’s simply wonderful to teach in person again. You get so much more done, and we finally managed to have our first concert as the harp ensemble Claasagh since 2018! We were meant to have one at the end of March 2020, but well, we all know what happened then!
What was your favorite part of making the CD?
As a harp player, I usually take on the role of a melody player, so it was a wonderful creative challenge for me to be the sole accompanist on the album. I loved working with Ruth to help compose sympathetic accompaniments, suitable to the stories that the songs were telling.
Check out our feature interview with Hair in the March/April 2021 issue of Harp Column.
