It’s a big moment and I feel a calmness come over me.

Everything is starting to come together, and a lot quicker than I expected…

I’ve just announced a wee tour with seven dates across the country, I’ve got a surprise EP coming out on the 12th of August, and my debut album is finally ready to be mastered!

I’m feeling so excited and grateful to everyone who has (and continue to) put in so much work to make all these things happen. It really does take a village.

For my live dates, I am honoured to be joining Steve Gunn at Future Yard on 5th August (let me know if you’d like to come along and I can give you a cheaplist code!) before heading out on tour again with folk maestro Sam Grassie for four of his shows in September. Then I have two headline shows and tickets are already moving quickly for Prohibition Recording Studios with Quincey May Brown so grab one fast! The other show will be in Marsden for Red Deer Club and will be a co-headline with Jo Mango.

I’m so excited for these gigs and I’ll have some brand-new merch for sale, including my brand new EP of home cassette recordings.

Tickets and information for these shows can be found from my website: caitlingilligan.com

- this picture was taken by Elinor Jones on vintage soviet b&w film

- including this poster because it’s very cool to have my name on a poster with Steve Gunn

For my paid subscribers, here is an exclusive peek at the cover of my new EP and also the song listings, featuring an original track, some favourite traditional songs, and a wee folk cover. I can’t wait for you to hear this, it was recorded straight onto cassette by my good pal Tom Blackwell on a bright summer’s morning in Stockton-on-Tees.

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Join me at Prohibition Studios in Liverpool on Friday, 4th December. We will be announcing a very special guest nearer the time so keep an ear out for that.

I am also excited to be launching my brand new line of merch for you on the night!! Designed by my wonderful friend and great artist Tom Blackwell - I’m very excited to share these with you.

Prohibition is an intimate venue and a lovely listening crowd, please make sure you snap up a ticket to avoid disappointment… they’ve already started to sell!

BUY YOUR TICKETS HERE!

I have more album news coming very soon, with more tour dates to be announced and details on my first single!

Thank you to everyone for supporting me; it means so much, always.

For my paid subscribers, check out a few of these lovely film portraits from behind the scenes at my recent shows with Charlie Parr and C.W. Stoneking, pictures by the super talented Elinor Jones 🖤

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Firstly, I was lucky enough to join the amazing Charlie Parr as he brought his UK tour to St Mary’s Creative Space in Chester. I have loved his music for a while so it was really special to meet him and open the show and in one of my favourite venues too. As always, thanks to Roman Candle Promotions for having me on this show!

- on stage at St Mary’s - photo by Elinor Jones

Just after coming down to earth from the Chester show I received the very cool and quite last minute news that I would be opening for Fionn Regan at Komedia, Bath the next day. Carl and I chucked some clothes in a bag, packed the car with my instruments and hit the road!

- set times at Komedia, Bath

- managed some exploring!

The venue was so stunning and as far as I was told it was the first cinema outside of London which I thought was very cool. As I was on stage I envisioned the first cinema-goers in their gorgeous Edwardian clothing staring back at me. The spell was broken when I saw from afar someone take their smart phone from their pocket. Still a gorgeous audience nonetheless!

- taken from the balcony by my love

Thanks to Fair Endeavours and Fionn for having me along - I loved every second!

Then as if my week couldn’t get exciting enough, we headed back up north where on the Saturday I played at Liverpool’s magnificent St Michael’s Church opening for the legendary C.W Stoneking.

It was one of those nights where there was a magical buzz in the air. As soon as I stepped into the venue I could feel it was going to be one of my favourite gigs to date; I was not wrong.

- thanks to Elinor Jones for this lovely shot

- captured by Ant Rocha during my set

- also by Ant Rocha but caught on film before my soundcheck

I really enjoyed my set and thought I performed really well for how utterly nervous I was. I have been listening to C.W.’s music since I was a teenager, so once again I was bowled over with gratitude that I could open for him, alongside the amazing Tom Blackwell.

