Thursday 13th November 2025
Photos and video by Keith Belcher, review Pete Lambert
A truly exceptional gig on Thursday by Malin Lewis and friends ..
I had in fact bumped into them (Malin) in the Old Inn in Carbost, close to the Talisker Distillery, a few years ago – here was someone quite special in skill and experience – that was clear even back then.
I began playing the Highland Pipes in 2010 and had my own set of Scottish small Pipes made by Ross Calderwood of Lochalsh Pipes in about 2018.
What a thrill, then to see them at the live room a few years later, one outstanding talent alongside two others in Sally Simpson on fiddle and Ali Hutton on guitar.
The skill and musicianship of all three was truly outstanding and mesmerising ! The way the two fiddles interacted, exchanging melody and harmony with apparent ease and held together with the powerful and rhythmic guitar and penetrating into wondrous and unknown places (the halocline)
The sound of the Lindsay system small pipes was exquisite: these extending the range of the normal A chanter from 9 notes (low G to high A) to a full two octaves low D to high D) and creating a whole new world for this noble instrument.
And if this were not enough, Malin’s mastery of the Great Highland Pipes was total and glorious! Exceptional in every way.
Now to learn some of Malin’s tunes … at least those that can be managed by a 9 note set. Thanks for bringing this extraordinary trio to The Live Room, Ron and Hilary !