The Story of Six Hundred and Thirty-Five Days
The first lockdown of 2020, and the Coigach Community Development Company invited eight brilliant Scottish musicians to collaborate on new work inspired by the people and landscapes of the neighbouring parishes of Coigach and Assynt, on the northwest coast of Scotland. Finally, after the repeated social gathering and travel restrictions of the pandemic, everyone was able to meet in Achiltibuie in May 2021. Many months had passed since people from different households had played music together so this was a first chance to do just that: it was wonderful to hear the threads of fiddle, accordion, harp, pipes and double bass weaving together again in the resonant foyer of the Coigach Community Hall. Over the next few days, the musicians and filmmaker, Jess Phillimore, were introduced to local people and places on a series of walks through Coigach and Assynt’s landscapes, learning about topics ranging from salmon fishing and traditional crofting methods to three-billion-year-old rock formations, native tree-planting and renewable energy production.

July, and the group met up in Inverness to share compositions they had been working on individually and to start experimenting with arrangements, and in September they all came back to Achiltibuie. During this residency week members of the community were invited to join Kathleen and Quee, along with local geologists, on a walk and talk event down the Acheninver Burn, marred only by an accompanying plague of midgies! On the shore, looking out to the Summer Isles, Kathleen taught everyone a Gaelic song, and Quee and Kathleen gave the world premiere performance of ‘Sea May Rise’ outside the hostel.
Covid stopped play for a while, so it wasn’t until November 2022 that everyone could gather again in Achiltibuie. During the week, the collective focused on recording the album, and local singers were invited to a workshop during which they were recorded for Sea May Rise and Cadal Cha Deàn Mi: you can hear them in the choruses on the album! One evening, there was an open music session held in the cosy surroundings of the Bothan on Badentarbet Pier, and the communities were invited to a sharing event at the hall on the last day, to hear the new compositions and to watch Jess’s film, The Many Ways of Water.
And the title, Six Hundred and Thirty-Five Days? That’s how long it took to create this album, from that first gathering in May 2021 to the final mastering. The project was wonderful to be a part of and the music produced is a beautiful tribute to the landscapes and people of Coigach and Assynt.

Ann Marie Firth-Bernard
Project Coordinator

A huge, warm thank you from the project team to all the musicians – it was a privilege to work with you! And thank you to the communities of Coigach and Assynt for being a part of this and for sharing your stories.
Thanks also to Owen Sinclair for recording the album in Coigach’s old village hall, to Ross Whyte for mixing and to Chris Waite for mastering.
Thanks to Am Baile for the use of the cover photo, to Ewen McLachlan for the photos from the walk down the Acheninver Burn and to Ann Marie Firth-Bernard for the CD and central cover photos.
Thanks to Ellie Bainbridge for the design.
And thanks to all of our generous sponsors for supporting this project.