C.W. and the band were just phenomenal and I was beaming all night, as were the whole crowd. Roman Candle Promotions really put together an amazing show, I was so glad to be a part of it.

- a wee happy C.W. captured by Elinor Jones

Thanks to everyone on all these recent shows who signed up to this mailing list, rendered me sold out of EP’s and bought my ‘Galloway Hare’ prints. Your support means the world to me.

I have three shows left in June, check out my website for more details and tickets: caitlingilligan.com

As ever, I am so grateful to my paid subscribers. I thought I’d gift you a very special live recording of my new song Tiny Leaves recorded by the lovely sound engineer, Kieran, at Komedia, Bath.

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A candle, some birds, a wee breeze.

A stroke of a lurcher’s head.

I am dog-sitting for the week in North-Liverpool and it’s the calming respite I needed after a busy few weeks. The garden is full of life - magpies, doves, pigeons, squirrels, blossoms. The seedlings in the greenhouse are lapping up this April sunshine, soon to bear tomatoes, cucumbers, courgettes.

I’ve had a great time in the past few weeks, playing shows across the country. The first three gigs were with the amazing Sam Grassie and Alfie Jones. We played to a sold out Ivy House in London which was absolutely stunning. Salford and Glasgow (also sold out) were equally great - thanks so much to all who came out and who said hey afterwards!

Here are a few snaps taken by my wonderful partner, Carl…

- a gorgeous window at The Ivy House

- Sam and Alfie at The Eagle, Salford

- my soundcheck at The Hug and Pint, Glasgow

Then it was back down to the Peak District for me where I opened for the great Todd Day Wait over at the lovely Strines Nightingale. It was such a great night - I will hopefully be back soon!

My last show on this wee run was in my (adopted) home of Liverpool at the amazing Ship and Mitre pub with the incredible dbh and Tom Blackwell - it was so much fun!!

NEW DATE ADDED!

I was sad to hear that the Red Rooster Festival I was booked to play down in Suffolk will not be going ahead, however, I am so honoured to announce that I will now be opening for the incredible C.W. Stoneking at one of Liverpool’s most beautiful venues, St Michael’s Church in Aigburth.

I’ve been a fan of his for some years so this will be such a special one for me - thanks to Roman Candle Promotions for having me on this one. Tickets are already selling so fast, so be quick if you want to come along!

All my other dates remain the same and you can grab tickets

HERE!!

Thank you to all my new subscibers I have aquired from these shows and of course to my older ones who continue to support me - it fills me with joy to know so many of you believe in me.

I can’t wait to update you all on my album news SOON!

It’s been a minute since I’ve found the headspace but there’s nothing like the smell of wildflowers with hints of fresh coffee wafting through the house to get my mind whirring.

And I can hear birds!

In truth, it’s been a beautiful, cosy winter and the first spent living with my lovely partner as we take our first steps towards building a life. We have warmed our home with the sound of our favourite vinyls, delicious food and probably too many plants for any sane person.

- our wee cat Fódla, up to mischief

Although my mind tells me otherwise, it’s actually been a busy winter too. I have finally created my debut album, played many wonderful shows, met some amazing people.

So I take a moment to honour the darker months.

Breathe them in and let them go.

It feels like spring, finally, has peeked its head from under the veil. And it fills my heart with joy for the coming year.

- a lovely shot by Matthew Lally from my gig at The Monastery, Manchester in Feb

I’m so excited to hit the road in less than two weeks to play a lovely run of shows across the country. It’s always an honour to play alongside such amazing musicians and this tour is possibly the most exciting yet!

As I gear up towards releasing my debut album, it’s a buzz to be so busy with gigs and festivals. I would very much love to see some familiar faces at these shows…

BUY TICKETS!

If you like, you can donate towards my debut album through the link below. I’m so grateful for all your support so far and I can’t wait to share the album with you. There are some VERY special guests appearing on it which I can’t wait to tell you about… SOON!

DONATE TO MY DEBUT ALBUM!

