The Cast: Beginnings of a Duo

The Cast was the duo of David Francis and me. We started playing music together in 1992. I was keen to learn Scottish songs and play fiddle for dancing, so we worked up some music. Alisdair Fraser and his brother Iain (Culburnie Records) heard us play on Skye in the summer of 1993 and asked if we’d like to make an album. That’s how The Winnowing came to be. Our version of Auld Lang Syne is on that album.

As it happens, Dave first heard the original version of Auld Lang Syne sung by Kathleen Robertson at a ceilidh in Aberdeenshire in 1990. That moment stayed with him. When we recorded it on our first album, the result was an arrangement that felt both rooted and alive.

Developing Our Sound: Colours of Lichen

Next, we followed up the first album with Colours of Lichen, a thoughtful blend of traditional music and our own songs. It represented a weaving of influence and expression that felt true to our evolving musical voice.

A Change in Rhythm: Family and Community Work

Then life changed. When our daughters were born in 1996 and 1999, our working lives shifted. We began to lean into the local, working more at a grassroots level in Edinburgh and around Scotland. During this period, I taught fiddle and viola and directed a community folk choir called Sangstream for twelve years. I wrote arrangements of Scottish folk songs for the choir, and together we explored the power of voice in community.

At the same time, we also organised traditional music camps for young people and adults. These gatherings helped pass on the music that had given us so much. It was an enriching chapter that grounded our work in a broader sense of cultural connection.

New Directions: Greengold and Seven Songs

In 2007, we recorded Greengold, another step forward in our creative journey. Not long after, I put together Seven Songs, a collection of original material Dave and I had written. It was created specifically for promoters at a Celtic Connections Showcase event. This project showcased a more curated and intentional side of our songwriting.

By 2011, it felt like time to put my name to something more directly. That year, I released the Mairi Campbell album. All the songs were co-written with David Francis, but this time I recorded with a band. I was moved by the phrase “Dig where you stand,” and wanted to build a work around it. It’s a powerful invitation – one that resonates especially in traditional music, where becoming part of the “carrying stream“ is a vital part of the work.

Around this same time, I began collaborating with Kath Burlinson, who would go on to be a vital creative partner.

Family History in Song: Red Earth and Revival

Two albums, Red Earth and Revival, emerged from this rich collaboration. These works delve into ancestry and personal history. Red Earth follows the life of my great-grandfather John Anderson, who left Rhynie, Scotland, in 1890 to become a missionary doctor in China with the China Inland Mission. Revival, on the other hand, focuses on my grandfather Duncan Campbell. He was an evangelical missionary who played a key role in the Lewis Revivals of the 1950s.

We shared this music through the framework of theatre. At first, I was shy speaking on stage in a dramatic setting. So I let the music carry the story. I sang, I played fiddle, and slowly, I began to step into that larger performance space. I was building something new.