Julie Fowlis closes her eyes, gently swings both arms and lets the Gaelic words rapidly roll off her tongue. Just what she’s singing about maybe only a few folks in the audience know, but the vocalist’s performance in a video clip from the Later with Jools Holland show in 2007 is equal parts intense, frolicsome and mesmerizing.
Local music fans will get a chance to experience the Scottish singer in action Feb. 21 at the Northshore Performing Arts Center.
Her latest album “Cuildh,” which translates into “treasury” or “secret hiding place” in English, features a Gaelic cover version of the Beatles’ “Blackbird” (“Lon-dubh”) and Fowlis’ stirring versions of songs from Scotland’s Hebrides Islands.
“I hope to bring our music to some new audiences. Audiences can expect a night of song, music, fun and high energy,” Fowlis wrote in an e-mail interview from her home in the mainland Highlands of Scotland last week. “I think that’s infectious for an audience — if they see that you’re doing it because you love it, they can feel part of that buzz, too.”
Fowlis’ music goes from toe-tapping to somber, and she displays a sharp sense of humor as shown in a clip from the Loughborough Folk Festival in 2008. She’s an instrumentalist, as well, breaking out her tin whistle to accompany her fiddler (husband Éamon Doorley), acoustic guitarist and bouzouki player in a gig clip from Ystradgynlais in Wales.
Music was a crucial part of Fowlis’ life from the get-go.
“I was lucky enough to be surrounded by music, Gaelic music especially,” she wrote. “My grandmother and parents would sing to us, and encourage us to sing. Our tiny school (with a roll of 12) kept music and song as an important part of the curriculum, and me and my sister were always encouraged from a young age to participate in cèilidhs (informal community gatherings) — whether it was through dancing, singing or playing the bagpipes!”
She graduated from the local cèilidhs to study classical music in school, and later worked as a development officer for traditional music and Gaelic song for the organization Fèis Rois. Along the way, she started playing small gigs with her friends and a few European festivals. As Fowlis continued to play out and her schedule became increasingly packed, the stage appeared to be set for a musical career. However, her plans were put on hold when her mother fell ill and spent nearly a year in the hospital.
But Fowlis came out of the trying experience with a fresh outlook on music.
“After that time, and during her long recovery, I did something very unlike me — without any guarantee of gigs (and, therefore, income), I just took the plunge and resigned from my job and started playing music full time,” she wrote.
Growing up speaking both Gaelic and English, Fowlis took the former language from her mother’s side of the family and ran with it. She’s the first Scottish Gaelic artist to be nominated and win at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, first to be playlisted on that station and named the first “Tosgaire na Gàidhlig,” or Gaelic ambassador, by the Scottish Parliament in 2008.
On singing in Gaelic, Fowlis wrote: “It’s an ancient language, and very a descriptive and beautiful language — especially in song and poetry.”
Although she’s been honing her craft for a while now, Fowlis admittedly doesn’t have everything figured out just yet.
“I am only getting to the confident stage now where I can say, ‘Yes, we did that, and I am really proud of it,’ rather than getting embarrassed and changing the subject when people bring it up!” she wrote.
She’s experienced success, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t aspire to reach greater heights, both musically and personally.
“Truthfully, I’m constantly inspired by our beautiful surroundings here in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland,” she wrote. “I am especially inspired by the great musicians and singers we are lucky enough to work with and bump into on the road.”