For my wonderful paid subscribers, I would like to share the lyrics to a brand new song which I wrote over the winter and although I have never played it live it has made its way straight onto my album…

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In the meantime…

I’m delighted to share these amazing 2026 shows across the country:

I’m so excited for these gigs and to play alongside such talented musicians is such an honour.

I will have more news to announce soon, including details of my debut album, so keep an eye out for this.

Tickets for all shows are available via my website: caitlingilligan.com

Thank you to Roman Candle Promotions for all the support on these shows!

If you would like to donate towards my album then you can do so HERE - thank you so much to everyone who has donated so far.

C xx

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I saw December out with a bang at my gig at The Golden Eagle in Chester. It was a full house and I couldn’t have asked for a better way to end my year of gigs. Thanks to all who came along and supported me!

- photo looking like it’s straight out of a folk club in 1963, taken by my wonderful partner Carl

I think winter is for noticing the space in-between the moments and honouring it. Using the darkness and the silence to find peace again and to create or not create however your mind sees fit. The enormous pressure we have built on ourselves to stay evergreen; I don’t believe it’s in our nature. Not mine anyway!

I have been spending these gentle, January days trying to centre myself, creatively. Jotting down any and all thoughts that dart from the depths of my brain in the hopes for a spark.

Reading is a great way for me to gain lucidity and it helps express those ambiguous winter woes. One of my favourite reads this month has been Listen to the Land Speak by the wonderful writer Manchán Magan, who we sadly lost in 2025. When I say he was a rare soul, I very much mean it. You’d be hard pressed to find a writer or speaker as articulate and well-informed as well as being somewhat other-worldly in his thinking.

- couldn’t recommend this book enough!

In this book he reminds us that the land on which we live holds clues that inform us of ancient wisdom and tales from long ago. There are so many stories waiting to be told if we could maybe just look a but closer. He speaks mainly about his native Irish landscape but it definitely applies to everywhere, even cityscapes.

It made me realise that the notion of folklore doesn’t just belong to songs or specific customs, it is totally engrained in the lands we have lived upon for thousands of years. Learn the land and you will learn the people.

Whilst being mindfully restful this month, I’m still managing to tend the flames of my respective projects. Firstly, we took a cheeky jaunt back to Sloe Flower Studio in Chester where we had the amazing musician dbh adding some delicious textures to my songs. I’m very excited because it’s starting to sound like a real record!

- DBH in action with the banjo!

Secondly, I’m looking forward to my first gig of the year on Wednesday (21st) in Liverpool. I’m opening for the amazing new Irish band The Wran at The Kazimier Stockroom for the wonderful Harvest Sun Promotions.

Grab your tickets HERE!

As ever you can help support my debut album journey by donating HERE!

Thank you to everyone who has supported me so far, I’m overwhelmed with your kindness. It’s possibly harder than ever for independent musicians to release music so you are so appreciated.

I hope you all have a wonderful, restful January. I hope to see some of you in 2026… there will be plenty of exciting news coming soon!!

Caitlin xx

My favourite time of year.

I was born at midnight, midwinter (20th December) and grew up in the wilds of Scotland where it would snow nearly every year on my birthday. That muted, hardened stillness is the most nostalgic feeling for me and I lean into it every year. I try to mirror the seasons; in Summer I’m a blur of activity (or I try to be) and in winter I like to slow down some. Take a breath. Regroup.

I often associate the creative mind to the cycle of seasons; we need the stillness and solitude (winter) in order to gain lucidity and productivity (summer.) It’s an eternal exchange. I wrote a lot more on this idea in one of my posts from last year, you can read it HERE.

Before I hunker down though I’m going ON TOUR!

I’ve added three more lovely gigs and I wanted to tell you about them…

I now have a lovely headline show in my homeland of Galloway at the beautiful Port Logan Village Hall on December 15th, a special wee festive gig in Chester at my fave pub The Golden Eagle on December 28th and I will be supporting Co. Waterford’s amazing The Wran in Liverpool on January 21st at The Kazimier Stockroom.

Tickets for ALL shows can be found HERE.

