With a new single, tour and Belladrum set James Mackenzie celebrates his return
After a seven-year stint in Germany, Highland-born singer-songwriter James Mackenzie is home for a Scottish tour and new single Lost In The Ocean which was released on Thursday, July 27. Playing with a full band largely from Germany James is giving Scottish concert goers a chance to see and hear what he has been up to in Europe with sell out concerts and supporting the likes of Newton Faulkner, Tom Speight & Manfred Mann.
Q Will there be songs that people recognise at these different places you are revisiting?
A I’m looking forward to letting this alternative-folk outfit of mine belt out catchy anthems such as Heart’s On Fire (as featured on Sportscene – BBC Scotland) as well as the new single Lost In The Ocean.
Q The single – has it been a long time in the making?
A It had. And this current tour too had been a long time in the planning. I'm excited to kick things off in Inverness then play some of Scotland’s top grass roots venues before finishing the tour at Belladrum Festival.
Q Where can people see you at Belladrum?
A We will be on the Grassroots stage on Saturday at Belladrum at 12.15pm.
Q You played a lot before you went away to Germany for those years, remind people of some of that?
A Before moving to Germany I had shared stages with the likes of Runrig, Skerryvore and played top Scottish festivals such as Rockness, Spree Festival and Eden Festival.
Q Remind people about your time in Germany and when you were last back?
A With Covid and lockdowns, it has been a while since I had headed over from my home in Nuremberg in Bavaria to share my latest music with friends and former fans in Inverness. It was the first time since he had released an album out there.
Q But now there will be yet more new songs?
A It will be a whole new set that I am planning to play which is a nice change for people who have seen me quite a lot!
Q You recorded your album with a band out there? And you are bringing a band with you for these latest dates?
A Yes. There is a band and I have also been recording with my new keyboard-player in the last few days. One of those songs is old favourite The Boat Song, which has long been part of the set.
Q James, you had crowdfunded your album?
A The promotion had been on the backburner because lockdown saw everyone was doing music and it wasn’t a good time to be promoting music. Live stuff wasn’t happening and people were being overwhelmed with Facebook live sessions and bands doing online stuff during Covid. Bu I decided to release it anyway because I had it ready and wanted to get it out! But as soon as things started to open up again, I got back to promotion of something I had planned for so long. It fulfilled a long-term goal. I had worked with a producer from Texas who is with a band that I like very much and I went over to Texas to do what you would call the pre-production. There was also some writing involved and in February 2020, just before the pandemic, he and the engineer came over and we recorded it in Nuremberg in one week.
Q What did you learn living abroad?
A I thinks the music scene and musicians are taken more seriously in Germany and I think I also learned to become more professional onstage.
James played the Belladrum Grassroots on Saturday at 12.15pm and Market Bar on Saturday night. His new single is out now.
