cairndhuna profile picture

cairndhuna

Scottish Acoustic Instrumental Grooviness

About Me

Black Rock Music released cairndhuna in 1999 and the press release said "...an album of new music from Scots songwriters Murray Bruce and John Mackie. The music is instrumental - some say cinematic.

Evocative compositions and explorations of a groove sit side by side on this CD. Two acoustic guitars, resonator slide, cello and mandolin are used, in various combinations, over ten tracks. The album was recorded in November 1998 at Heartbeat Sound in London and produced by Michael Klein, with whom the boys were keen to work.

Both Murray and John have been writing and performing music since they were teenagers. That would take us back to the late-seventies and Edinburgh bands Scars (John on bass) and Metropak (Murray on bass). In the eighties and nineties they collaborated many times and performed together in the ethereal Mani, renowned for their powerful live show, and the compelling Afro-Caledonian sound of Bunnychow, to name but two. Distilled from all this, and more, is cairndhuna.

Melding influences from their native Scotland to the Mississippi Delta and back, by way of a few stops around the Mediterranean, the cairndhuna sound is wide open and unfettered by percussion or gratuitous heavyweight production. Just acoustic music vibrantly played and beautifully recorded", so there you go.

Since then? Murray's been ill and John played with Lemon Jelly on their 2005 UK tour.

The cover artwork is a chalk pastel by painter/etcher/ceramic sculptor Alex Bruce. Her work can be seen at alexandrabruce.co.uk and bought online at www.cambriaarts.org.uk/artists.php

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 3/28/2007
Band Members:

Murray Bruce (acoustic & slide guitar)

John Mackie (acoustic guitar, cello & mandolin)

Here are some photo's of the mixing session. As you can see, Michael Klein is wearing his producer's hat. Heartbeat Sound really was an Alladin's Cave of the most fantastic analogue gear you'll ever encounter. What a sound.


Record Label: black rock music
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

New page - Murray’s songs

A lot of nice people have said some very nice things about the Cairndhuna tunes, so I thought I'd push my luck and start another page for my songs. I haven't been well enough to play for a long time, ...
Posted by cairndhuna on Fri, 14 Sep 2007 09:09:00 PST

Changed the tunes - all tunes free to download

I've taken Hackney Central Station and Col an' B off, and added Peedy Wee Rag and Well Met (To Argue). In future all tunes on this page will be free to download.Cheers, Murray
Posted by cairndhuna on Fri, 14 Sep 2007 09:05:00 PST

Coppett Hill and Hackney Central Station free to download

Murray - 17 May 2007Time to change the tunes around. I've removed Crawfish and Peach, added Hackney Central Station and Col an' B, and made HCS and Coppett Hill free to download. Yikes, helluva lot of...
Posted by cairndhuna on Thu, 17 May 2007 01:56:00 PST

Scars album finally available on CD

Blogged by Murray, 24th April 2007 Scars were one of the hottest bands to come out of the Edinburgh post-punk stramash and their 1981 album Author, Author has been unavailable for far too bloody long....
Posted by cairndhuna on Tue, 24 Apr 2007 02:31:00 PST

Album review from the John O'Groat Journal

Blog by Murray, 23 April 2007 The following review appeared in the John O'Groat Journal, Friday, December 3, 1999. I haven't edited out the fact that I used to play in a band called Freebird. It was t...
Posted by cairndhuna on Mon, 23 Apr 2007 06:43:00 PST