"Costello” – an island bred music pioneer

Now “Costello” prepares to take a step back from one of his main commitments. With the end of the school year came his last involvement as music teacher at Sir E Scott in Tarbert and he now looks forward to a well-earned retirement.

Certainly, few can look back on such a successful legacy, not just in terms of what he has achieved himself as a performer, which is significant, but also in terms of guiding a new talent of Gaelic musicians and singers.

His own journey began, like a typical islander, from a modest crofting background in the village of Bayble in Point.

He was, he says, surrounded by Gaelic music, but for the young Costello, his musical ears were drawn to the sounds of country and western, to the drawl of Hank Williams and Johnny Cash, to the stetsons, check shirts and garish collars, to what seemed like a glamorous world a million miles away from the croft and the peat fire.

It was in many respects a defining era, the emergence of rock n roll, the swinging Sixties. But it was the sounds and stories of country that resonated more for the young boy from Point. However, his first real opportunity to showcase his talent was closer to home, both in the real sense and in terms of musical expression.

“I joined the Heb Dance Band in 1973 and I was with them for three years,” said Iain. “I then set up Flair with the late Noreen Martin. We produced two albums between 1976 and 1980 with Shona recordings, a company that was run by the late Norman Maclean, Fergie MacDonald, of course, and John Carmichael. When we started running out of ideas and material, it was then that we decided to call it a day.”

That casual reference to some of the glitterati of traditional music with whom he worked in his early days tell you much about the esteem in which he was held.

At the time “Flair” were one of the most recognisable acts around, bringing a distinctive modern sound to Gaelic music and a host of original song material, much of it coming from the creative impulse of Iain himself. That was when the name of Costello began to come to the fore to audiences beyond his home community.

“In terms of wider recognition, yes, because with the Heb Dance band we only played at local events but with Flair we were travelling much further afield: the southern isles, Skye, Inverness, Glasgow, so we got far more recognition. But it was also due to the fact of who we had behind us with Shona Recordings. They had access to a far wider range of contacts than we would normally have had.”

The 1970s seemed to be a time of growing popularity in Gaelic music, coinciding with tmore broadcasting opportunities and greater awareness of the cultural aspect, too.

The language was entering a new more confident age. Na h-Oganaich, comprising Donnie and Margaret Macleod and Noel Eadie, were at the height of their popularity, a new dance band of long-haired young enthusiasts called Runrig had just started in Skye (whatever happened to them). But very much within that mix were Noreen, Costello and the phenomenon of Flair.

“We were a bit different to be fair,” said Iain. “The driving force behind Runrig was that they wanted to do it for a living and as far as Na h-Oganaich were concerned they were driven by the songs of Murchadh Mac Pharlain. But we both had jobs and it wasn’t so easy to travel and get bigger exposure.

“I suppose the new wave of Gaelic music all kind of started in the late 60s when The Lochies performed. They were the first really to change Gaelic music, moving away from the choral harmonies that had previously been done by folks groups and moving towards a more commercial approach and style I suppose. Then along came bands like Na Siaraich, Na h-Oganaich, and then it was Runrig and ourselves, Flair.”

After a few years, as happens, the days of Flair came to a natural end. Iain then enjoyed a rather peripatetic existence, music wise anyway, playing with various bands on the island and at local gigs. But then it wasn’t long before another opportunity came along for some major exposure. And if the 70s had been transformational in their own way so, too, for the 90s.

In 1991 a landmark moment for Gaelic television arrived when £9 million a year was allocated for programming by the then Tory Government, which laid the foundations for what we have in BBC ALBA today.

In the stream of creative opportunities that was to come in the wake of the funding package was “Tuath Cheol”, a music programme in which Gaelic songs were played in a country and western style, with the set decked out as a mock saloon.

It was an immediate hit with audiences and for a certain Lewis musician who had a passion for such style from a young age, it was tailor made. Costello was to become a firm fixture of Tuath Cheol.

“In 1993 John Murray and I formed the band New Tradition for the TV series. We did three of them between 1993 and 1996 and we also recorded an album,” said Iain.

“Country music was my first love: old time country music; Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Jim Reeves. They were the main influences for me. I wasn’t really that bothered about Gaelic music in my younger years, although it was in the house all the time. My Dad played the box and we had lots of Gaelic records around. I was very exposed to Gaelic music.

“But when I did start singing in Gaelic it was a case of trying to develop my own style and that was about infusing Gaelic song with country – just in the same way that Runrig infused Gaelic with rock music.”

So what is it that makes country and western such a fit for Gaelic? “The two genres easily cross because it’s all about storytelling. Gaelic traditional song is all about storytelling, about a person or a place. Country music is pretty much the same: it’s about broken hearts and tears and whatever. The majority of Gaelic songs are just like that, so the two fit each other well.”

WHILE Costello was a firm fixture on the music scene for many years it was by no means his full-time profession.

During all these years of developing a successful performing career, he worked at the old Stornoway Gazette on Francis Street on the printing side, at a time when local newspapers were a thriving industry and a vital fabric of the community.

“I spent nearly 20 years there,” he said. “I did my apprenticeship, which was five years. I left for a bit to go to Essprint (a printing company in Stornoway) but was soon offered a job back at the Gazette so I took that.

“I did enjoy that work, but it was heavy work. I was thinking to myself and looking forward to future years. Was I going to be fit enough for all that heavy lifting in the years to come? So that was why I started looking to go full-time with the music.”

And in 1996 he managed exactly that, securing a post as music teacher covering “12 schools, which was a lot of driving”.

“Then of course the rural secondaries began to close and that was whittled down to six, half of what I had started off with”. That included Sir E Scott in Tarbert, where for over 20 years he has helped guide successive choirs and pupils to numerous successes at the Royal National Mod.

In fact, that school is now well-known as perennial winners at the annual Mod in October, and much of that is down to their inspirational music teacher and his selfless dedication.

“There’s always been talented singers coming out of Harris – and Lewis, too. I can't just say it’s all about Harris because I’ve had loads of success with choirs in Lewis as well. I have spent more time in Harris right enough just with the way things panned out, but I worked with schools in Lewis, too.

“As a music teacher I considered it part of my job to take the pupils to the Mod. I probably didn’t have to right enough but I wanted to. I felt it was important, for all sorts of reasons really.”

As part of a personal tribute to the school and pupils at Sir E Scott, Costello composed a song “Beartas Ghuthan” (rich voices), a heart rendering composition which is in a way a love letter to Harris, both the place and its people.

Such was the public reaction to it that it went on to form the basis of a successful fund-raising album, with the pupils themselves performing – under his expert tutelage obviously. Just one more string to an increasingly impressive bow.

“My hobby became my job and there’s not very many people who can say that,” said Iain in a reflective mood. “Music was in my blood and I was just happy to pass on the knowledge that I had gained.

“I didn’t have any formal qualifications in music, apart from years of experience. Whatever I was doing with the pupils, whether a Christmas concert or the Mod, I always got a lot of joy out of it seeing them succeed and progress.”

So what now? For someone who has been so active and busy for so long, a complete retirement seems unlikely, even if well deserved.

“I’ve no plans whatsoever to be honest," he said. “I’m going to take a holiday and take a rest. I’m still gigging which I really enjoy. I’m actually enjoying that more than ever. I’ve got to the stage in life where I can just pick and choose what I want. There’s no pressure on taking gigs whereI’m going to be out and about till three-four in the morning. But the gigs themselves have become a lot more civilised in terms of duration – early starts and earlier finishes which suits me. I’m on bodach hours now.”

There’s probably a song in that, a good old country and western tale… told in Gaelic, of course.