HAMISH HEPBURN & JACK HOUSTON
Afore Ye Go
Former flat-mates during time at University in Glasgow in the late 2010s, Jack Houston, a fiddler from Donegal, and Highland pipe and flautist Hamish Hepburn finally got around to recording some music together in 2025 while Hamish was on flying visits home from New Zealand.
On Afore Ye Go, their debut album, of which they tell us, “Many of the tracks on this album look at the sharing of music despite distance; between Donegal and Scotland, between far away friends, and between generations”, Hamish, credited with pipes, whistles and flutes, and Jack, fiddle, viola & vocals, are joined by Jack McRobbie and Miguel Girão, (guitar), Ella McGrory (piano) and Callum Edwards (percussion). Released as a 6-panel digisleeve with CD and album sleeve notes, the wonderful cover artwork is by Kirsty Jones.
Following an excerpt from a traditional Gaelic song ‘Mo Rùn Geal Dileas’ sung by Jesse Hepburn, the album’s first set comprises firstly ‘James Hepburn’s 91st’, a gentle, respectful slow reel written by Hamish for his grandfather’s birthday. Himself a box player from Mallaig, James was a great influence on Hamish’s music and this album is dedicated to his memory. This is followed by 'Nia's Barndance', composed by Dermot Byrne and a tribute to his daughter, which gathers momentum as it progresses.
The trio of jigs which follow, ‘Tá’n Fear Fėasógach a’ Teacht/The Candle Queen/The Stepping Stones ramp things up a notch, with Jack McRobbie’s driving guitar and Callum Edwards’ percussion spurring things along, and there is no letting up, indeed the opposite, with the next set of reels. The first of these, Jack’s ‘David Lavery’s Reel’, written as a tribute, is followed by ‘The Evening Comes Early’ written by John Doyle, which reflects upon darker times before ‘the traditional Donegal reel ‘Eiri na Greine’, (The Rising of The Sun’), reminds us that the memories that people leave behind them can be a source of joy and strength. The interplay between the instruments whilst bordering on the frenetic is tight in the extreme.
With ‘The Mull Wedding’, we are at last given chance to draw breath on this delightful waltz written by Ian Knight for his son Martyn Bennett, who, tragically died young. Gentle picked guitar and flute notes give way to a melancholic fiddle before Hamish’s pipes make for a satisfying conclusion. The respite is short, however, as two tunes in the Donegal Highlands style, dance tunes influenced by Scottish Highlands Strathspeys, ‘The Devil’s Backbone/Ark of Tides’, are delivered in a jaunty fashion, with flute and fiddle underscored by some fine piano from Inishowen’s Ella McGrory.
Hamish’s pipes are very much to the fore on the next set of quickstep and jigs, ‘The Archina MacLennon Twoscore/The West Highland Line/Lady Francis’, before the album’s penultimate track, a pair of high-tempo reels ‘The Stolen Drone Reeds/Marianne’s’ Having recently watched Skerryvore headline a festival stage, I can honestly say that the playing on these two recorded sets easily matches the power and energy of the award-winning Scottish band.
All too soon, the album comes to its conclusion. In an astute bit of programming, as with opening, the last track, ‘Mo Shean Inis Eoghain’, is also a tribute, this time to Jack’s grandmother, Kathleen Holmes, whom he lost in the same year as Hamish’s grandfather, and to whom the album is also dedicated. An adaptation of ‘Dark Inishowen, by David A.Campbell, this slow air, played on Highland bagpipes and fiddle, with Jack’s elegant Gaelic singing, is alluringly serene and is followed by a short clip of ‘Luí na Gréine thar an Inis’, a waltz he wrote for her, which appeared on his Òmòs release.
Musically articulate, with ecellent playing throughout, this is a most enjoyable album.
Afore Ye Go