Huam Salt House

• 1 Fire Light 03:19
• 2 All Shall Be Still 04:53
• 3 Mountain of Gold 04:57
• 4 William and Elsie 04:24
• 5 Hope Is the Thing with Feathers 01:12
• 6 If I Am Lucky 05:10
• 7 Lord Ullin's Daughter 04:01
• 8 The Disquiet 03:20
• 9 The Same Land 04:42
• 10 Union of Crows 03:43
• Total Runtime 39:41

Info for Huam

‘Huam’, (scots n the call of an owl) is the third collection of songs from Salt House, and their second pairing with producer Andy Bell.

The trio continue their love of recording ‘on location’ with this album, taking themselves to rural Argyllshire to finish writing and recording the songs, which were crafted between their homes of Inverness-shire and Shetland.

The album includes 6 new songs written by the band and new settings of 19th and 20th Century poetry by Scotland’s Robert Thomas, Nan Shepherd and Robert Williams Buchanan alongside American, Emily Dickinson. This record sees them solidify their reputation as fine interpreters of words; new songs that sound as if they’ve always been here, ancient ballads woken up, poems given the tunes they’ve long deserved. Songs about place, politics and landscape.

The group’s meticulous attention to detail, shared passions and care for their craft sees them create an album that celebrates their love of song and tells a story of our times. They continue their exploration of old texts, whilst their own worlds reflect shared feelings of hope and wonder in the current world we share. (Their music is, in part, a contribution to the stream of artists creating work to counter a turbulent world, some light in the dark.)

Lauren MacColl, viola, fiddle, vocals, glockenspiel
Ewan MacPherson, vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, dulcimer
Jenny Sturgeon, vocals, harmonium, pump organ, guitars, piano, dulcimer

Jenny Sturgeon
is a singer-songwriter "who brings together the old and new with a rare skill" (R2 Magazine). Jenny's music is rich with imagery and her songs are bound together by common threads of folklore, nature and the connection people have with the wild.

Sturgeon’s songcraft is at the centre of her engaging and honest performance, with accompaniment on guitar, harmonium and dulcimer she has been described as “a wonderful singer who can change the atmosphere in the room with her affecting delivery” (Boo Hewerdine). Her album 'The Living Mountain' was nominated for the Scottish Album of the Year awards 2021 and in 2020 she won Best Acoustic at the Scottish Alternative Music Awards. In 2018 she was nominated as Composer Of The Year in the Scots Trad Music Awards.

Jenny is currently touring audio-visual project 'The Living Mountain' - a collection of songs and films inspired by Nan Shepherd's book of the same name. Supported by Creative Scotland and Help Musicians.

Musical collaborations include writing and performing in the critically acclaimed alt-folk band Salt House and in the bird and migration inspired project, Northern Flyway; a Creative Scotland and PRS Foundation funded audio-visual project that Jenny co-wrote with Inge Thomson - described as "like watching a David Attenborough documentary but with awesome music!”.

Jenny’s music has been played on BBC Radio Scotland, Radio 3, Radio 6 Music, Radio 2, and Radio Nan Gaidheal - including being featured as artist of the week, live sessions for Travelling Folk and BBC Radio 3 and being on BBC Radio 4 Front Row. Jenny's release 'The Wren and The Salt Air' - a commission for The National Trust of Scotland - featured on national STV news. Her song ‘Charmer’ was featured at number 9 of The Herald’s best 100 songs of 2018.

Ewan MacPherson
lived in Edinburgh for 14 years and spent a lot of time playing music in one of Bert’s old haunts Sandy Bells pub. He also worked for Stoneyport Associates which booked Bert’s Scottish gigs and so was regularly in touch with Loren, Bert’s wife, organising publicity and promotional materials. Ewan plays in a band called Salt House, which is influenced by Bert’s music including Pentangle.

This album contains no booklet.