NPR: Thistle & Shamrock

THISTLE & SHAMROCK: All Fiona Ritchie had to do was to say "Grrrrrrrretchen" with her Scottish brogue and I would have been satisfied. But the host of Thistle and Shamrock went on to play a cut from "The Waxwing," a beautiful air written by late Scottish tunesmith Ian Hardie called "The Unreel." What a both humbling and thrilling moment to hear myself on one of my favorite NPR programs with an episode featuring "some of the best new sounds from artists both rising and well-established."     

REMEMBERING IAN HARDIE: I was saddened by the death (October 2012) of Scottish fiddler Ian Hardie. I fell in love with his compositions 20 years ago after hearing several on a Barra MacNeil's record. After I recorded one of his tunes in 2000, The Lost Village of Culbin, he sent me a gracious note and a copy of his book, The Spider's Web, which I have cherished. He was glad a girl from America was enjoying his tunes from Scotland. From all that I have read, he was the well-loved and gentle man I always imagined. Although his life was too short, my hope is that his tunes are passed down for hundreds of years.