Brìghde Chaimbeul

Brìghde Chaimbeul (pronounced Bree-chu Chaym-bul)) is one of the most exciting musical minds in the world of Celtic folk today. She’s a master of the Scottish smallpipes – the bellows-blown, mellower and more emotive cousin to the famous Great Highland bagpipes – and she’s taken them to the global stage.  A native Gaelic speaker from the Isle of Skye, Brìghde roots her music in her language and culture. She rose to prominence as a prodigy of traditional music, but has since begun a journey to take the smallpipes into uncharted territory. 

 After the remarkable success and acclaim that greeted her second album, Carry Them With Us, Brìghde Chaimbeul returns with a magic(k)al third album, Sunwise, which sees her push forward experimentally but also immerse her music more deeply in tradition, folklore and mystery. Extending the fearless, experimental ethos of her lauded 2023 album “Carry Them With Us,” Brìghde Chaimbeul’s new music continues to push the boundaries and expectations of both experimental and traditional sonics.

 Brìghde has travelled in a short time from her roots as a teenage piping contest winner into a fearless, widescreen artistry. She appeared on avant-pop paragon Caroline Polachek‘s last album, has collaborated with Canadian composer/saxophonist Colin Stetson on her previous album (and this one also) and in the last couple of years has graced the stages of premier experimental festivals such as Big Ears (US), Le Guess Who? (NL) and Supersonic (UK).

 Playing stages from Tennessee to Denmark, often far outside the traditional / folk circuit where she first made her name, and often playing for audiences who’d never seen someone play small pipes before, Brìghde is widely hailed as leading a revival of interest in an instrument that was arguably fading into obscurity.
Haunting, entrancing, breathtaking, beautiful – this open-eared, understatedly virtuosic performer is transforming and creating new definitions for Scottish folk in the 21st century.

Tickets on the door: £19 / £17