I bought this album on vinyl when I was much younger, I must have been about 20 at the time. It’s all I ever wanted to get from music on one CD. Gaughan recorded it in 1985 — it was his comeback gig after a period of illness. He’s managed to make a CD so steeped in Scottish traditional music, full of passion and excitement. I think that’s what you want to translate when you’re making a record — that sense of passion and excitement. But it can be a challenge for even the best musician. I don’t think with this record Gaughan could have delivered any more than he did.

It was recorded 23 years ago but no record has moved me as much since, and I have listened to a lot of music. Revolution is a fiery and exciting opening track — a great way to start a record. I remember being hooked from those opening few bars.

My favourite track is Four Green Fields. My mother had a cheesy version of the song on 7” by a band called the Flying Column. It wasn’t my taste but I didn’t have money to buy my own records so I used to listen to it a lot when I was a kid. It stuck in my head from an early age and when I heard Dick Gaughan sing it, it all made sense.

Part of its beauty is the fact that it’s a live record. The studio can be a sterile environment and even then a musician will try and recreate a ‘live’ sound, albeit without an audience. Gaughan was obviously fired up and on form that night in Edinburgh because he gets it just right — the musicianship is immaculate and the atmosphere so intense and passionate.

I’ve always hoped to meet someone who was at that concert but it’s never happened. I’ve spoken to Dick Gaughan about it but he’s very modest about the whole thing. He just says, “It was just another concert, nothing special”. In my mind it’s the perfect record. Like I say, I’ve never heard anything quite like it since.

Under One Sky is an hour-long vocal and instrumental suite by the multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer John McCusker, performed by a 12-piece collective including Roddy Woomble and Julie Fowlis at the Fruitmarket, Glasgow, November 25; Music Hall, Aberdeen, November 27; Perth Concert Hall, November 28; Inverness Ironworks, November 29; The Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, December 8. For more information visit www.tuneup.org.uk/tours/under_one_sky/

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