Winner of Scots Singer of the Year 2018 and 2023, and Musician of the Year 2021 at the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards, Aberdeenshire folksinger Iona Fyfe is one of Scotland’s finest young ballad singers, and she performs at Boulevard Music this weekend. She told the News about what she has in store for Culver City…
When did you start playing and performing? How did the band form?
I’ve been performing for as long as I can remember but in different formats. I first performed in 2003, age five reciting Doric poetry. Then I started learning piano and singing all sorts of genres in school, but I got the itch when my family took me to local folk clubs and festivals. Learning songs and ballads passed down from generation to generation was a lovely childhood and way to grow up. Aged 16, I successfully auditioned and gained a place at the prestigious Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow. I moved to the city and graduated with an honors degree in Traditional Music in 2019, recording EP’s, albums and singles during my time studying and beyond.
Describe your sound/style?
I’d say I sound like a Scottish folk singer. Some of my repertoire sounds really traditional, but some of the repertoire has more of a soft folk-pop sensitivity. If you’re a fan of Scottish and Irish folk songs and ballads, this is for you. If you’re a Grateful Dead, Nick Cave or Bob Dylan fan, I also have surprises up my sleeve for you. Ultimately, my sound is very much rooted in tradition, but not archaic.
What are your career highlights so far?
In 2016, I performed with my band at the Royal Albert Hall in London for the Youth Proms. My guitarist snapped a guitar string, so that was an eventful performance. Some other highlights have been performing at Schleswig-Holstein Musikfestival in Germany and Festival Interceltique de Lorient in France. My favorite opportunity was being commissioned by Aberdeen Football Club to record their anthem, the Northern Lights of Old Aberdeen. I was invited to sing it on the pitch during one of their first matches back after the pandemic.
What recorded music is available?
Since the pandemic, instead of recording a full length album, I chose to record and release songs as singles and have separate radio campaigns for them. My most recent release is actually a Scots language translation of Taylor Swift’s “Love Story.” I released it to coincide with her Edinburgh shows – It was received really warmly. The Scots language is often only associated with traditional music. Welsh and Gaelic languages have successfully been used in many genres, with the traditional music of each nation, but Scots has remained intrinsically tied to “folk music.” You can hear Welsh and Gaelic in many genres such as rock, folk, pop, funk, R&B. But if you hear the Scots language being sung, it is most likely going to be traditional ballads or folk music. Whilst this is fine for many, I recognise that the next generation of Scots speakers might not love folk music as much as I do. They need music in their language that they are familiar with; perhaps something more contemporary. And so, I started translating pop songs into the Scots language. For example, the new Billie Eilish song, which features in the Barbie soundtrack, I translated and posted on TikTok. Or “We Are Never Getting Back Together,” another hit Taylor Swift song. All my music is available on Bandcamp and of course the usual streaming sites too!
Have you performed at Boulevard Music before?
This will be my first visit to Culver City at Boulevard Music. This will be my first show after my run of shows at the Edinburgh Fringe. The summer in Scotland has been dire.
What can the audience expect from the set this time?
I’ll be performing with an intimate setup of piano and voice. The show will feature Scottish folk songs and ballads that made their way from Aberdeenshire to Appalachia. I’ll also have some curveballs thrown in and some self-penned repertoire. But lots of stories about Scotland’s traditions, languages and folklore.
What else do you have coming up?
I need to get back into the recording studio, but I’m struggling to find the time. Along with my work as a musician, I voluntarily sit on a number of music and language related boards and committees in the U.K. and the U.S. I spent a lot of my time working with a Kansas City based organization, Folk Alliance International. I’ll be heading to Montreal in February for its annual conference and hope to schedule more North American shows. With my O1 visa in tow, the world (or the U.S.) is my oyster! I am very passionate about the official recognition of the Scots Language and co-founded Oor Vyce in 2020 to campaign for a Scots Language Act, to legally recognise and give equal status to Scots as English and Gaelic. In 2021, many MSP’s and ministers chose to take their parliamentary oaths and affirmations in many different dialects of the Scots language. In 2021, after a successful campaign, Spotify added Scots to the back end of its platform, so that users could correctly categorize their music.
In the coming parliamentary year in Scotland, we are expected to receive new legislation; a Scottish Languages Bill, which would encompass an update to the Gaelic Language Act (2005) and finally give legal recognition to the Scots Language, with a separate Scots Language Act. Despite the European Charter of Minority Languages recognising Scots as a language in 2001, the Scottish Government has never recognised the language. I work with the Musicians Union and the Scottish Trades Union Congress to raise awareness of issues within the music industry, including issues surrounding A.I., streaming, Brexit, funding for the arts, and campaigning against sexual harassment in the industry.
Iona Fyfe performs at 8 p.m. on Saturday, September 14 at Boulevard Music. Go to boulevardmusic.com for more information.
Elsewhere this week
The Culver Hotel will be hosting the likes of Sylvia & the Rhythm Boys, and Scotty Bramer. Go to culverhotel.com for more info.
There’s a full program of music at the Cinema Bar this week, as usual. The Hot Club of Los Angeles plays every Monday, and Wednesdays are singer/songwriter and open mic night. Other artists performing this week include Blind Pony, Bruce Ray White, the Clams, the Vincenzos and more. Go to thecinemabar.com for more info.