Archie Fisher, Scotland’s foremost troubadour and a legend of the Scottish folk world, is returning to Pender Harbour on Sunday, March 10, for a 2 p.m. concert at the School of Music in Madeira Park.
Master guitarist, singer and songwriter, Fisher was the host of BBC Radio Scotland’s award-winning Travelling Folk show for more than 25 years.
He was born in Glasgow into a large singing family, which yielded three professional singers — Fisher and his sisters Ray and Cilla.
Constant music combined with his father’s appreciation of many musical styles (opera, vaudeville, traditional ballads) proved to be a heavy influence on Fisher’s musical development, while his mother, a native Gaelic speaker from the Outer Hebrides, was a strong influence on the lyrical quality of his singing and songwriting.
He was inducted into the Scots Traditional Music Hall of Fame, and in 2008 was granted the Tradition Bearer’s Award at the Goderich Celtic Roots Festival.
His most recent release, Windward Away, spans 28 years of his writing and singing career. There’s a pride of place theme in the newest phase of songs with Borderlands, Ontario Dust and Bonnie Border Lass and seasonal progressions in the Graham Miles classic Shepherd on the Hill and his own Speak Your Name. His families Hebridean connections shine through with a translation of the Gaelic An Ataireachd Ard (The Surge of the Sea), Cuillins of Home and Joy of My Heart.
Fisher offers “exquisitely articulate, intimate vocals,” said Norman Chalmers.
Many artists have covered a lot of Fisher’s songs. Witch of the Westmerlands and Dark Eyed Molly were the only two songs ever recorded by the legendary Stan Rogers that Rogers did not write himself.
Tickets are $25 available at Harbour Insurance in Madeira Park, John Henry’s Marina in Garden Bay, the Sechelt Visitor Centre and Gaia’s Fair Trade in Gibsons.
For more details see www.penderharbourmusic.ca.
— Submitted
