ROUSING track Far Side Of The World gave Tide Lines their first play on national radio earlier this year when Mark Radcliffe played it on his BBC Radio 2 Folk Show.
That gives you a good indication of the sound and appeal of this band of young Highlanders: intricate and flourishing with an edge and attitude more associated with indie rock. They’re grounded in trad, with vocalist Robert Robertson and multi-instrumentalist Ross Wilson a substantial part of contemporary Highlands and islands collective Skipinnish, with Robertson their lead singer until late 2016.
Together with guitarist/piper Alasdair Turner and drummer Fergus Munro, Robertson and Wilson went on to found Tide Lines, a band whose fanbase grew quickly on the back of a clutch of quality digital singles.
Exposure on the Radcliffe show helped get Far Side Of The World to number 17 in the official Scottish singles charts, but Tide Lines were already chalking up impressive figures on the likes of YouTube where the song is nearing 400,000 plays. A live version of the track, recorded in front of an enthusiastic audience at HebCelt festival in July, features on the band’s new six-track EP Let’s Make Tonight. A follow-up to their debut Dreams We Never Lost (nearly 3 million streams and 15,000 CDs sold directly to fans), the EP is uplifting and ruggedly poetic; an E-Street with tales of rural life and chiming bagpipes.
The release came in October, when the band began an extensive tour of the UK which eventually finishes off on Hogmanay at the Red Hot Highland Fling in Inverness.
November 30, Brunton Theatre Musselburgh, Dec 1 Nevis Centre Fort William, Dec 7 Fat Sam’s Dundee, Dec 8 SWG3 Glasgow, Dec 12 Stornoway Town Hall Lewis, Dec 13 Tarbert Community Centre Harris, Dec 14 Talla an Lochdar South Uist, Dec 15 Castlebay Hall Barra, Dec 30 Ullapool Hall, Dec 31 Red Hot Highland Fling, Inverness. www.tidelinesband.com
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