Maggie West's EP

Maggie West’s EPI am very proud to present to you my handmade Maggie West’s EP! RecordingA lot of folk ask about the tune I wrote for my Grandmother, ‘Maggie West’s Waltz’, so I have been meaning to record it as a single for a long time.  It was a real pleasure to get my talented cousin, Rachel Newton and my sister, Eilean Green on the recording specially for Granny’s tune.I recorded the EP in my flat with some expert help from Mike Vass. Thank you very much Mike! I found recording in the comfort of my own home so ideal for me with regular coffee breaks, snacks at hand and a relaxed environment to let the music flow! Watch this space for some more home recordings….ArtworkI have also been meaning to combine my love of art with my love for music and as the rest of the EP has been very home grown I decided that I may as well go all the way and make the cover also. Seemed like a good idea at the time until I realised how long they take to make! I have sewn the card and the Harris Tweed and framed the photo of Magaret with card also so there’s lots of cutting and glueing to be done. I used Hunting Macleod Harris Tweed on the cover as Maggie West was a Macleod.Margaret ‘West’ Macleod Magaret Dolina Mackenzie, born in 1919 , daughter of Angus and Alice Mackenzie who were crofters from the township of Polbain overlooking the Summer Isles in Coigach, part of the Lochbroom parish. Margaret attended Primary Schools in Altandhu and Achiltibuie where Alistair Macleod known as Alistair ‘West’ was also a pupil. Alistair was the son of Alexander ‘West’ Macleod from Achnahaird – called ‘West’ by name since amongst many Macleods and he lived in the West of the township. Magaret married Alistair ‘West’ in 1949 when he was working as a roadman /crofter and they had 6 children and 13 grandchildren – 3 of whom are Rachel, Eilean and myself playing clarsach, fiddle and accordion on this EP.Buying Maggie West’s EPHere is a link to download the 5 track EP http://mairearadgreen.bandcamp.com and you can also buy this on iTunes. Hard copies of the hand made design will be available on my website as soon as I’ve made enough!  You can also download the sheet music from http://www.mairearadgreen.com/?page_id=342The Other  EP TracksThe other tracks on the album include a tune I wrote for Jane Hope’s retirement as Chief Executive of The Cairngorms National Park. The third track is an early wedding present for my cousin Julia who is getting married in April. (Rachel, Eilean and myself are looking forward to being bridesmaids!) Cairngorms Reflections is a Piobaireachd written for my Dad’s retirement from the National Park and the last track is a conceptual piece I wrote for Distil about my idea of appropriate new housing for rural environments. Patsy Reid performs the entire string quartet and here is a link to my first ever animation to complement the piece. (The animation is very basic but it does make me laugh!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWdqhBxdGT8Can you see a resemblance!? Everyone says that it is uncanny how much I look like Granny and apparently I am very similar in character also.