Recently, Carl and I took a trip to Teeside to visit some lovely friends and in the midst of cooking the biggest and best Sunday roast of all time (we can’t take credit here, it was cooked soley by Tom Blackwell whose music is fantastic by the way) and having my hair cut by the UK’s best hairdresser Holly Blackwell (Wigwam Hairdressing,) I snuck off to record a wee song onto Tom’s 4-track tape recorder which you can take a listen to below; I just love how rustic this demo is!

- Tom and I in his cool attic studio, photo taken by my love Carl Bennett

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Kicking things off on the 9th of November with a brilliant gig at one of my favourite venues: St Mary’s in Chester where I’ll be opening for Jim Ghedi. I’ve been a fan of Jim’s music for some time and we managed to catch his main stage set at End Of The Road Festival so I know just how good this show will be!

Then I’ll be joining the stunning Yoshika Colwell on the 6th of December as she brings her tour to Manchester for a Hey! Manchester gig at Low Four Studio. I caught her supporting the great Fionn Regan recently in Chester and was blown away. This will be a very special show.

The following week I begin my run of four shows with the incredible Jude Brothers. Straight out of Arkansas, this freak-folk, harp-weilding bard is going to set the world to rights. It’s an honour to be opening for them in Liverpool, Chester, Edinburgh and Glasgow!

I can’t wait to hit the road!!

It’s a really exciting time for me right now and it would mean the world to me to see you at one of these shows. I’ll be playing some brand-new songs from my forthcoming debut album and joined on some of the dates by the magical Charli Wild on viola and fiddle.

A big thank you to Roman Candle Promotions who I’ve been working with for booking these shows.

All tickets and info are availble HERE or from my website: caitlingilligan.com

It’s taken years for me to feel ready to release an album, so it really feels like a personal landmark. It’s been quite a journey to get to where I am today, but I am truly grateful to all of you who support my music.

After the first week in the studio, the project already feels well underway and the songs are starting to take on a life of their own! It’s great to be working with James from Sloe Flower and Carl from Roman Candle on my new material and I can’t wait to share it with the world.

There’s still a lot of work to do first and in November/December my good friends Charli Wild and Zoë Bestel will be adding their magic to the album too.

It will all be worth it when I’m holding that first test pressing of the vinyl in my hands!

UNTIL THEN…

I thought I’d share a few pics from our first week taken by Carl…

- James let me borrow his lovely banjo for our session!

- Full swing!

- Warming up my guitar on the first day as James arranges his ribbon mics!

- my harmonium finding its moment to shine!

If you’re in a position where you can and you feel like donating towards my album, I’m now accepting donations via Paypal (nice and safe for those who are worried.)

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

Thank you so much to all those who have kindly donated so far, it has helped so much.

IN OTHER NEWS…

I’m still playing as many shows as I can and will be announcing some for the end of this year. I played a lovely show on Saturday (11th) supporting the stunning Chloe Foy at Low Four Studios for Hey! Manchester.

ALREADY ANNOUNCED are some extra special shows for Roman Candle Promotions.

First up, on November 9th, I’ll be supporting the incredible Jim Ghedi in Chester! I’m so excited about this one as I am such a big fan of Jim’s music. It will be such a magical night of folk music.

Grab your tickets here!

And then in December I have two shows with the beautiful Jude Brothers all the way from Arkansas. We’ll be in Liverpool on the 13th and Chester on the 14th. Scotland, keep your eyes peeled for dates to be announced!

There’s even talk of us singing a few tunes together, so make sure you don’t miss out…

TICKETS FOR LIVERPOOL!

TICKETS FOR CHESTER!

For more info visit caitlingilligan.com

To listen and buy my latest EP Thin Places click on the picture below…

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It’s a quiet August morning. I can feel a wee breeze waltzing in from the Mersey and down through my open window. It tickles my skin like the brush of a cat’s tail. If you don’t count the teenage seagulls nearby which sound like someone blowing up a camp bed then it’s a very peaceful and calm Scouse morning. I’ve lit a candle even though the sun is streaming in. Candles help centre my mind and allow me to focus on the coming day and today is the first day in ages I have felt space enough to write.

