Celtic Connections
2006 was lucky enough to host the first ever performance of The Island Tapes,
a multimedia project featuring original live music set to five silent films recording
life on St Kilda, Harris, Skye, Orkney and Shetland in the 1920s and 30s.
The Island Tapes is the baby of David Allison,
an innovative one-man-band guitarist who records and loops his own playing in
real time to provide a multi-layered backing for his acoustic sets.
The
inspiration for the Island Tapes grew from a commission for the Scottish Screen
Archive, writing scores for classic silent footage from their vaults. It struck
him that he expand this into a live setting so he gathered around him two more
virtuoso guitarists, Allan Neave and Ian Melrose, as well as Gaelic singer Alyth
McCormack, and this fascinating concert is the result.
