BORN IN THE BORDERS
The fourth monthly digital single release of the Yarrow Acoustic Sessions, part of my current project Yarrow.

Born In The Borders was commissioned by John Henderson to celebrate the opening of Born In The Borders, near Ancrum. Since the ethos of the centre is showcasing local makers, food and crafts, we wanted a song that could be picked up and sung locally, that connected with some of the local traditions and people, and had elements of of the physical place too.

I visited the centre during construction and the landscape, trees, farm steading, swallows in the rafters, crafts and industry of the place struck me. I also wanted to represent the people that have moved to the borders and made it their home, that weren’t born there but still belong there, in a sense. John’s own story is in the song too.

Song by Lori Watson
Vocal and fiddles by Lori Watson
Guitars by Innes Watson
Bass by Dunc Lyall
Recorded and mixed by Duncan Lyall at Red Deer
Mastered by Iain Hutchison at Glo Worm Studios

YARROW
Dark and brooding, windswept, contoured, joyful, turbulent, sparse: Yarrow is an evolving collection of traditional and original songs and new music by Lori Watson.
Yarrow is an exploration of human connections to nature and one another, through time, inspired by the Yarrow valley in the Scottish Borders. The project centers on the development of a contemporary album that carries these themes beyond conventional folk sounds, and as part of the exploration a series of acoustic singles will be released (Yarrow Acoustic Sessions).

“With Yarrow taking place over a couple of years, I can give more time and space to allowing the music to develop towards the final album and share the experience as we go in the monthly acoustic singles: so yeah there’s an element of risk in that I don’t quite know what’s going to evolve.”

“I’m interested in unfinished works and fragments, whether traditional or original. They’ve always been inspiring starting points for me. In Yarrow I’m creating and interpreting fragments; crafting something that expresses the connections between us and our environment spanning hundreds of years: and then it’s filtered by what inspires and resonates with me right now.”

LORI WATSON
Scots Singer of the Year, Lori Watson is a fiddle player, singer and composer. She has drawn on the rich tradition of the Scottish Borders throughout her artistic life, including experimental works and a PhD thesis and creative folio exploring innovation and contemporary traditional music practice.

A folk musician with considerable pedigree, Lori is touring and recording with Boreas, Iain Morrison and a range of other solo and collaborative projects, and has six albums in circulation, including two critically acclaimed albums with her trio Rule of Three. But this is Lori’s first significant song work and she aims to let us in on the process as well as the finished products.