Positive fall-out: Archie Fisher still here

Posted at 2:22 PM on April 20, 2010 by Euan Kerr (0 Comments)
Filed under: Music, People

While the Icelandic volcano introduced more pain into international travel in recent days, it's also brought a little pleasure.

Singer and broadcaster Archie Fisher who played the Celtic Junction in St Paul on Sunday discovered he couldn't get back to his home in Scotland as a result of the volcano induced flight restrictions.

This means that we, and in particular the listeners of Radio Heartland, get to enjoy a little more of his company. He came into the MPR studios to record a session today with host Dale Connolly.

Fisher, has been performing for more than 50 years, has presented BBC Radio Scotland's Travelling Folk program for more than a quarter century. He also has a long standing relationship with Red House Records in St Paul.

In the spirit of full disclosure I should reveal my own peripheral involvement in this. Years ago Fisher agreed to do an album for Red House, but one thing led to another and it never arrived.

Back in 1990 I moved to Glasgow for a couple of years where I worked for Radio Scotland. Red House Records owner Bob Feldman asked me to ask Archie about the album if I saw him.

I actually would bump into Fisher fairly regularly as the Travelling Folk office was on the way from the newsroom to the BBC canteen. I'd be carrying a huge tray of cups of coffee and tea and there would be Archie and his producer Danny Kyle. Danny was a man had a huge selection of fish ties which he wore daily as part of his ongoing campaign against dress codes

And so I asked about the recording every once in a while, and Archie would smile, and we would talk about something else.

Apparently the album became somewhat of a legend at Red House, and some believed it would never arrive. Then one day an email from Fisher dropped into the label's corporate in-box. It enquired where he should send the finished recordings. The album "Windward Away" came out in 2008.

You can hear Archie Fisher on the Dale Connolly Show on Radio Heartland in coming days.

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