Target reached!
Extra funds will allow me to tour this project and bring this music around Scotland ...
Extra funds will allow me to tour this project and bring this music around Scotland ...
To release an album, videos & book of music based around a rare 200 year old harp. This music explores nature, time, identity and optimism.
I have been making an album based in Hospitalfield House in Arbroath, where there is a rare and beautiful 200 year old harp. I started this work in 2018 and had to halt work due to my health, the pandemic and my maternity leave but during this period have been developing the music to really reflect on the tough times and the deep optimism I have found in thinking about our relationships with nature, art and the enduring qualities of beautiful things made by hands long in the past.
The album features some of Scotland's best musicians from a diverse range of backgrounds- from the traditional, jazz, classical, theater an uncatagorisable worlds to combine in a sound that I am really excited about. They are:
Myself (Gillian Fleetwood) on harps and vocals
Laura Wilkie on fiddle
Suz Appelbe on 'cello
Mikey Owers on trombones, sousaphone and flugelhorn
Tim Lane on percussions, drums and tongue drum
Martin John Henry on guitars, noises, effects
Iain Hutchison is the engineer
C Duncan on bass, viola, vocals and the all important production duties (and all kinds of other magic).
I have a rare genetic condition, which manifests in a range of complex ways, and my health has been extremely challenging as a result. I'm on an intensive insulin regime and doctors are discovering that a number of my internal organs are the wrong shape and size. This has had profound impacts on my ability to function as a performer, my fertility and motherhood, so I have had much to reflect on! The music that I made as a result of all this drama has been unexpectedly warm and optimistic but in reflection, I felt so lucky to benefit from the art, craft and natural elements that I was immersed in during my time at Hospitalfield. I hope you can also enjoy this through the music created in this way.
I'm extremely grateful that Creative Scotland have funded me to make and album but need a little more support to get this project across the finish line. It has been expensive to make the album on site at the house but felt it was really important to record the beautiful harp on site in Arbroath. We have also made videos, which will be freely available so everyone can enjoy the beautiful, rare harp and I also will print the manuscripts in an accompanying book to encourage people to play and share this music.
Any funds you can pledge will be hugely helpful for me to press the CDs, get it beautifully finished and designed, mastered to an exceptional level and promoted far and wide. Thanks so, so much.
Gillian x
This project successfully funded on 20th May 2023