CD by Nigel Richard

 nigel

Probably not before time but this CD of primarily songs is perhaps a surprise to many who only know Nigel as a pipemaker trading as Garvie Bagpipes. Nigel has beavered away to produce this CD which gives a nod to the various influences that have shaped his music over the years and is a musical statement of his concerns and beliefs - the main influence being the folk blues of Davey Graham and the other various styles of what would now be called world music. The recording consists of 8 songs written and arranged by Nigel, along with one instrumental track on which he has created the string arrangement. There are some wonderful arrangements - blues harp and bottleneck guitar, brass, strings and pipes appear on only one track. Nigel was able to call on some well kent faces to help with the recording. The names of those featuring on the recording give some idea of the quality of the music – Tom Lyne, Amy Geddes, Su-a-Lee, Euan Richard, Donald MacDougall, Ross Ainslie, Gyan Singh, Ron MacMillan, Dick Lee, Chris Grieve and Danielle Price.
Nigel sings and plays guitar and cittern. The songs would appear to be reflections from life’s experiences – concerns over the influence of holy men and religions (Preacher Man / Mountain), a love song, a song about mending your ways, the dangers of drugs, the joys of capitalism and the fate of the dispossessed (Living on Air – For Grenfell). The tablas in the song Monkey’s Flunky give an Indian feel to the song which is then followed by a fine instrumental called The Pagan – the one track that features Ross Ainslie playing Border pipes made by Nigel. The CD concludes with another fine string based instrumental called Wave Dancer. It’s been a lifetime coming. As a near neighbor I should declare an interest but would heartily deny any bias in this assessment! All in all this is a fine CD which will grow on you with repeated listening.
Graham Dixon
Pathhead 16.10.19
Not Before Time is Available online and direct from the Birnam CD Shop, aFull details at http://www.garviemusic.com/