Mairi
MacInnes
official website

Greentrax Recordings CDTRAX209 (August 2001)
You can buy this album online at MusicScotland.

12 tracks:
Click on track name for mp3 music clip - file sizes are all under 250kb.
Uibhist Nam Beann Arda
Orra Bhonna Bhonnagan
Nighean Chruinn Donn
An Aisling
Orain Luaidh/An Fhleasgaich Ur Leannain Thu
Orosay
Laoidh An Iasgair
Puirt-A-Beul
Fagail Bhornais
Oran Na Cloiche
Oran Uibhist
Carry Me Across The Ocean

"Orosay would be enjoyable merely for Mairi MacInness's gorgeous voice, but its dramatic instrumentation and production render it nigh irresistible..."
(Jim Foley, Rootsworld)

"This mostly Gaelic album from South Uist's Mairi MacInnes is a gentle gem... MacInnes has a pure, clean voice and wisely chooses arrangements to highlight it... Orra Bhonna Bhonnagan and Puirt a Beul give this album bounce as well as grace..."
(R Weir, Sing Out)

"Orosay is beautifully put together - both downright classy and truly delightful. An Aisling and the title track are particularly noteworthy..."
(Bob Walton, FRoots)

A previous Mod gold medallist, Mairi has travelled and sang throughout North America and Europe, in particular Cape Breton and Spain. In Scotland she is hugely popular and her reputation as a fine Gaelic singer has spread to England and Wales, where she has performed many times.

She is accomplished in traditional style singing as well as in the more modern expression which appeals to the younger generation. Mairi is also well known for her Gaelic childrens’ television programmes where she entertains youngsters with song and rhyme, many of them her own work - an album of Gaelic childrens’ songs by Mairi is due to be released by Greentrax later in 2001. Greentrax released Mairi’s album This Feeling Inside in 1995 and she was also included on the unique recording project Gaelic Women which was later presented as a feature concert at Celtic Connections.

In 2000 Mairi was invited to sing for Prince Charles at Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh, and later in the year she performed to her biggest audiences of the year at the Edinburgh Military Tattoo during Edinburgh’s International Festival where she sang nightly to sell out crowds (9,000) on Edinburgh Castle’s stunning esplanade setting. Here she again performed for Royalty.

Mairi was born on the beautiful island of South Uist and the smaller island of Orosay, on its western side, was a haven to her and a place where she found overwhelming peace as a child. Mairi, who started singing at a very early age (as can be heard in the introduction to track 5 on this album), would often wander across the machair (grassland near the seashore containing an abundance of wild flowers) on to the beach and across to Orosay where she would pretend the sea was her audience.

The island of Orosay

Singing gave her great enjoyment then, as it does today, and her wonderful love for the songs and singing are expressed in Mairi’s voice. She is a joy to behold on stage.

Orosay clearly reflects Mairi’s South Uist background and is a labour of love by Mairi, producer Calum Malcolm and the several session singers and musicians, who all rose to the occasion. They are Catherine-Ann MacPhee (backing vocals); Penny MacInnes (backing vocals); James MacKintosh (drums & percussion); Tony McManus (guitars); Iain MacInnes (Scottish small pipes); Billy Jackson (harps & whistles); Mairi Campbell (fiddle & viola); Mats Melin (Scottish step dance) and Calum Malcolm (piano & keyboards).