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 Red Hook Rapids are Ally
MacLeod & Donald Forbes they
will be supporting Stacey Earle and Mark Stuart Glasgow
Rio Cafe April 4, Kirkcaldy Acoustic Music Club April 5 and Inverness
Bogbain Farm May 19. Red Hook Rapids will release their first official
album in May of this year too so exciting times for the Highland Duo.
Ally's first solo radio hit album Astor Place, which
features Donald, and was produced and mentored by Martin
Stephenson of The Dantees fame, reached 16 in the Euro Free
Form Broadcasters Chart, made the top 20 in the FAR world wide Free Form
Broadcasters chart, is still in the top 20 of The French Americana Chart,
has achieved airplay (and sales) across all territories including
BBC Radio Ulster, Radio Wales and of coarse BBC Radio Scotland where doyen
Scottish broadcaster Iain Anderson has strapped
himself to their mast from the moment the CD landed with the crew of the
Hesperus, Scotlands favourite song based radio show.
 The joy of music and singing began early
for Ally MacLeod, if her charge on popular success started
late . She grew up in the Scottish Highlands in a home whose
walls reverberated to the sounds of both traditional Scottish reels and
jigs and the comforting twang of Chet Atkin's guitar.
Guitar, piano and trumpet lessons spattered her childhood but the love
of theatre took her into acting, writing and directing in her 20's and 30's
on both sides of the Atlantic, including a four year stint in New York
working, mainly, in experimental theatre. She ran her own theatre
company, Roadrunner Theatre, on her return to Scotland at the
turn of the century and it was during this time her songwriting became more
than just a hobby and began to dominate a greater part of her life.
A happenstance meeting with singer songwriter, and now music
producer, Martin Stephenson unveiled a back catalogue of
close to 50 songs and it was in the spring of 2010 that they began working
together on a choice 12 that now make up Ally's first album, Astor
Place.
Drawing on her experiences of living abroad, travelling the world,
love, nature and the elements, the dozen songs span a decade of writing,
the title track having been written the day after her fortuitous meeting
with Martin.
 "Martin is someone who is inspired and
inspiring and I, literally, feed off his positivity and deep spiritual
nature. I'm blessed to have met him."
Ally teamed up with fellow musician Donald Forbes, from
Inverness, in the summer of 2010 and they now perform under the name Red
Hook Rapids. Over the past year they have supported such musical
luminaries as Christine Collister, Michael Weston King, the Lush Rollers
and, most recently, Martin Stephenson at the Jazz Caf? in London.
"We're thrilled to be supporting Stacey and Mark. Their music
is infectiously joyous and we can't wait to see them play live. They're
torch bearers for a generation that could so easily have turned their backs
on the country thaaang but they've embraced it wholeheartedly and immersed
their lives in that authentic Americana sound we love so much".
If you looking for that whole hearted authenticity, and your living in
Scotland, you could do much worse than look out for Red Hook Rapids over
the coming year on tour with Mark and Stacey, + some Highland dates with
Austin based Jeremy Steding worth looking out
for too , with more venues across Scotland adding dates and at this
years Belladrum Festival in August.
Rob Ellen.
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