Eddi Reader in concert.
I love it when I stumble across something brilliant, and that’s just what I did when I discovered Eddi Reader!
I like to watch British soaps on YouTube sometimes. I get a kick out of the accents and the edgy music they play on Hollyoaks and Coronation Street. I’ve bought a lot of music after watching one British soap or another and discovered some artists I might not have otherwise noticed. Scottish singer Eddi Reader is now among the musicians I’ve found by watching soaps on YouTube.
It helps that Eddi Reader is from Scotland. I visited there a couple of years ago and it felt like I belonged there. Indeed, many of my ancestors were Scots, so it’s only natural that I’d look and feel the part. Even if she’d been from Bangladesh, I’d love her beautiful voice. I first heard her sing “Auld Lang Syne” on Hollyoaks and just from that, went straight to iTunes to download it. It turned out “Auld Lang Syne” was included on her 2003 album, Songs of Robert Burns. You can’t get more Scottish than that.
Eddi Reader sings “Auld Lang Syne”…
I was so moved by her rendition of this song that I bought the whole album. Then last weekend, during my music shopping spree session, I listened to the rest of her brilliant musical tribute to Robert Burns. I liked each more more than the last.
I love how Eddi Reader introduces “My Love Is Like A Red Red Rose”…
The first time I ever heard Burns’ love poem, it was when I was singing in a choir in college and we performed a musical version of that poem. I really enjoy Eddi Reader’s take on this lovely sentiment toward Burns’ many loves. She gives it sort of a dreamy wistfulness, with the romantic accordion and the gentle accordion. I could easily get lost in this song.
The sweet “Wild Mountainside”…
When I visited Scotland, one of the many things that struck me was its stunning beauty, mainly owing the the mountains and the way the sunlight hit them. The light gave the rugged hills these unusual highlights that made them seem almost magical. I’ve never seen that anywhere else, though I will admit I haven’t seen as much of the world as I’d like to at this point. Eddi Reader’s “Wild Mountainside” reminds me of that dramatic beauty of the Scottish landscape.
I’m not very religious, but this could make me find God…
I don’t have a big weekend planned, so it’s entirely possible I’ll end up on another music buying spree. Or maybe I’ll just scout out more British soaps in search of great music from across the pond. I’m so glad I discovered Eddi Reader. I hope you will too, if you haven’t already!
Captain Richard Heaton on Hebridean Princess recites the famous Robert Burns poem, “Address to a Haggis”. Yes, I tried it. It wasn’t that bad when accompanied with whisky!
