Maeve Mackinnon

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One of Scotland’s finest young Gaelic and Scots singers, Maeve Mackinnon grew up in a political family in Glasgow where she spent much of her 1980s early childhood learning to walk and talk on peace marches. Dick Gaughan was the first singer she saw performing live and he remains one of her major musical influences. She began singing at an early age, with summer holidays spent on the Isle of Jura cementing her appreciation of traditional music. While listening to radio there, she discovered the music of the Celtic super group Capercaillie, which fired her interest in folk music and Gaelic singing. Although not a native Gaelic speaker, Mackinnon began learning the language at age 17 in order to be able to “sing the songs properly.” She is an Honours graduate of the Royal Scotland Academy of Music and Dance where she majored in Gaelic song and developed a strong interest in Scots and Irish folksong and bluegrass.

Her debut album, Don’t Sing Love Songs, is an enticing mix of Gaelic and traditional songs from Scotland, Ireland and North America. Reviewers of the album lauded her “achingly beautiful voice,” and “fluid, supple singing.” She was nominated for the 2005 BBC Young Traditional Musician of the year, and in 2007 she won the Scots Trad Music award for up-and-coming artist of the year. She is fast making a name for herself with her fresh and contemporary interpretations of traditional Gaelic and non-Gaelic material.