- with a sprig of Galloway heather

We’re deep into the winding summer now and I’m left wondering where it’s gone. It feels like the days have slipped through my fingers like river water. I guess the memories we gain are grains of gold we sift from time. What happens to the rest of it?

I spent a lot of this summer making beautiful memories. I have fallen in love, I have played beautiful gigs, I have started planning my debut album. These are all things not to be taken for granted. Whilst I sit here and wonder where the days have gone, at least I can scout through the ashes of a well-burnt summer.

- Yr Wyddfa

- performing with my fretless banjo at Not A Cult Festival, Malvern

- Charli and I on stage at The Trades Club, Hebden Bridge

Looking forward to the Autumn/Winter time ahead, I am excited! I’m nearly ready to record my album demos, having 90% finished the running order. Soon I will be having a sit down with one Charli Wild, viola extrodinaire, to nail down the embellishments of each song.

First of all though I have a very special gig coming up on 3rd September in Chester for Roman Candle Promotions at St Mary’s Creative Space supporting the amazing Sabine McCalla. I’ll be joined by my good pal Zoë Bestel who will also be opening the night and who will join me for a few on my set as I run through the new album in full! Make sure you grab your tickets HERE.

If you would like to DONATE towards my debut album then you can do so

HERE !!

It’s no cheap affair to record and release an album without any funding or label, so anything and everything is so well appreciated.

I’d like to thank everyone who has and who continues to support me (donations or not) you are all what makes it worthwhile, so THANK YOU!!

I’ll leave you with an excellent book reccomendation:

- if you’re into travel books and also music then this is for you!!

For more info visit caitlingilligan.com

To listen and buy my latest EP Thin Places click on the picture below…

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Hello!

I’ve been a wee bit quiet of my goings on lately so I thought I’d let you know about some exciting gigs I have coming up.

I’ve had some lovely shows so far this year and much more to come.

First and foremost I have a very lovely gig coming up on Wednesday 4th June (tomorrow!) at Band On The Wall in Manchester. It’s FREE and also on the bill is the amazing Danny Bradley and Sinead Una, organised by the cool new Driftwood Folk Collective a project ran by Manchester musician Oscar White.

By special request I have been asked to play a song on my fretless banjo for this gig, so if you do come along you will be some of the very first people to hear this live!

Also joining me for this gig is the amazing Charli Wild on viola and fiddle. I always love playing with Charli as they bring such beautiful detail to my songs, which as a songwriter is such a magical feeling.

Then coming up in July I have a lovely gig at Crumpsall Folk Club. It’s on 17th July and I will also be joined by Charli Wild for this one. It will have some floor spots, in the true folk club way, in case anyone fancied singing a tune on the night.

I would also like to share some lovely pictures taken by James Wyatt of Sloe Flower Studio from my gig opening for the incredible Jerron Paxton in Chester last month for Roman Candle Promotions. Jerron is an incredible artist and I highly recommend seeing him live if you get the chance.

It was a beautiful night at St Mary’s Creative Space, a stunning medieval church in Chester, full of beautiful stained glass and lovely acoustics. Sometimes you can hear the birds singing whilst you’re on stage and I just find it one of my absolute venues to play.

ALBUM!

In other exciting news, I have started the wheels in motion for my debut album! It’s been a long time coming and it feels quite momentous for me. I finally feel like it’s the right time.

Recording is often such a struggle for musicians, especially since it costs so much to produce and without the guarantee that you will ever make that money back. So it’s no small feat when you see a musicians finished album laying out on their merch table. It’s an incredible process and I feel it should always be celebrated.

I will be talking much more about this and my own process as it develops over the next wee while. With behind the scenes photos or stories and updates. Maybe some sneak peaks at the artwork or wee demos along the way. Watch this space!

