CD Review: ‘The Deep End’

‘The Deep End’ by Dàna

Dàna: Anna Robertson (fiddle); Eleanor Tout (whistle); Laura Penman (clarsach); Alex Wotherspoon (piano)

Dàna is an exciting new all-female trad band based in Glasgow. The four members formed Dàna while studying at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, but the actual birthplace of the band was The Scallion pub on Glasgow’s Great Western Road, which seems to me a very appropriate birthplace for a trad band. Since graduating in 2024 the band has been busy touring in Scotland and further afield, and was crowned Up and Coming Artist of the Year 2025 at the Scots Trad Music Awards, a huge achievement for such a new group. The name Dàna means bold and audacious, which is a perfect description of the band and its music.

Anna Robertson (fiddle), Eleanor Tout (whistle), Laura Penman (clarsach), and Alex Wotherspoon (piano) grew up in different parts of Scotland and Wales, with differing styles of traditional music, and these unique regional influences and musical dialects combine to form a powerful and bright original sound.

'The Deep End' is their debut album. The twelve tracks, each consisting of one, two, or three tunes, are a combination of pieces composed by the band members and pieces by other contemporary composers including Marie Fielding, Brighde Chaimbeul, and John Somerville, plus the immortal 18th century musician Niel Gow.

The band’s own tracks are inspired by places near and far, from the Water of Leith and Blackford Hill in Edinburgh to the Crown Range of mountains in New Zealand. The band members enjoy wild swimming, as the bracing 'White Loch Jigs' show.

Each instrument is given a chance to shine, with the warm, intimate clarsach (traditional Scottish harp) and bright, urgent fiddle coming to the fore in 'Crown Range'. 'Ten for Len' sees each player sparking off the others, giving the impression that they can read each other’s minds. 'Shaw’s', a solemn lament for piper Fraser Shaw, begins with a gentle duet for clarsach and piano. They are joined eventually by a subdued whistle and violin to form a softly plangent tribute.

'The Deep End' is a studio album, but such is the fresh energy and spontaneity of the playing that I felt I was hearing the band live. Which I will be doing when they play in the Edinburgh International Festival on Friday 7 August, joined by singer Ellie Beaton, BBC Radio Scotland Traditional Musician of the Year 2025. There are still a few tickets left, but you’d better hurry: https://www.eif.co.uk/events/preview-dàna-with-ellie-beaton

Formed in 2024, winning Up and Coming Artist of the Year 2025 at the Scots Trad Music Award, performing at the Edinburgh International Festival in 2026. It’s been a busy couple of years, but Dàna has certainly plunged in at the deep end and come up smiling.

CD and download available from Bandcamp:

https://danaceol.bandcamp.com/album/the-deep-end

photo credit: Gillie O’Flaherty