Volcanic Ash: Cloud means misery for some - but Scots musician Laura McGhee sees a big opportunity

Published on Sunday 9 May 2010 22:51

THEY say an ill wind blows no-body good but although millions of people have had travel plans disrupted by the volcanic ash cloud, it could be the making of Laura McGhee's career.

McGhee, a 28-year-old country singer and fiddler from Monifieth, Angus, found herself stranded in America for two weeks in mid-April after the ash cloud originally struck.

Instead of hanging out at her hotel or the airport, she decided to use the time to visit American radio stations promoting her latest album, Celticana.

Now it has paid off, with the record proving so popular that it has broken into the Americana top 40 charts, making McGhee the first Scot ever to do so.

Now at number 33 on the chart, which ranks Americana albums in the US by radio airplay and currently contains albums by country greats such as Willie Nelson and Shelby Lynne, McGhee's music has become a hit with American country music fans, despite having a distinctly Scottish twist.

McGhee (pictured) said: "It's amazing – it's not really sunk in. We didn't know if it would make it into the charts at all. I was here on tour for a month and I'd done a bit of promotion, but because of the delay I had longer to promote it and it's really paid off.

"A lot of country music radio stations have been playing it, so it's got to quite a high chart position."

Americana, defined by the Americana Music Association (AMA) as "American roots music based on the traditions of country", can be traced back to Elvis Presley. World-famous artists in the chart include Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris and Lyle Lovett, and it developed as a radio format during the 1990s as a reaction to the highly polished sound that defined the mainstream music of that decade.

McGhee's Americana success has resulted in her picking up some influential fans in the US.

They include Grammy-award-winning singer and songwriter Jim Lauderdale, who has written songs for country stars the Dixie Chicks and collaborated with McGhee on several songs on the new album, and John Carter Cash, the son of the late Johnny Cash and a celebrated country musician who produced Walk The Line, the Oscar-winning biopic about his parents.

"Laura is an inspired artist," Carter Cash said. "Hearing it reminds me that roots and tradition can be evident in new music. I am delighted to hear the mingling of Gaelic melody with the tones and spirit of country music."

McGhee studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and is an accomplished classical musician as well as a country singer. She has appeared at Celtic Connections, in concert with Lauderdale, and performed Fairytale Of New York with Shane McGowan of The Pogues at the Glasgow Barrowlands. However, she has so far failed to break into UK mainstream music.

McGhee's manager, Phil Ferns, said that America was an obvious next step. "Laura never fitted into the folk community here, and in Scotland it's either folk or indie music," he said. "What Laura's doing is breaking into one of the biggest music markets in the world."