This is a special spot in the world. The Gordon Arms was the first place I played in the Scottish Borders and it started a love affair with this area of the world and the wonderful folks that populate it. I’ve had fantasies of buying the Gordon Arms myself and living out my years in the Yarrow Valley…….hosting my musician friends and at times playing myself.
A couple named Tommy and Susan had the same idea and made it a reality……..
A little history of the Gordon Arms:
“Built more than 200 years ago as a coaching inn, the Gordon Arms near St Mary’s Loch was in its heyday a regular haunt of the local literati, including Sir Walter Scott and James Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd. Others known to have visited are Robert Burns and even, in 1814, William Wordsworth.
Tommy has relocated his recording studio (Big Sky) to The Gordon, and together with Susan who knows the pub trade, has taken the reins of the hotel and bar.
Tommy is an accomplished musician who plays keyboards with top Borders folk band Real Time, who regularly tour throughout Europe, and he has specialised over the years in recording traditional music acts.
There is a real renaissance in traditional music, reflected by television shows like the Transatlantic Sessions, fuelled locally by successful festivals and a wealth of talented singer/songwriters like Kieran Halpin and Ian Bruce, and typified in the Borders by several initiatives, such as the Merlin Music Tranditional Music Academy and the Riddell Fiddles, which are aimed at nurturing young talent.
Tommy and Susan believe the Gordon Arms can tap into that movement and become a centre for live music sessions at a time when the pub trade generally is struggling. Their enthusiasm, coupled with their genuine friendly attitude to all customers, locals and visitors, will undoubtedly secure the future of The Gordon Arms for another couple of centuries.”
Last year the Gordon Arms suffered a fire and I was among the many that mourned the loss of this treasure, but……….it is coming back. Tommy and Susan are slowly bringing it back to life. My hope is that this concert and the ones that follow will help the Gordon Arms continue serving the community for another 200 years.
Anyway, I’m coming with Scott Poley on steel guitar and other stringed things and Johnny McKinnon on piano. It will be a matinee show, so get your tickets, come for a meal at lunch, and join us at 3pm. There will only be 60 tickets available, so get your tickets now. Bring your friend and neighbor!
Stuff your stocking with your tickets to see Kevin Montgomery and Friends at The Gordon Arms on Sunday, February 7th, 2016! Buy now!
Ok, hope to see you there! In honor of one of my best pals in the world from the rival Selkirk Valley…..Wardlaw Jackson……..here is “Tennessee Girl”…….I’ll play it at the Gordon Arms.
