Caroline Gilmour and Marissa Keltie – collectively Edinburgh-based melodic pop duo The Eves – are singers, songwriters and composers in their own right. Keltie, also a voiceover artist and model, recently topped the iTunes Classical Music chart with her piano composition River and Reign, while Gilmour topped the vinyl singles charts with her self-released Electric Waterfalls EP in 2016 – the year the pair finally met.

“It was a bit like Sliding Doors,” they say, in reference to the Gwyneth Paltrow romcom where a missed train determines one possible life path. “We had known about each other for years, played in the same venues at different times, and also worked with the same session musicians, but always seemed to miss each other.”

Keltie sought out Gilmour via Facebook and the duo began collaborating remotely, long before the pandemic made that a necessity. By early 2020, the nascent Eves had made great strides, releasing debut single Tides, playing festivals such as Country to Country and TRSNMT, with record company meetings in the diary and plans to collaborate with other writers. And then, they say, “it all went depressingly quiet.”

However, they did make a vital connection with producer Lewis Gardiner, who has worked with Ellie Goulding, Joe Jonas and, closer to home, Glasgow indie pop trio Prides, Scot rockers Twin Atlantic and also fellow Scotsman Sessioneer Tamzene.

“Rather than wallow in disappointment and rest on our laurels we decided we had to get to work,” they say. “It was a real education working remotely, doing a lot of recording ourselves at home and greatly enhancing our music technology skills.

“In retrospect, lockdown hit the pause button on the previous trajectory we were on” – those Sliding Doors again? - “It actually gave us the time to think about which direction we wanted to pursue without feeling under pressure to gig all the time. We even managed to release a few tracks that we recorded, with our single Brand New Day hitting the BBC Radio 2 playlist just as we were coming out of the last lockdown in 2021. A fine end to that crazy time.”

For their Scotsman Session, they have recorded a version of their latest single Big Love, their first co-write with Gardiner and Paolo Nutini wingman Jim Duguid, which was released in early April. “We hadn't performed an acoustic version of it so far, so wanted to give The Scotsman Sessions an exclusive! The clip was filmed at our home in Leith – basically rough and ready in our living room.”

Writing continues, with plans for another single in the coming months, and gigging has resumed for the duo, not least returning to the Tiree Music Festival (in person this time) and a plum support slot with singer Horse McDonald, who is currently marking the 30th anniversary of her album The Same Sky with a UK tour which arrives at Edinburgh’s Queen’s Hall on 24 June. The Eves also headline their own show at Room 2, Glasgow on 6 August.

For more information, see https://www.theeves.co.uk/

The Scotsman Sessions #321: The Eves