About
Dick Gaughan
"DICK GAUGHAN has never been easy. The songs he delivers ask questions that some listeners may have thought never existed - so they may not, instantly at least, know the answers. When the answers duly come, delivered in a voice that throbs with a unique kind of controlled, vibrating passion, he can shake the most complacent mindset out of its skull." — Alistair Clark, The Scotsman.Dick Gaughan is a Scot, from Leith on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth. He was brought up immersed in the musical traditions and culture of the Gaels, both Scots and Irish. His mother, Frances MacDonald, was a singer in both Gaelic and English, his father, Dick, was a fiddle player, and his grandmother played button accordion and sang. He has been playing guitar since the age of 7 and made his first solo album in 1971. He has had stints with Boys of the Lough, Five Hand Reel and Clan Alba but has mostly been one of the folk world's favourite solo performers. Through it all he has remained fiercely political: troubadour of the hapless and downtrodden, full of hope, passion, and love as well as anger and scorn for the folly and cruelty of the capitalist system. He has one of the finest voices on the planet, capable of capturing the heart with the most tender of traditional ballads in one moment and stirring the fire of the spirit with his uncompromising commentary on social injustice in the next. He is an unforgettable artist, able to change the way that you think and feel through the power of music.
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St. James Community Hall