Solid Ground

Dougie MacLean and his music have been described as a "Scottish phenomenon" by journalists and musicians for the last decade. A brilliant fiddler and an exquisite guitarist, MacLean conjures up remarkable imagery with his lyrical songs and expressive singing style. With quite a varied background -- he was a gardener, a college student, with a major in engineering, a pipeline worker, a busker in the streets of Kinross, a member of both the the Tanahill Weavers and Sily Wizard -- he broke free to start his own solo career in 1979 by releasing the superb Caledonia.

With a solid reputation for quality and sincerity in his song writing, Dougie MacLean's music is best characterized as quiet and reflective in the best folk tradition. Most of the songs are stripped down nicely with just guitar and vocals. The few instruments that Dougie does introduce into a song be it bagpipe, tin whistle or digeridoo enhance and brighten the arrangement. Less is more, and the more is more or less, simply wonderful.

We caught up to the very busy Dougie MacLean between touring gigs and recording sessions and this is what transpired.

T.J. McGrath: The beauty of the land finds a special meaning in many of the songs you write. "Solid Ground," a homage to real estate, expresses the joy of walking the land and seeing the truth and honesty that nature brings to all life on this planet. How would you like to see future generations make use of the land and what fears do you hold about our environment today?

Dougie MacLean: I feel very privileged being able to live in the place where my father grew up and my grandfather spent his time as a young man. I know all the hills and woods around the area intimately and feel very much a part of it. I think it's an important part of human contentment, this 'sense of belonging' to the actual soil on which you stand. Native peoples, like the North American Indians and the Australian Aborigines, put a large emphasis on this connection -- there is a respect, love and deep caring for the land that they depend on. One of the problems with the modern Western way of things is a general lack of this 'connection,' and as a result the ability to do terrible things to the land without any feelings of guilt. So many put man's progress and the growth of technology far above the needs of a simple nature. The truth is that without the connection to the land, be it in a rural or town situation, we have nothing bigger than ourselves to be answerable to.

McGrath: You also sing of "belonging," that spiritual connection to love and home in many of the songs you write. I'm thinking particularly of "Garden Valley", a composition aimed at some city dwellers who may have many lights but who live in perpetual darkness. What sort of inspiration and spirituality does country living afford?

MacLean: I grew up in the country, so that's where I feel most comfortable. There are aspects of cities and towns that I really enjoy, but I do think that being close to the amazing ways and powers of the natural planet is very inspiring and awesome. Maybe living in the country doe protect you to a certain extent from the material and social trends which are so much a part of city life -- it's probably easier to be and think what you want to.

McGrath: You know, "Buffalo Jump" off of Real Estate seems like a metaphor for renewal: death giving life. Perhaps the Native Americans understood this better than the white men who came to the interior of America to kill the buffalo for sport. Is there a parallel to be drawn between the Native Americans dying to save their lands and the farmers who are battling to keep heir farms from being sold to multi-national firms and weekenders?

MacLean: The American Indians did have a much more sane understanding of the balances and regenerative limits within nature. Their is a similarity between their plight and the farmers with smallholdings battling the needs and greeds of the multis and weekenders. However, for years many farmers have been a little greedy and insensitive to their land, so the parallel only holds good so far...

McGrath: Do you see yourself as a folksinger or a singer interested in keeping alive the traditions, stories, and culture of Scottish folk?

MacLean: I have never really thought of myself as either. I love to sing. I love to play fiddle. I love writing songs. I believe that it is the spirit of wanting to sing and play that is our tradition, not only the material. I want to sing our old songs and play our old tunes but I don't make an effort to to do one or the other. I value the old and I think the process of making the new is carrying on the wonderful importance that music has within the lives of the Scots.

McGrath: In many of your songs we hear the message about "love ruling all." "She Loves Me (When I Try)" gathers strength form the acknowledgement of love and being loved. This love will carry, this love will satisfy my restlessness, this love will make me peaceful, etc. Could you speak to the power of love and how it influences your songwriting?

MacLean: Love is a word that has been sadly warped, but it encompasses so much that it is natural to the human condition. Too often it is though of as something soft and sentimental, but really for me it is a way of expressing that overwhelming "oneness" with another person, a place, a race, or with "the whole thing" -- can't explain it better than that. Its power is huge and though in these modern rational times it all sounds a bit mystical it is the one thing which could hold the whole of humanity together.

