Auchies Spikkin' Auchie - Debut Album!

Hello!

For the last six months I have been working hard on my exciting new project, Auchies Spikkin' Auchie. I am absolutely bursting to share what I have done but I just need a few more pennies to get me there!

Auchies Spikkin’ Auchie is a musical project celebrating the wonderful fishing heritage of my wee Black Isle village, Avoch (Auch). The finished album will intertwine field recordings of Avochies speaking in their local dialect with my musical compositions creating an encapsulating audio experience depicting fishing traditions and culture, poetry, and an essence of community. 

All the music has been written and I have arranged it with my wonderful band, now we just need to get into the studio so I can make and produce the album!

I want to capture a feeling of sitting in a room with Avochies and just soaking in the words and stories, oh and there just so happens to be a four piece band in the corner.

If the cultural importance of this project wasn't enough, this is also my debut album! It is unbelievably exciting to have written an album's worth of music (that I actually like as well!!) and I have come so far now that I just have to share it with you all.

The project so far

I was inspired to do this project by a video of my late Boba (grandfather) reciting two original poems in Avochie about his days as a fisherman. Upon learning more about the fragile position the dialect is now in, I decided to visit and interview two Avochie fishermen and one fisherman’s widow with the goal to record natural conversation about the fishing in the Avochie dialect.

After capturing these field recordings, I went to stay with my granny in Avoch for a month and composed the music for the album. My musical ideas grew and evolved around short clips from my recordings of Avochies speaking Avochie. 

I then formed my band and we set to work arranging my music. It has been truly wonderful to arrange collaboratively to allow the band to take on my ideas and see my compositions come to life!

Read more about the project's process here:

https://gracestewartskinner.co.uk/auchies-spikkin-auchie

Why now?

Avoch is my small fishing village on the Black Isle, with herring fishing once at its heart, and Avochie the language of the boats. Recent decades have seen a drastic decrease in speakers of the Avochie dialect, with much of this decline paralleled by the shift in commercial fishing to bigger boats and deeper waters. The Avochie dialect uniquely blends together linguistic elements of Scots and Gaelic and its vocabulary centred around the sea. The language will be gone within in a generation. Auchies Spikkin’ Auchie is integral in conserving language and celebrating culture.

The vast majority of Avochie speakers are of the my Boba's generation and we are so lucky to have recorded Boba before he passed away. Since conducting the interview one of the fishermen passed away.  His passing really brought home the fragile position the dialect is in and that I want to complete this project as soon as possible.

What's next?

So...now I have all this music, I would love you to hear it!

My magical musicians are:

Me - Clàrsach and wibbly wobbly effects

Rhona MacDonald - Double Bass

Rose Logan - Fiddle and hardanger fiddle

Ewa Adameic - Percussion

The plan is to head over to Black Isle Recordings in February, 2025, and spend a week recording my creations.  Community and place are at the heart of this project so it was really important to me to record as close to Avoch as possible, and Fortrose isn't too bad!

I am also delighted to have Lauren MacColl on board as producer.

After the music is recorded, it needs to be mixed with the previously recorded voices to create the sound of your dreams.

To top it all off, the wonderful videographer Michiel Turner has come aboard to make a spellbinding video which will accompany the audio online and will be projected to a backdrop during live performances. Michiel is a true artist and his visuals capture the spirit of the project in the most beautiful way, you need to see it!

The final stage is the launch. I am going to hold two launches, one in Avoch itself and one in Glasgow. There have been so many wonderful people involved in this project and I want to be able to thank everyone, so it feels right to hold two events for maximum celebration.

Money, money, money...

I was thrilled, and slightly stunned, to have received funding for the 'Creative Phase' of the project from Tasgadh and Creative Scotland, however, sadly these funds did not cover recording and album production costs...and that stuff is expensive!

I am 100% committed to paying everyone involved Union Rates, as a minimum.

Here is a wee breakdown of the costs involved:

Pre-studio rehearsals (4 musicians, 5 days) - £3,440

Rehearsal rooms (5 days) - £240

Musician recording fees (4 musicians, 5 days) - £4,920

Studio hire (5 days, inc. engineer) - £2,250

Mix suite hire (3 days) - £288

Producer (recording and mixing) - £2,100

Mastering - £270

Album artwork - £630

Physical album production (100 CDs) - £474

Digital distribution - £72

Video - £840

Total album recording and production costs: £15,254.00

I have already received generous donations from organisations and individuals towards these costs, however, I do need a few extra pennies to get us into the studio.

If you can't contribute financially, I totally understand! Every penny counts, and I would be so grateful if you can even just share this with a few pals.

The artwork

Here's just a few wee tasters of the vibe of the album artwork...These are not the actual images as they don't exist yet!!

Everyone who donates to the project will get a wee postcard featuring an Avochie dialect word and a still from Michiel's wonderful video.

Thank you SO much for considering donating!! 

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Have a magical day!! Grace x