Connections. The band put in a lot of work before their performance and they were rewarded with a Danny Kyle Award at the start of 2011.
This led them to getting gigs at the Celtic Connections festival club straight away, giving them immediate exposure to a new audience and festival promoters. Most of their 2011 gigs came about because of the exposure they got from their festival club performances as well as more guidance from Jennifer. It made for a busy year for the band with so many performances, preparing and record- ing a CD and fulfilling all their academic commitments. On top of all that they also do lots of admin work, constantly emailing to chase new gigs. As offers to perform came their way last year the band made sure they were ready for them, and their efforts proved worthwhile as they were voted as “Best Up And Coming” act at the Scots Trad Music Awards in December 2011. Steven explained: “We worked very hard for those opportunities so we did not take them lightly. We put a lot of time into rehearsing so that when we went on stage we were delivering a good version of ourselves. I think it was all the preparation and support from people outside the band that led to the award.
PIPING TODAY • 38
“The material for our album came directly
from our concerts, we didn’t sit down at any point and say ‘Let’s write an album’. We wanted our first album to be a proper representation of what we do, and say, ‘Hi, we’re here’. “There are little tweaks on the album which
we couldn’t do live and the last track is a good example of that. “We want to use the album to push the amount of performing we do on to the next level. Ultimately we want to spend a lot of time gigging with Rura and we want our music to grow. We don’t want to keep reusing the same old ideas. We want to hear a progression in our music. “We don’t really know in which direction our music will go but we will keep making new music which is grounded in a real appreciation of the tradition.” Steven has been planning a career as a profes-
sional musician for a large part of his life, and through Rura he is starting to see those plans come to fruition. “The ideal scenario would be to spend a
large part of the year playing and touring our music to a wide range of audiences at a mix of festivals and concerts at home and abroad,” he said. “We love playing at festivals, and we are a high energy band suited to festivals. We want
to grow to a level where we can make a living out of it — that is what we are all after. “People might say we are putting all our eggs in one basket and I certainly don’t have any solo project that I want to put out there yet.
I would say that I’m involved with Rura as much as could be in any solo project. That may be a difference we have compared to many other bands — every member of Rura has such a say in what happens in the band. We argue so much in rehearsals because everyone is so involved. “It feels like Rura is all of our solo projects come together in the one place, and it is ticking that box for each one of us.
“I think I could say that each individual feels like the music in Rura belongs to them but that we are sharing it with all the members in the band — it is a true collaboration. It is never a case of ‘we handle the melody and you deal with the accompaniment’. Everyone gets a say on both aspects. “I want Rura to be a big part of my career up until the point the band reaches its natural end. If that natural end is in 50 years that would be great but if it is in 20 years or five years, that would also be great as long as we have given it our all. I think it has along way to go before we are done with it.” l
NEW DIRECTIONS
Photo: John Slavin@Designfolk Ltd
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