Arts / Ten years and counting for mandolin band
EVER wondered what 17 mandolins being played at the same time sounds like?
Well, for the uninitiated, this weekend offers a perfect chance – and it is surrounded by a rather special anniversary.
The Shetland Mandolin Band is marking its tenth anniversary with a Sunday afternoon concert in the Mareel auditorium.
The plan is to also record the concert and release it as the band’s second CD, after their 2017 debut Always on a Monday.
The premise behind the mandolin band is fairly self explanatory – bring together players of all abilities, back them up with some other instruments, and celebrate everything about the eight-stringed instrument.
The idea was formed by band leader Jenny Henry, who – as a mandolin tutor – saw a number of people lacking an opportunity to play the instrument with others or to the public.
“I’d started teaching mandolin at High Level Music in 2014, at the request of Brian Nicholson who was running the shop at that time,” she says.
“I had some very keen students but there weren’t many opportunities for them to play together or to play outside their 30-minute lesson, and most weren’t confident enough to go and join in with sessions like they have in the Lounge, for example.”
In previous years at events like the Shetland Folk Festival, where there were a few players together at the same session, there was a joke that there should be a mandolin orchestra.
With that idea gaining steam, Henry contacted few players she knew of, as well as her students, and suggested “we should all get together for a tune and maybe speak about setting up a regular session”.
Around 30 folk turned up to the first night in November 2015, including a bass player, so it was decided to have fortnightly meetings from then on and call the group the Shetland Mandolin Band.
The band met in Gulberwick every second Monday for a couple of years before moving to Islesburgh in Lerwick.
Players of any level are welcome to join in, but Henry says that it does help if folk can read music or pick up tunes fairly quickly by ear.
The band nights “aren’t lessons as such, so it’s probably not a place for complete beginners”, she adds.
“But folk can sit and plunk away to their own ability as long as they’re not put off by not being able to play all the tunes at the speed we play them at.
“We try to write out easier parts for some of the tunes so those who maybe can’t keep up speed-wise can still play along and enjoy taking part.”
Around 20 people take part in the fortnightly sessions, and on Sunday there will be 17 mandolin players taking to the Mareel stage – with accompaniment from piano, guitar and bass.
So what does the band play? Their repertoire is perhaps a bit more expansive than one may think, with nods to music from around the world across a range of genres.
“The beauty of the band is the eclectic taste of the members and we’re happy to try to play just about anything that gets suggested,” Henry says.
“A lot of what we do is, of course, traditional ‘fiddle’ and Celtic tunes, but we throw in a bit of easy classical-type stuff, a bit of ‘big band’, quite a few tunes that have been composed by band members, some bluegrass, Scandinavian, Irish, Greek, Italian, even Argentinian tunes.
“The great thing about mandolin is that it’s really adaptable and suits a great variety of music.”
Ten years is a significant milestone to mark, and among the highlights have been the public performances – from gigs at the Shetland Folk Festival to less formal events, like playing for the Shetland Stroke Group or residents at care homes.
Among Henry’s highlights was a concert alongside a visiting Scandinavian classical group in 2023, and putting together their debut album in 2017.
“A very rewarding thing is when we get new members coming along after having seen us play at an event,” she adds.
“It’s good to ken you’ve inspired somebody to take up their music again after having years off, and even more rewarding getting someone entirely new to music starting to play and working hard on their practising so they can join in.”
In the last decade, of course, was the Covid pandemic, which meant the band did not meet for around a year.
“It took a peerie while to get things going again,” Henry admits.
“The main challenge now is keeping folk interested and keeping the motivation, including my own, going.
“Like all things, it takes a good bit of commitment to organise everything and try to encourage attendance, and with such a big group it can be a bit of a struggle to fit in with everybody’s other commitments.
“We’d like to see some younger members again – we’ve had some really good young players over the years but they get to the age where there are more interesting things to do on a Monday, but they’ll maybe come back again when they get a bit older.”
Henry herself was 16 when she first tried a tune on the mandolin, having played violin too and tried the fiddle.
She points to legendary local group Hom Bru, whose member Gary Peterson plays in the mandolin band, as a source of inspiration.
“It was when Hom Bru started up that I got a bit more into playing and played back an fore over the years,” Henry says.
“I’ve really only played with a bit more conviction since I started teaching though and have learned a huge amount through doing that, although I’m unsure if my playing has improved much.”
So what is it about the humble mandolin that makes it special?
“It’s a really versatile instrument that you can play almost any kind of music on, whether it be the melody or chords,” Henry says.
“It’s also lightweight, so fine and easy to carry around, and you can get a half-decent mandolin for a reasonable price if you don’t want to take things too seriously.”
Tickets for the Shetland Mandolin Band, supported by young fiddle/piano group Laldy, at Mareel on Sunday are available from the venue or via the Shetland Arts box office.
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