IN the Scottish psyche there is a special place reserved for the concept of west. Much more than a simple compass point, it is a state of mind, an affirmation that we are perched on the edge of a continent facing a great ocean, and a constant reminder of the vastness of the unknown.

It also represents a special kind of freedom. The freedom to explore, to be a part of the natural world, to be oneself completely. It is a small world, but a huge concept. Deacon Blues’ Bogey doesn’t escape to sail the east coast in Dignity, it is the west. It retains a special pull for Scots.

For Rachel Newton it is all of this and more. Her latest album is entitled simply West, and it is infused with all the ethereal magic one might expect.

The singer and harpist squirrelled herself away at her grandparents’ former home in Achnahaird in Coigach to record the album over a week and it is immediately evident that the setting is the star of the show.

The Gaelic and English songs are punctuated throughout by lilting harp pieces inspired by the surrounding mountains. Suilven, Ben Mor Coigach, Beinn an Eoin and Stac Pollaidh give lyrical wings to Newton’s harp as she acts as a guide taking the listener around the wilds south of Assynt.

“That idea of west being a state of mind is important to me,” says Newton. “I was brought up in Edinburgh in the east so that idea of bringing in my western influence from Achnahaird was attractive. But also my great grandfather’s nickname was ‘West’ so it’s a multifaceted title. He was born on the west side of Achnahaird and his name was Alexander McLeod so he was given that nickname to distinguish him from the rest of the A McLeods around. In Achnahaird my whole family are known as the Wests.”

Tapping into this concept of west was a natural step for Newton. “I wanted to do a solo album, with just me with no guest musicians,” she says. “But I wanted to frame that in a really personal way and I felt like it was an opportunity to do that.

“I was brought up in Edinburgh but I would spend my holidays at my granny and grampa’s house in Achnahaird and it had a huge impact on me growing up and on my music as well. I used to speak Gaelic to my grampa in that house so it had a lot of special meaning for me – for what I do and who I am.

“The surroundings and being in such a beautiful part of the world and looking out at all those mountains, Suilven and Stac Pollaidh, and the sea made it a stunning week.

“The landscape massively informed the music.”

The music itself is a richly layered exploration of Gaelic and Scots song working alongside the pieces for harp which are always beguiling. The album is finished with a delightfully world-weary cover of Jolene.

Newton’s earlier solo work, on the Shadow Side, Changeling and Here’s My Heart, Come Take It, saw her recognised with awards, including a BBC Radio 2 Musician of the Year award in 2017, and that looks set to continue with West. It is a truly inspiring album and cements her place as one of Scotland’s very finest traditional musicians.

SHE started out learning harp at Gaelic school in Edinburgh and was then, like so many others, swept up in the feis movement.

“Growing up in Edinburgh but also spending a lot of time up north I was really lucky because I kind of had the best of both worlds, in life in general but also musically,” says Newton. “I did classical violin at eight and because my school was a Gaelic school I was then able to get free lessons on the clarsach (Gaelic harp) but we were also singing Gaelic songs as well.

“Then when I was about nine I started going to Feis Ros in Ullapool. I went there with my cousin Mairearad Green and that was a huge thing, especially the social aspect.

“So I went to the feis for years and then my mum started a feis in Edinburgh so I would go to that as well.”

From starting as a youngster at the feis, Newton, again like many others, has returned to the movement but this time as a teacher.

“It’s really nice going back,” she says. “Lauren MacColl, who plays with me on my stuff and I play with her on her stuff, we have a great musical collaborative relationship and that started when we met at the feis when we were little. Myself, Lauren and Mairearad were all teaching at the feis recently so it was really nice to have kind of gone full circle in the feis movement.”

Newton has plenty to occupy herself outside of her solo work. As well as being a member of The Shee, The Furrow Collective, and Scots/Norwegian group Boreas, she is also currently on a residency in Herefordshire, where she is collaborating with a group of other folk artists working to bring the words of Robert MacFarlane to life.

“We’ve been commissioned to write a show and an album based on The Lost Words, the words lost from children’s vocabulary,” explains Newton. “So there’s eight of us – including Kris Drever, Julie Fowlis and Karine Polwart – so we have 20 songs now and we need to get into the studio and record them over three days!”

Following that, and a solo gig at Celtic Connections on January 24 at the Mackintosh Church, Newton will then be turning her attention to curating Trad Reclaimed: Women In Traditional Music, which is being held in King’s Place in London in March.

NEWTON has in the past been a vocal critic of the gender imbalance in folk music and as such has become something of a spokeswoman for the cause.

“I think in a way when I started this conversation it was harder as a result of things like the #MeToo movement so there’s so much discussion about it generally,” says Newton. “I think things have really changed over the past few years. I don’t know if it’s anything to do with me bringing it up or if it’s a more general change, but I definitely feel people are more aware of it.

“I do think that, although there has been a bit of pushback and a bit of misunderstanding, there’s been more of an awareness that, yes, it would be good to see more women on stage. There’s also maybe been a bit more thinking about programming and things like that.

“It’s been an interesting journey for me,” adds Newton. “I became an accidental spokesperson for the cause. But it’s actually been great. I have had to develop a thick skin because it is a difficult conversation to have sometimes. But I do feel really passionate about it. The younger generation of musicians I speak to seem to be so open-minded and have a really good attitude. I’ve had lots of support from the younger bands and they are growing up with a different attitude entirely. I definitely feel very positive about it.”

For Newton, there are many more reasons to be positive. She has become a spokesperson for an important cause and for that she should indeed be applauded. But it is her music that really makes her such an important role model, for young musicians of any gender and all.

Her ability to capture the beauty of place and landscape is an inspiration in itself but she adds to that another layer of self which transcends the ordinary and makes her a genuine force to be reckoned with.

Her talent takes in all points of the compass but always lands finally at the one which ignites the passions of a Scottish soul. West.

Rachel Newton plays Celtic Connections at the Mackintosh Church on January 24