FORMER Wolfstone frontman Ivan Drever will make his Highland debut with a new band next week as they launch their new album.
The Orkney-born singer-songwriter, a long time resident of Easter Ross, has teamed up with two other accomplished and respected musicians in Frankie McGuire and Rich Young.
Now based in Norway, Drever is returning to Scotland to launch "Gifts", the first album from Drever McGuire Young (DMY), with a series of dates including a show at Fort William's Innseagan House Hotel on Friday 8th February.
Since leaving Wolfstone, Drever has recorded several albums both as a solo artist and in partnership with fiddle-player Duncan Chisholm, and has teamed up with other musicians in The Vast Majority, The Black Sheep and The Ivan Drever Band, as well providing the music for stage show "Celtic Fusion".
Frankie McGuire played in various bands before forming Gaelum with Kevin Allison and latter the band Lyra Celtica. He has appeared at Glasgow's Celtic Connections Festival with American banjo maestro Alison Brown and at Glastonbury with fiddle and banjo player Kate Lasaure and is a regular collaborator with Gaelic singer Maggie MacInnes.
Englishman Rich Young has worked with a wide variety of artists, from Rolf Harris and violinist Nigel Kennedy to Loudon Wainwright III, Dave Knopfler of Dire Straits, various members of Bad Company and The Quireboys and Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics – Young was house producer and musician at Stewart's Church Studios in London.
Together their music mixes bluegrass, rock, blues and classical influences and has already been hailed as "three distinct flavours; one very palatable blend".
"This project has brought together three people with various musical backgrounds, and fused them together to make something very special and more importantly different," Frankie McGuire commented.
* Drever McGuire Young (DMY) appear at Innseagan House Hotel, Achintore Road, Fort William at 8pm for 8.30pm on Friday 8th February.
