Throughout the last twenty years Scotland has produced a disproportionate number of first class performers and writers in the fields of pop and folk music.

The "Strings attached" project aims at highlighting the work of three of Scotland's finest singer songwriters and performers and coupling them with some of the country's finest instrumentalists to create a uniquely Scottish sound for the 21st century.

The idea sprung from Bruce MacGregor, founder of Blazin' Fiddles one of the country's most popular live acts.

"I used to go to parties in the late 80's and we'd play a few trad tunes and folks would love it and then someone would grab a guitar and blast out a song that was current in the charts at the time. Songs written by the likes of Del Amitri to AC/DC were covered and most of them just sounded great with a bit of fiddle or a wee bit whistle. Folks at the party all seemed surprised that a trad musician should even know these songs - it was as if they believed we lived in a wee Brigadoon world and weren¹t exposed to other forms of music. That has definitely changed - the traditional music scene in Scotland is probably the most experimental in the world. The other side of the equation is to ask just what is a folk song - does it have to be about an 18th century battle or a poor soul lamenting the fact he's thousands of miles away from his homeland. I think when you hear the strength of the song writing by the three singers you will realise that pigeon holing songs is a waste of time - they are either good songs or bad songs."

The aim of the project isn't purely driven for the purposes of the performances. The process of working on the songs has been a great experience for all those involved.

"As a traditional musician it isn't very often that you get to sit down with the likes of Colin, Eddi and Justin and talk about how they have worked through their musical ideas. The rehearsal days have been great for that."

However it could still have been awkward trying to marry the two elements together whilst trying to stretch one another. That's where the role of musical director became so important.

"We didn't want to just stick a traditional tune in here or there - we wanted to really orchestrate some numbers and create a really rich string sound whilst on others we wanted to have the wildness that is part of Blazin' Fiddles sound. We found the very man for the job in the form of Rick Taylor.

We met him through the Unusual Suspects tour where he had helped arrange a lot of the material. Previously he had arranged a load of Elton John's material, in fact he was in his band for years and his list of credentials of who he has worked with is just second to none.

He was right into the idea and it's been a real pleasure working with him. What is so great about him and indeed the project is that we have had time to work on the material - so we've had a chance to try things out and see if they work. Rick has suggested things and then he's let us take things forward and come up with things that sound like ourselves."

The real bonus for the project has been the musicians and singers readiness to try new things.

"I suppose it is a bit of risk for these guys in that their usual fan base might wonder what on earth they are doing with a bunch of teuchters on fiddles. However I think they have appreciated the time to sit down and just try out a few ideas with some new musical colleagues - guys they might never have met before.

Today the musical world seems so processed that it has probably lost a little bit of the fun element. That is the ultimate aim of "Strings Attached" - to make folk aware that Scotland has a really magnificent resource of songwriters, singers and musicians and that given half a chance they can produce something that is fresh, exciting and relevant for today, whilst losing none of the uniquely Scottish elements that define all our work."