Tag Archives: Beinn Lee

This week’s featured artist: Pàdruig Morrison – debut solo album ‘Buin’

From the island of Grimsay, in Uist in the Outer Hebrides, Pàdruig Morrison is an acclaimed accordionist and composer. Performing around the country with fellow Uist musicians as part of Beinn Lee, the six-piece band have received many plaudits for their impassioned interpretations of traditional Gaelic music. Morrison himself was a finalist in the 2020 BBC Radio Scotland Young Musician of the Year and also picked up a Celtic Connections New Voices commission that same year.

Equally comfortable in the worlds of both classical and contemporary composition, Morrison has also written music for the National Trust for Scotland, St Magnus International Festival, Thirteen North string ensemble, Hebrides Ensemble, Hard Rain Soloist Ensemble, Edinburgh International Book Festival, members of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and soundtracks for TV and radio. When he is at home and not performing or composing, he teaches accordion and piano and raises cattle and sheep on his croft in Grimsay.

Buin is Morrison’s debut solo album and features an array of original tunes and four original Gaelic songs. Written over the past six or seven years, the music distils his aural assimilation of old Gaelic songs and pipe melodies, to produce original material with a much older flavour.

‘Buin’ means belong. Equally appropriate titles for this album could have been ‘buain’, meaning harvest, and ‘buan’, meaning long-lasting. All of the tunes and the songs on this album have some form of reflection on belonging to a place, a people, and a culture.

https://padruigmorrison.bandcamp.com/track/an-t-ionnsachadh

Pàdruig Morrison: “I feel it is important to understand and convey how Gaels have long been fighting both for our right to land on which we can live and feed ourselves, and for our language to be spoken by those who come after us, just as it was by those who came before. This history is not sufficiently taught to us and I hope that this album might act as a reminder of, and an insight into, some of that history.”

Beautifully packaged with extensive liner notes, this album is an enchanting celebration of the Gaelic tradition and a fine showcase for Pàdruig Morrison’s exceptional musicianship and highly accomplished composition and arrangement skills.

Released: 25 January 2026 https://www.padruigmorrison.com/

Related post:

Album review – Beinn Lee ‘DEÒ’

Folk: album review – Beinn Lee ‘DEÒ’

Formed in 2013, Beinn Lee are a six-piece band from Uist in the Outer Hebrides. Two-and-a-half years in the making, the band’s second album, DEÒ, follows their debut, OSGARRA, released back in 2018.

While DEÒ contains a number of the band’s interpretations of traditional songs and tunes, it also showcases some brand-new original compositions, too, in both English and Gaelic. Musically, too, the album combines the traditional sounds of pipes, flute, fiddle and accordion with more contemporary influences. And the result is a stunningly vibrant synthesis of the traditional and the modern. Infectious modern beats jostle with the long-revered sounds of Gaelic folk to produce something that is fresh, vibrant and instantly moreish.

“The feeling of returning to music in 2021 highlighted the band’s roots with traditional tunes and bringing people together to dance,” say Beinn Lee. “That fundamental aspect of the band’s music is part of DEÒ and compliments lots of new material borne out of the band’s strong ambition to drive Gaelic music forward in new ways.”

The band are Micheal Steele, Pàdruig Morrison, Mairi Thérèse Gilfedder, James Stewart, Anna Black, and Seoras Lewis. They’ve been able to bring a strongly-held inheritance in Gaelic song and west coast pipe music with being open to more diverse contemporary influences, too, meaning they are now a much in-demand live act, from festivals to weddings.

Taking a break from catching up with new folk releases these past few weeks while I finished my latest book, this has been a stunning album to come back to. I absolutely love it!

Released: 17th December 2021

https://www.beinnlee.com/