Ainsley Hamill and Anna MacDonald

Ainsley Hamill is an experienced Scottish songwriter and singer and is quickly becoming one of the UK’s leading and most diverse folk singers, after various nominations at the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards. Much of her own material is performed with touring band ‘Barluath’ and solo.

Ainsley’s love of Gaelic song was nurtured whilst studying at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where she obtained a First Class Honour’s Degree in Scottish Music, with Gaelic Song as her Principal Study. There she met her fellow band mates, and Barluath was formed. In recent years, the band has recorded two studio albums, ‘Source’ and ‘At Dawn of Day’, along with touring extensively in Britain and abroad.

Ainsley was also named as a BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year Finalist in 2014/15, and recently nominated for Gaelic Singer of the Year and Best Up and Coming Group (Barluath) at the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards.

“Anna MacDonald sings Gaelic songs from her new folk album in a voice so lovely it could silence the birds of Barra” – The Glasgow Herald

Anna MacDonald is a multi-instrumentalist singer and songwriter whose celtic roots shine through her songs whether sung in Scots, English or Gaelic. She naturally understands her musical heritage and this is beautifully reflected in her voice and music. Anna plays a set with original music complimented with Gaelic songs, traditional and not so traditional folk songs played on either guitar or Clarsach.