GABE MCVARISH

Gabe McVarish (fiddle) grew up in North California, where his family settled after emigrating from the Scottish Highlands and crossing Canada 3 generations before.

Arriving in Scotland at the tender age of 17 on Fiddle Scholarship with Lochaber legend Aonghas Grant, Gabe became smitten with the area known as the Rough Bounds. Deciding to up residence in Morar, Gabe discovered he had chosen to life in the very village that his Great-Great Grandfather had departed for Nova Scotia all those years before. Morar is the only MacVarish enclave remaining in the country and is now stronger by 3 due to Gabe’s selfless contribution.

3 cold hard winters of toil in the big city of Glasgow at the turn of the century saw Gabe graduate from prestigious R.S.A.M.D with a BA in Scottish Music and 2010 saw the release of Gabe’s solo album Eclection; a culmination of fiddle styles and repertoire from both sides of the Atlantic and the Irish Sea.

In 2017 Gabe launched his book, The Gabe McVarish Collection, a collection of Traditional and Contemporary Melodies from across the Celtic Diaspora.

Now one of the 100 hardy and resourceful residents of the Isle of Eigg, Gabe spends his time between Daimh stints by visiting the Primary Schools of the Small Isles with his fiddle and achieving the seemingly impossible task of brewing enough beer to keep the locals thirst sated.

“California’s golden boy has recorded a solo album, and it’s 24 carat” Alex Monaghan folkworld.de

“a major force in the Celtic music world … awesome … truly outstanding arrangements, all excellently produced … should be compulsory listening, both as an example of individual expertise and of collective understanding of the essence of great music.” Gordon Potter, The Living Tradition