LOWLAND FOLK AND THE MEDIA #1

The main members of Lowland Folk were - Stewart Brown, his wife Anne, and brother, Ramsay Brown.

They originally started off in the 60's as the Lowland Folk Four when Philip Gore was with them and were a very popular act on the folk circuit. As well as doing the biz live, they also made many recordings and TV appearances. On one occasion, they supplied the soundtrack to a television documentary about Dundee which was broadcast on BBC in 1966 to coincide with the opening of the Tay Road Bridge. In fact, a reminder that you can view the original preview of the programme from the '66 Radio Times, in the January 2009 Retro Archives.

The following year, they released an album called "Eh'll Tell The Boaby", which must be one of the earliest recordings to be sung in a broad Dundee accent.

Forward wind a couple of decades to 1986, and the Lowland Folk are still at it, this time bringing out a single to commemorate the return of the Discovery to Dundee. It was released on Broughty Ferry label, Balaena Records, and was recorded at Inner City Sound studios by Allan McGlone.

It was a bit of a departure from their traditional folk sound, opting instead for a moody Clannad kind of vibe. The session also featured Allan Barty on various stringed instruments and Derek Thomson on keyboards.

(Sorry for the crunchy noises on my vinyl copy by the way!)

Finally, a wee bit of trivia - Stewart Brown was also Editor of DC Thomson magazine, "My Weekly".