Rebel's Wood from Westerfjord by Colin Campbell and the Bracadale Collective

Early in the 2000's I was surprised to find a plantation of native woodland on the trail between Bharcasaig and Macleod's Maidens, called Rebel's Wood. It had been planted in honour of Joe Strummer of The Clash whose grandmother was a Gillies from Raasay. The connection between Loch Bracadale and Joe Strummer was like the collision of two worlds that I thought were unconnected. The tune is in the style of a pìobaireachd (the classical music of the bagpipe) with a guitar backing as a nod to Joe Strummer. While doing the fieldwork for the album I cycled from Struan round the loch, abandoning my bike at Rebel's Wood and carrying on running out to The Maidens. We used my heart rate data converted to sound at the beginning of the track and altitude data converted to sound in the middle. The words are from "Oran a' Christmas Tree" - a comic song. "The Christmas Tree" by Donald 'Ruadh' Campbell and recited by my Auntie, Gaelic Singer and activist Kenna Campbell.

I'm a scientist and musician making music at the interface between indie and Scottish traditional music. My album Westerfjord is a love letter to Loch Bracadale and melds diverse influences from indie guitars to the classical music of the bagpipes and blends them with in-situ field recording, archival sound and scientific data.