Music
Louise has been playing the fiddle since the age of eight. She was taught in school by Douglas Montgomery (Saltfishforty, The Chair) and also attended fiddle classes at the Orkney Traditional Music Project. Over the years she has played in many venues around Orkney, across the UK and abroad, with different groups such as Hadhirgaan (school fiddle group lead by Douglas Montgomery) and the OTMP, including Yn Chruinnaght on the Isle of Man, the North Atlantic Fiddle Convention, Celtic Connections, the Edinburgh Fiddle Festival and the Traditional Music Awards in Glasgow. In 2005 she toured Canada with Hadhirgaan and a school drama group and over the years, has attending various music courses including Feis Rois in Ullapool, Taransay Fiddle Camp and Gordon Gun’s fiddle workshops in Wick. In 2008 Louise won the Orkney Folk Festival Open Stage competition, playing as part of a duo with pianist Jennifer Austin. The duo were joined later by James Lindsay on double bass and Kevin Gray on cajon to form the folk band Skalder who went on to win the Celtic Connections Danny Kyle Open Stage in 2009. Skalder played at various festivals around the UK and toured Scotland in the summer of 2009 before recording their debut album Cora with Angus Lyon at Gran’s House studio in South Lanarkshire, released in December 2009. Although traditional music is her passion, Louise has also enjoyed playing with the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland, and their Children’s Orchestra as well as the Orkney Orchestra and Orkney Camerata and has achieved Grade 7 Violin. She has been teaching fiddle classes for several years with the OTMP, gave individual lessons at The Wrigley Sisters Centre of Music in Kirkwall, where she also worked in the cafe and music shop when home in Orkney and teaches fiddle classes at the North Ayrshire Fiddle Workshops. Louise has experience in teaching pupils and classes of all ages and abilities and is available for private tuition in Glasgow; please feel free to get in touch via email or phone for more information.
As well as playing regularly with various ceilidh and function bands including Whisky Kiss and The Reel McCoy, Louise has played and sang in a band with Scots singer and Young Traditional Musician of the Year Finalist Alistair Ogilvy, singer Rachel Sermanni, Skalder and has appeared as a ‘Chairette’ with Orkney folk and stomp music band The Chair. She currently plays with folk band Gria as well and has her own ceilidh band Dalamist.
