EIF 26: Dàna with Ellie Beaton

The Hub 7/8/26

Dàna: Alex Wotherspoon (keyboard), Anna Robertson (fiddle), Eleanor Tout (whistle), Laura Penman (harp)

Ellie Beaton

The anticipation and excitement were palpable in the intimate space that is The Hub, with a full house for this first performance of the Edinburgh International Festival. After a brief introduction: “We are Dàna” and an account of how they met while studying at the Conservatoire in Glasgow, the band played the first track of their recently recorded album The Deep End: ‘Ladies, Oh Ladies’.

The connection between the players was immediately apparent. This was a conversation between musicians who understand and respect each other’s contribution. Following a wistful slow start on all instruments, the fiddle takes the foreground and drives the rhythm with the keyboard and whistle duetting over the top. Rhythmic changes and syncopations led by the fiddle bring us back to repeated melodic passages.

Harpist, Laura, introduced their second number, written while she was still in year six at secondary school. The day before lockdown was mandated at the end of March 2020 was a gloriously sunny day. The entire year six at Laura’s school decided to climb Blackford Hill to celebrate their last day of freedom. This piece ‘Blackford Hill’ was Laura’s response to that moment. The harp begins with a simple melodic phrase with sudden abrupt pauses. Layers of complexity are added by whistle and fiddle with the keyboard providing a ground. The pauses continue so you can feel the effort required to reach the top of the hill. Once there the whistle develops a soaring melody that celebrates the achievement until the piece ends in the inevitable descent to reality.

Alex then introduced singer Ellie Beaton on to the stage. She hails from Rothienorman in north-east Scotland and sings in a mixture of Doric and English. Her first song, ‘The Rigs of Rye’, was an original bothy ballad, brought up to date by Shona Donaldson, which tells the story of a young woman from Rothienorman, who has the double misfortune of getting married and moving to Montrose. Ellie is classically trained, which gives her operatic control of her delivery, well-balanced by the warm strength of her voice.

Dàna took the floor again with a set of strathspeys and reels, which included ‘Shakty’, ‘White Loch Jigs’ and ‘Gullane Bay’, all featuring on their debut album. What I hear when I listen to Scottish traditional music is a basic structure of chords providing a ground, with the fiddle setting the rhythm and pace and – in this case – whistle and harp providing melodic variation over the top. This makes me think of the changing but similar vistas of mountains, hills and lakes of the Scottish Highlands. The metaphor also seems to fit the more energetic ‘The Crown Range’ written by Anna following a trip over the highest main road in New Zealand.

The remainder of the concert included further sets together with Ellie Beaton as well as audience participation in some of the songs. The name Dàna means ‘bold’ or ‘audacious’ in Gaelic; both the band and Ellie Beaton lived up to that description.

Jean Allen reviewed Dàna ‘s first album in June: https://www.edinburghmusicreview.com/blog/j9prfbvs1c28kvzx001c75l3dwpp25

photo credit: Gillie o’Flaherty