Catherine-Ann MacPhee

about

Catherine-Ann MacPhee (born 21 November 1959 on the Island of Barra) is a Scottish Gaelic singer. MacPhee grew up with Scottish Gaelic as her first language. Electricity did not reach the island until she was six. At the age of five she started singing at candle-lit ceilidhs in the little village of Eoligarry. During the summer she sang for tourists. At the age of seventeen she joined "Fir Chlis" (Northern Lights). It was the first Scottish Gaelic repertory theatre company and did work for radio and television. Following budget cuts the company ended after three years. After moving to the island of Mull, she received many phone calls from John McGrath of the 7:84 theatre company. It took much persuasion to get her to join them and play English-speaking roles. She travelled with them to Leningrad, Tbilisi, Toronto, Cape Breton and Berlin. Ian Green from Greentrax Records heard her at a festival in Dingwall and offered a recording contract. Like her subsequent albums, all of the songs on "Cànan Nan Gaidheal" (The Language of the Gael) (1987) are in Gaelic, and most are traditional. One of the songs is by the Gaelic-speaking folk-rock group Runrig. Her voice is a powerful alto with exceptionally clear diction. The backing musicians include Tony Cuffe and William Jackson, both from the group Ossian. Her second album contains a bewildering range of pop and New Age influences including drum machine, harp and bass guitar. It was probably the first time that "waulking songs" (work

top songs

albums

Canan Nan Gaidheal

Chi Mi' N Geamhradh

Cànan nan Gàidheal

Sings Mairi Mhor

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The Rough Guide to Scottish Music

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Rough Guide To Scottish Music

Songs From The Cold Seas

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Tunes from the Lowlands, Highlands & Islands

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Chi Mi'n Geamhradh (I See Winter)

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Suil Air Ais (Looking Back)

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The Rough Guide To Scottish Music (First Edition)

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Chi Mi'n Geamhradh

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