SHOWS:

4th June - Band On The Wall, Manchester

6th July - Not A Cult Festival, Worcestershire

17th July - Crumpsall Folk Club, Manchester

For more info visit caitlingilligan.com

To listen and buy my latest EP Thin Places click on the picture below…

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I’ve spent years trying to scout my internal terrain and I still wind up getting lost but thank god for the cartographic nature of writing! Even though it can sometimes feel like a scramble up a river bed or a wading through the bogs, writing is a great way to navigate those winding, inner pathways.

I recently finished writing a new song called White Birds. It was actually two songs, or rather two ideas. Something I had been working on for many years but nothing quite clicked. Well I sat down a few weeks ago and those two songs turned into one song, grew wings and started flying. White feathers, of course. Any writer will tell you that that this is the best feeling. When words grow feathers.

The refrain is loosely inspired by a poem by W B Yeats called The White Birds which I thought was quite simple and beautiful. He wrote it about an unrequited love, which as far as I know, remained unrequited despite mulitple proposals. Poor fella. Yeats was always a great inspiration for me and is a good example of how poems can also be songs. This refrain “I would that we were white brids” used to belong to an entirely different song of mine but on further inspection, I found the other words to be hollow.

The other lyrics I started writing in a caravan in Perthshire in 2019 with the warring rain battering the plastic windows. I had been living on the boat for the summer before we ran out of money. So we began northwards in search of work. We needed money so we could afford an oak tree for making up ship frames. We eventually found a job building a cabin on the back of a trailer for our friends to use as an artist’s retreat.

- shotgun shack

Long, hard days in dreary Scottish weather saw to it that my writing nearly stopped completely but on the odd occasion I would get the caravan to myself and I could just write or read or play songs. This is what kept me sane, creatively or otherwise.

All in all, it wasn’t my most prolific era but moments of lucidity can strike at any moment which is why I like to keep every single notebook, napkin-scribble or iphone note. You just never know when that song will choose to be written.

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When I was gifted a songbook from a dear friend’s late wife a few months ago, I felt like I had recieved a part of someone’s story. A glimpse into their world. Apart from being a great honour, it felt like this was a passing of the torch moment. I had been chosen as guardian to these beautiful songs.

- a glimpse of a life through song

- the wear of a book well travelled

Not everyone keeps a book of their songs, we mainly keep them inside us but it is the practice in the folk world to keep at least one special book of ballads for going to sessions. I started a book myself when I lived on the boat. For when we would sit around the fire on the foreshore and sing and play tunes until the wee hours. We would often have visitors from France or Holland, sailors who were stopping off on a voyage. Sometimes they would have songs and I would would have to steal away and add them to my notebook. Always the magpie.

You can tell alot about a person by the songs they keep. What sentiments appeal to them, cultures, what interests they have. My book ended up being a filled with a fair few maritime songs, which no doubt seeped into my songwriting at somepoint. You are what you eat…

Well what better way to honour this gift than to learn some songs…

- Still got a wee bitta lurgy in this recording, please forgive!

In other news Charli and I have been practicing some new songs ready for our first gig of the year at Liverpool’s beautiful Nordic Church on the 7th March. If you fancy it you can BUY TICKETS HERE. The night is run by the amazing folks at Blue Moon Folk Club and playing alongside us will be guitar maestro M Haiux and Pink Mountain Band.

We also took a stroll around Sefton Park, scaring the locals by loitering in trees trying to take some promo shots…

I have also been writing a few new songs which should be airing at my next run of gigs. Shaping them into something real. I always feel songs change slightly when you play them in front of others. I may share a few snippets on here at some point too, for those interested.

ANNOUNCED GIGS:

7th March - Blue Moon Folk Club, Liverpool

15th May - The New Everyman Folk Club, Liverpool

6th July - Not A Cult Festival, Worcestershire

17th July - Crumpsall Folk Club, Manchester

For more info visit caitlingilligan.com

To listen and buy my latest EP Thin Places click on the picture below…

Give a gift subscription

We arrive at our school and are ushered down to the gym hall where big long tables are skirting the walls, all laden with tartan and heather. My other classmates are waiting for me at the head table where we begin the night with a wee play about Burns’ life. I have the part of his long-suffering wife and I’d been practicing my am-dram huffs and tuts all week! For those who don’t know, Rabbie Burns was a top class philanderer and serial cheater, impregnating any and all women in his path. Well, not quite, but you get the idea.

