Grace Stewart-Skinner’s debut album Auchies Spikkin’ Auchie effortlessly intertwines field recorded conversation with her new compositions to create an ethnomusicological postcard of her wee home village, Avoch.

The Auchies Spikkin’ Auchie band is comprised of Grace on clàrsach, Rose Logan on fiddles Rhona MacDonald on double bass and Ewa Adamiec on drum kit. The live performance is accompanied by stunningly sensitive film of the Avoch landscape, created by film artist Michiel Turner.

Located on the Black Isle, Avoch was once one of the oldest north-east Highland fishing communities with her own unique lingual and cultural heritage. Recent decades have given way to a drastic decrease in Avoch’s fishing industry, mirrored by a fading away of the Avochie dialect. The recorded dialogue ranges from poems and stories to natural conversations between old friends, all remembering the old ways of Avoch’s herring fishery, and all in the rich Avochie dialect of Scots.

This is an innovative and thoughtful exploration of cultural preservation, as well as a truly immersive and awe-inspiring live performance.

Can be performed with or without the visual element, depending on availability and/or space for a projector and screen.