Mike Vass & Mairi Campbell: The Dead Stations

Event information

The Dead Stations are out of use platforms on a remote train line through the forested mountains.

“The whole forest has this feeling of going on forever. And if you lose track of the trainline then you’re lost. But it hugs the mountain and that’s hard to lose. I think there must have been a lot of people living here once because sometimes there are roads that lead nowhere, and of course there’s the dead stations. They’re like these relics eaten by nature. Reclaimed by the forest. Like it’s taking them apart stone by stone. … No, the train never stops at any. They just chug past the window.”

A story told through original music and animation; combining live performance, recorded actors and projections. Written by Charlotte Hathaway, music and lyrics by Mike Vass, live performance by Mike Vass and Mairi Campbell. Animation and sound design by Edinburgh College of Art.

Drawing on her native traditional background, a long and fruitful songwriting collaboration with David Francis (The Cast) and her natural ability to improvise, Mairi Campbell is turning heads and hearts as a solo performer. ''Her voice can stop the clock” (The Scotsman).
Winner of the inaugural Neil Gow International Composition Award, Mike Vass is fast gaining a reputation as. one of Scotland's foremost tunesmiths. "A great ear for atmosphere and a knack for writing tunes that lilt and yearn" (The Guardian)

The piece came about as a result of the 2013 Remembered/Imagined project which commissioned pairs of composers and writers to create a collaboration of words and music inspired by the School of Scottish Studies Sound Archives.

Tea and home baking in the interval included in ticket price.