- Autumn, me, my brother Calum. Tartan clad and possibly getting ready to dance the Dashing White Sargeant. I seem to have escaped my pristine white shirt and keeping it Caitlin with some stripy socks!

We end this section by singing a few songs. I sing Ye Banks and Braes with my best friend Autumn on the fiddle.

Out of nowhere the deafening sound of indoor bagpipes start up and we all have to rise for the Address to a Haggis. A poor, unsuspecting haggis is piped around the hall on a fancy piece of crockery as someone belts out the words to the poem. It ends with someone slaying the steaming haggis with a big knife. It’s all very dramatic.

We feast. It’s veggie haggis for my family. And we drink. Irn Bru because we’re children, remember. The adults had whisky, I’m sure. Then it’s time to put our dancing to the test. For weeks beforehand we had been practicing our ceilidh dances in PE lessons, so in theory we’re absolute pros. This is the part I enjoyed the most. I loved dancing with my granddad because he would often go rogue, as was his nature. And mine too.

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I was gifted a beautiful Walter De La Mare anthology for Christmas about dreams, reverie, the unconscious mind and other kindred subjects. Well it got me thinking about all the time I spend dreaming, in one way or another. Turns out it’s most of my life. I also realised that most of it is done whilst I’m awake! Writers, musicians, artists… we’re all dreamers by trade and I approach my whole life in this way. Always creating worlds, whether physically, musically, through the written word or simply for my own amusement. It’s why we’re often restless souls. We are always propelled towards the next dream, never quite satisfied.

- Behold, This Dreamer! by Walter De La Mare. It’s printed on very thin economy paper due to being published during WW11. Its pages may be cheap but its words are not.

My mum always taught me that daydreaming is a skill. An act of quiet rebellion. I think the more practiced daydreamers amongst us will inevitably become artists but it’s not always easy for people to dream. If you’re lucky enough - like myself - to be brought up with voices around you telling you it’s ok to dream then it may seem normal, but it’s not so for everyone. It should never be taken for granted to have the ability to visualise a different future and it should be celebrated. Every time.

Art is the by-product of dreaming; of living. It’s an integral part to any thriving culture. I saw an interview with Leonard Cohen recently where he talked about how poetry is inevitable if one’s life is alight. To me, he meant poetry in the wider sense. Raising a child is poetry. Smiling at a stranger is poetry. Jazz is poetry. A community banding together. Rippled laughter. Sharing a song with a loved one.

- mon visage

There is a fine line though between dreaming and living. In some ways to dream is to live but one must be careful to also live what you dream. Or at least try.

I couldn’t remember my sleep-dream last night but maybe you remembered yours? I adore hearing the inner workings of other people’s minds so please let me know in the comments if you’ve had a particularly good or strange one recently. With the amount of cheese we as a nation consumed over Christmas, I reckon some very odd things have occurred in the shadowy realms of our respective minds. Or maybe you’d just like to share your day dreams. I accept all kinds of dreams here at Caitlin’s Dream Appreciation Centre.

All the best for 2025 everyone!

Other books I’ve enjoyed recently:

Still Life by Sarah Winman - just beautiful.

The Wild Places by Robert MacFarlane - one for the ramblers!

Weyward by Emilia Hart - witchy and feminist in all the right ways.

Yellowface by R. F. Kuang - an interesting take on racism in the publishing world.

Ghost Town by Jeff Young - just gorgeous , poetic words about life growing up in Liverpool.

The Third Policeman by Flann O’Brien - excellent and surreal story set in rural Ireland

Keep an eye out for gig announcements soon!!

