Donnie Murdo MacLeod

Donnie Murdo MacLeod was born in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis, and has lived and worked for many years in special education in Edinburgh and Aberdeen where he is currently based. He has recently left Aberdeen University, where he was granted a personal professorship, to concentrate on freelance work and also his singing.

Although he came from the relatively non-Gaelic background of Stornoway, he grew up with a love of singing and song and his greatest asset is his ability to communicate to an audience the stories of the songs and the singers he learned them from. Winner of the Gold Medal for Seann-Nòs or traditional singing at the National Mòd, he is a champion of the rarer and more unusual songs from Gaelic culture and this album is a beautiful, unfussy distillation of his art, with backing and production from Mary Ann Kennedy.

Donnie Murdo's album, Sguab is Dlòth, was named “Gaelic Album of the Year” in 2000 by Scotland on Sunday. Donnie Murdo sings occasionally solo, and plans to tour more regularly with Mary Ann now that freelance life beckons. The name of the album is a quote from a song by Màiri Mhòr nan Òran (Big Mary of the Songs) or Mary MacPherson, the veritable spin-doctor of the land league struggle in 19th Century Scotland. Donnie Murdo believes it reflects his approach to gathering and learning songs.