Nightmare year paves way for fresh start for Maryburgh musician Ali Levack as Ross-shire talent sets stage for bounce back
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A MUSICIAN from Maryburgh has given fans of his work the perfect present at the end of a nightmare year that promised so much – until Covid-19 reared its head.
Ali Levack had anticipated an extremely busy 2020 after releasing an album with one of his bands, Project SMOK at traditional music showcase Celtic Connections at the beginning of the year.
The following night, he won the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year competition, paving the way for what promised to be a great year.
Instead, the musician who began bagpipes under the tuition of his grandfather, Donald Mackillop at the age of nine, saw plans evaporate as a busy schedule of gigs were cancelled in line with Covid-19 restrictions.
The former pupil of the National Centre of Excellence in Traditional Music in Plockton, hasn’t let the setback stem his creative juices though, releasing a debut EP of mostly original compositions called My Notes Vol. 1 at the beginning of this month and sharing it to streaming services like Spotify, iTunes and Apple Music from Christmas Day.
He has brought in several guests on the genre-hopping limited-edition release, available in physical form on his website www.alilevack.com. Other projects are in the pipeline.
Looking back at the unfulfilled promise of 2020, he said: “What was looking like a busy and successful year is gone.”
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This is the debut EP from Ali Levack which consists mainly of all original compositions.
Recorded at Viewbank Studios by Pablo Lafuente, who also features on guitar and various other instruments, the EP brings together several different sub genres with which Levack is pioneering within the traditional music
world, from contemporary neo trad to traditional competitive piping and even pop/rock and traditional collaborations.
The EP features a host of guest musicians, which includes: Calum MacCrimmon,Charlie Stewart, Ciáran Cooney, Ewan Baird, Greg Barry, Pablo Lafuente andRory Grindlay.
