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