A legendary, Scottish folk band with a Manx connection is preparing to make a comeback at a huge festival next weekend.

Deaf Shepherd, featuring Peel-man Malcolm Stitt on bouzouki, are reforming for a headline concert at the prestigious Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow on Saturday, January 19.

The Scots folk group were active for nearly 20 years, throughout the 1990s and 2000s, releasing a number of albums and becoming one of the best known folk groups of the time.

Malcolm, a guitarist and bouzouki player of international repute, thanks to his time as a member of the famous Irish group Boys of the Lough and also as part of the Kate Rusby band, moved to the island in 2009, and is looking forward to rekindling old memories and playing tunes that still remain popular today.

’We’re getting a lot of messages from people who are excited about seeing us again, and I think it is kind of a nostalgia trip for a lot of people,’ said Malcolm.

’Deaf Shepherd were quite a big band at the time, especially in Scotland, during the 90s and the early part of the last decade.

’We appeared around the same time as Shooglenifty, and we would tour together quite a few times. Shooglenifty were huge, and were massive for Scottish folk at the time. They were at the front of that "acid folk" movement.

We were the other way, totally traditional.’

The sold-out gig will bring together all of the previous band members of Deaf Shepherd, who will join the last current line-up, consisting of Malcolm, guitarist and singer John Moran, Jenna Reid and Clare McLaughlin on fiddles, Mark Maguire on bodhrá* and bagpiper Findlay McDonald.

’Funnily enough, the last time we played was at the Peel Centenary Centre in 2010, almost nine years ago now,’ he said.

’There is another nice connection with the island, as Findlay often comes over to work with the Ellan Vannin pipe band.’

Malcolm first joined Deaf Shepherd in 1991.

’When they started, shortly before I joined, they didn’t see themselves as a serious band. Afterall , you wouldn’t call yourselves Deaf Shepherd if you took yourself seriously.

’But the band took off more than they thought it would and, by then, the name had stuck,’ said Malcolm.

’Its good getting back together. Its strange though, seeing people for the first time in a while that you used to see every day, all the time. Since then we’ve all had kids and done various different things

’But the best thing is to reminisce about the old days and the madness that used to go on, the things that we used to get up to. It’s a good laugh recounting all of those days and trying to piece it all back together.’

by Mike Wade

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