Sian is a Scottish all-female traditional band who are known for their Gaelic vocal harmonies and celebrating Gaelic songs composed by women. They formed to raise the prominence of work by female Gaelic bards, which might not have received much attention or credit otherwise. Their name "Sian" takes its meaning from the Scottish Gaelic for "storm" or "the elements".

History

Sian originally came together at the

Fèisean nan Gàidheal Fèisean nan Gàidheal is the National Association of Scottish Gaelic Arts Youth Tuition Festivals. Established in 1988, it is the support organisation for the Fèisean (Scottish Gaelic for Festivals) which are local Gaelic Arts tuition festivals. T ...

Blas Festival, when they were put together with Innes White, a guitarist and musician, to perform and celebrate songs by female Scottish bards in 2016. They continue with this theme to this day in their choice of material. In 2018, Sian featured on Niteworks' song "Air Fàir an Là" on their album of the same name. The song "Air Fàir an Là" is originally the work of 17th century poet, Màiri nighean Alasdair Ruaidh, born in Harris but who spent much of her life in the

Isle of Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye, is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated by the Cuillin, the rocky slopes of which provide some of ...

, who in her lifetime was shunned for her sin of writing poetry and upon her death, buried face down as punishment. In March 2020, Sian released their debut album, ''Sian''. Sian toured Scotland with their debut album in March 2020.

Band members

Sian has three Scottish band members: *Ellen MacDonald - also a member of Dàimh and a graduate of

Sabhal Mòr Ostaig Sabhal Mòr Ostaig (; ) is a public higher education college situated in the Sleat peninsula in the south of the Isle of Skye, Scotland with an associate campus at Bowmore on the island of Islay. Sabhal Mòr is an independent Academic Part ...

, where she studied traditional music. MacDonald also performs alongside Niteworks and provides the voices of Gaelic cartoon characters for example, she voiced Alvin from

Alvin and the Chipmunks Alvin and the Chipmunks, originally David Seville and the Chipmunks and billed for their first two decades as the Chipmunks, are an American animated virtual band and media franchise first created by Ross Bagdasarian for Novelty records in ...

for CBBC Alba's Gaelic children's section. *Eilidh Cormack - Gaelic Ambassador of the Year 2018, Singer of the Year at MG ALBA

Scots Trad Music Awards The Scots Trad Music Awards or Na Trads were founded in 2003 by Simon Thoumire to celebrate Scotland's traditional music in all its forms and create a high profile opportunity to bring the music and music industry into the spotlight of media an ...

2018, Semi-finalist in

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. Its headquarters are in Glasgow, employing approximately 1,250 staff as of 2017, to produce 15,000 hours of television and radio programming per year. BBC Scotla ...

's Young Traditional Musician of the Year in 2016, won Ladies' Gold Medallist at the Royal National Mòd in 2014 and contributed vocals to '' The Bard's Tale IV'', a video game. *Ceitlin Lilidh - also has a solo career in Gaelic songs and is a graduate of the

Royal Conservatoire of Scotland The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (), formerly the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama () is a conservatoire of dance, drama, music, production, and film in Glasgow, Scotland. It is a member of the Federation of Drama Schools. Founde ...

. She has won the Traditional Gold Medal at the Royal National Mòd and the Danny Kyle Award; and was nominated for Gaelic Singer of the Year 2019. Her vocal also feature in ''

Outlaw King ''Outlaw King'' is a 2018 historical action drama film, co-written, produced, and directed by David Mackenzie. Chris Pine stars as Scottish king Robert the Bruce during the Scottish Wars of Independence in 1304–07. The ensemble cast also fe ...

'' on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

and Skipinnish's album, ''The Seventh Wave''.

Discography

Albums

* ''Sian'' (2020)

References

{{Reflist

External links

Sian website
Scottish Gaelic music Scottish Gaelic singers Scottish Celtic music groups Scottish all-female bands Scottish Gaelic bands