Dougie MacLean

Cleckheaton Folk Festival
Dougie MacLean Cleckheaton Folk Festival
On Saturday 5th  of July I visited Cleckheaton Festival for the first time,
going especially to see Scottish singer-songwriter  Douge Maclean. Also on the bill were Kimbers Men, Wendy Arrowsmith and Cupola . My highlight was definitely Dougie, I have to admit I’ve only become a recent fan of Dougie, I’ve always been aware of his music but only started listening to him properly in the last couple of years. He soon became one of my absolute favourites .
Starting off his set with a personal favourite ‘Holding Back’ the audience were instantly in the palm of his hands, continuing then with ‘Talking with my Father’ without a doubt bringing a tear to members of the audience. Dougie had a great relationship with his fans, his song writing is incredibly well done, also he knows how to write a good chorus which inevitably got everyone joining him and singing along. Not only do his songs tell a heart warming tale but his banter in-between are full of interesting, funny & tear jerking stories. You come away from his gig feeling uplifted & inspired by life.
Cleackheaton festival was the first of 6gigs Dougie is performing in England as part of his 40th Anniversary of being on the road, during his set he dedicated to himself his self penned song ‘All Who Wander Are Not Lost’ causing him to (what appeared to be) wipe a tear from his cheek. Over those 40years he has met & performed with many artists and I’m sure he has left behind a trail of inspired peers. Something that was mentioned at the end of the evening while chatting with Dougie was his festival in Perthshire in October which is a week long celebration of music with friends. Tickets are already selling fast. I’ll be sure to get mine this week as he’s performing with the Orchestra he recorded with on his new album ‘Till Tomorrow’ released last month (June)
Of course the end of the evening came to a close with the World known ‘Caledonia’ we were informed he was worried he’d get lynched if this song wasn’t performed and I fear he was probably right. The crowd was not disappointed.
What a great evening it was, catch Dougie on the tour if you can and if not, lets organise a road trip to his festival!
During the evening I was told some friends of mine had had their first baby after 50hours of labour. Congratulations to Esther Ferry-Kennington & Ruthie Boycott-Garnett on the safe arrival of Billy
Sam Hindley

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