McGrath: Back to songwriting for a moment. I am always amazed at how your songs seem so simple, yet carry words and messages with so many layers of meaning. "Restless Fool" could well be about Maggie Thatcher or an eccentric country squire. Do you have any special technique for the songs that you write? Are you aware of your audience or are you out to please yourself?

MacLean: I write songs for myself. It has become a very necessary part of my life, and regardless of whether I was involved in the business of performing and making records I would still do it. I think it's very important to make songs from your own real feelings. I don't make songs designed around what I want other people to hear, or for a particular market -- that's another kind of songwriting. You make it for yourself, you enjoy singing it on your own, then you take it out and let other people hear it and maybe they can draw off some of the pleasure or pain you have when you sing it. It's quite amazing how one song can have different meanings for different people, but it all relies on some genuine feeling being involved in the first making of it.

McGrath: What are your impressions of the United States? I know that you recently did a series caled the "Thistle And Shamrock Tour" and that you were able to visit a good number of locations throughout America.

MacLean: I find America both a fascinating and disturbing place -- sometimes it strikes me as a vision of materialism 10 years on from where we are in Scotland right now. So much of the music I love comes from America -- so many good friends lots of good memories. But there's a frightening side to it, that has to do with an underlying violence, with guns, with lavish obvious wealth contrasting with real poverty and somehow transient values. I'm not explaining it very well, and maybe generalising is unfair... so I'll stop.

In May 1989 I visited and did concerts in great venues throughout America. The tour was in conjunction with Fiona Ritchie and her "Thistle and Shamrock" radio program. In Sptember of 1990 I'll be returning with Sheena Wellington, David Allison, and Gordon Duncan, all Dunkeld recording artists, and we'll be doing 17 concerts up and down the East coast of America. We're very excited about the upcoming tour! Please come and see us.

McGrath: Should we bring along to the concerts an American-Scottish dictionary? I'm still stumbling all over some of the words and phrases that Robert Burns uses and that you sing in some of the more traditional songs. For example, in "Green Grow the Rashes" how would you translate "Gie me a cannie hour at e'en" and "May a'gae tapsalteerie?"

MacLean: The song by Robert Burns "Green Grow the Rashes" has a wonderful set of verses which describe very well the human condition -- the chasing of wealth and position at the expense of simple happiness. Don't worry about literal translation. He's saying in that verse -- Give me some special time in the evening with the one I love, and all problems seem far away.

McGrath: On to your instrumental prowess, if you please. I really enjoy your guitar and fiddle work. I've got a fairly good ear when it comes to fancy riffing, and I think I hear some interesting guitar tunings that you use, particularly DADGAD. But others seem to be impossible to pin down. Any help?

MacLean: I use a Martin D35 which I've had for many years, and shows the scars of the thousands of miles it has travelled. I use lots of different tunings and owe my introduction to the idea of using them to a friend who I used to work together with who played banjo. He never had a set tuning for his banjo, he used to tune the strings just to suit the song. Alan started using them on his guitar, and would come rushing into the room saying "Listen to this one!" It makes a lot of sense when you think about it -- the standard guitar tuning was invented so that you could have access to many different keys without having to have 10 fingers on your left hand. The invention of the capo, and the fact that any one song I sing is in one key, means that many doors are opened through experimentation with tunings.

McGrath: You describe Dunkeld Record as "Scotland's New Heritage Music", and that seems to cover a range of territory.

MacLean: "Scotland's New Heritage Music" is the description we have given to the Dunkeld Records catalog. To quote from out catalog: "Dunkeld's catalog is small but select, with an emphasis on quality, long-life music which sells to an ever widening audience. Original songs and instrumental works as well as arrangements of traditional compositions are featured on the albums -- all with a link to the musician's Scottish roots, but with an individuality of treatment and clarity of recording that has become the stamp of the label." Phew!

McGrath: What is the best method of purchasing your albums? Is there a reliable distributor in the U.S. that you use?

MacLean: Our distribution in the USA has to date been through Silo/Alcazar [P.O. Box 429/ Waterbury, VT 05676]. Their customer service number is 1-802-244-8657 and their order line is 1-800-541-9904. We export all of our material, albums, cassettes, and CD's directly to them. They're the best source if you want to order our material directly in the States. You might also want to check with you local record store; chances are they'll be able to order the albums through Silo/Alcazar as well.

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