Music of Big Country's Stuart Adamson has 'profound effect' on daughter's new album

The daughter of Big Country Legend Stuart Adamson has revealed how the profound effect of his work has inspired her second album.
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Edinburgh-based songwriter, Kirsten Adamson, has launched an online fundraiser to complete the recording and launch which began at the start of lockdown.

Landing Place is a collection of songs that encompasses an emotional inward journey - of her becoming a mother, and coming to terms with all that has been and gone so far.

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And she said an unexpected part of the journey had been the legacy left behind by Stuart who died ten years ago.

Kirsten Adamson has launched an online crowdfunder to complete her second album (Pic: John Mackie)Kirsten Adamson has launched an online crowdfunder to complete her second album (Pic: John Mackie)
Kirsten Adamson has launched an online crowdfunder to complete her second album (Pic: John Mackie)

He was part of The Skids, one of Scotland’s finest bands to emerge from the punk era, and then led Big Country to global success.

Launching her online Crowdfunder, Dunfermline-born, Kirsten wrote: “ An unexpected part of this journey has been the profound effect that the exploration of my dad’s works has had.

“The emotional, musical and poetic cohesiveness with him, I truly feel, has helped me realise, that although not my terminus, Landing Place is my emotional journey, my life experiences, my letting go, my acceptance, my here and now.”

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She started writing her album in the early weeks of lockdown while isolated from her fellow musicians.

Kirsten Adamson on stage at Cash Back In Fife, staged at the Woodside Hotel, Aberdour just before lockdown (Pic: Fife Free Press)Kirsten Adamson on stage at Cash Back In Fife, staged at the Woodside Hotel, Aberdour just before lockdown (Pic: Fife Free Press)
Kirsten Adamson on stage at Cash Back In Fife, staged at the Woodside Hotel, Aberdour just before lockdown (Pic: Fife Free Press)

She said: “Finding myself, as a singer-songwriter out of work, like most, I looked online from my cold, dark summerhouse and figured out a rudimentary way to play live, for anyone interested.

“I was surprised and excited to see just how many people were viewing my performances both nationally and overseas and extremely moved by the support I was getting. “Each Friday she would play a brand new set of requested material which would always include one or two of her dad’s songs after previously shying away from his catalogue.

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“It was extremely emotional when I first began to study his works and compose my own arrangements of them,” she wrote.

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“The time and headspace normally reserved for relentless gigging allowed me to reflect on the global catastrophe of the virus and my personal internal struggles.”

Lockdown enabled her to connect with a number of musicians,, including Jason Mcniff, Dave Burn, and Jon Mackenzie, plus Edinburgh singer-songwriter Dean Owens who came on board as producer.

Co-incidentally, Kirsten was one of the songwriters Dean invited to participate in Cash Back In Fife - a celebration of Johnny Cash’s historic family links to the Kingdom - which was one of the very last live gigs staged in Scotland before the pandemic closed all venues.

“These intuitive artists have helped me deploy my traditional and painfully honest story-telling,” she said.

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“Through soaring melodies and burning sentiments I hope to reproduce the vivid images of my real life characters, essence of circumstance and consciousness of landscape.

“I truly believe music is my way of connecting people’s unique experiences and making sense of big emotions together.”

The fundraiser includes a raft of rewards from signed copies, special bonus tracks, a dedicated specially recorded video of your choice, handwritten lyric sheets, and even a house concert - with a Zoom option.

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