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While the moon is gently shining

Pictures in your eyelids reeling

I can hear your deepest breathing

And I’ll walk across the moor

Over the ribbon road before

Water by my toes is streaming

Dip my feet and ask for more

Until I reach the journey’s ending

Dip my feet and ask for more

- poem by Caitlin Gilligan

Trying to write when you don’t feel like it is like scraping dregs from an auld jar of jam. Well here we are. I showed up. It’s been longer than I’d hoped because I was struck down with the winter flu. It’s been a dawdler and I still have a lingering cough. Not much singing, alas.

The breeze outside is unkind and I’m happy to be tucked up in my wee house with my cat and not striding the Pier Head in all climes, as life has me do every so often. I lit a candle to make this morning feel kinder. I’m not religious in any meaningful way but I do think such things have a indescribable magic.

It’s midwinter and the mood seems adrift. I know in my mind that it’s Christmas soon; that my birthday was two days ago. On the beginning of the equinox. Maybe it’s because I live in a city now but I feel more disconnected to nature with each passing day. Gone are the bedtime lullabies of foxes and owls. Or the chiming of sheep behind my bedroom window. I spent a lot of time as a kid out in the fields of gorse and sheep, harmonising with the whispering landscape. The curling boughs. I can still feel the shifting of the light stirring deep within me. Like two ships passing. It’s not a sadness or a particularly emotional thing at all. It all feels correct. I feel drawn back to the country but I am a restless soul. Always yearning for something new. Something else. Something more.

A new year is nearly here and with it a promise of fresh dreams. Before this though, I always like to look back on the year that has passed and good or bad, I like to honour it. A tradition my family do on Hogmanay, along with getting very merry, is lighting a bonfire and burning paper messages. Things we want to let go of or intentions we wish to set. It’s a shared yet secret moment we have together which I think is quite beautiful.

Last night I had a notion to make a playlist of some of my favourite new releases of 2024. Sort of an act of reminiscence. It’s been such a great year for new music with the likes of Joshua Burnside, Bonny Light Horseman, Jake Xerxes Fussell and Laura Marling to name but a few. So I thought I would share with you…

My jar is a wee bit empty still, so I will close the lid here with the promise of more jam in the coming days.

I wish you all a wonderful and happy Christmas and festive period!

- my Christmas tree fairy, made by my wonderful mama

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- As it was first published in Scribner’s Monthly, 1872

For me this tune conjures the thick, white-robed landscapes of my rural Scottish youth. Where the world felt both ancient and brand new, both stifled and free, bleak and brilliant. They were times where you had no choice but to stop and marvel at the world around you, trapped in its suspended, sparkling state. Time ticks differently in such scenery.

I think I first heard it in school, as I imagine most of us did. Its melody being appealing and easy enough for an assembly of uninterested children to mumble along to. For that, we have Gustav Holst to thank.

In 1904, Holst was approached by his good friend Ralph Vaughan Williams to work on a new project The English Hymnal. It’s here that he composed the much-loved melody to Rossetti’s famous poem. I think it’s no easy feat to write such a simple, yet elegant melody. To make something accessible to all walks of life with just a few notes really is the essence of folk music. Had it been written in Tin Pan Alley, I’m sure it would have passed The Old Grey Whistle Test.1 Sadly Rossetti never lived to hear her poem set to music but I wonder if she had her own melody?

Although Rossetti was a deeply devout Christian, she also had a fascination with nostalgia and the supernatural. She wrote many poems for children as well as those inspired by folk tales, a passion she shared with her brother and founding member of The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood2, Dante Gabriel. All the things I love about his paintings, I can see too in Christina’s writing. The vibrant descriptive scenery, the fairytale feel, the dream-like quality. They must have been Rossetti family traits.

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I’ve recently got into the habit of making daily bread again. Give us this day and all that. When I lived on the boat it was our ritual. Wake early with the crows, make a dough and stoke the fire, then back to bed until the Cornish sun peeked through the oak trees, reaching its hand across the morning clouds. Sometimes we’d have the river-tide sloshing against the hull, gently swaying us as the coffee perculator hissed its own dawn chorus. It was a beautiful life, for a while.

- our boat ‘Genista’ painted by the amazing Cornish artist Kurt Jackson titled ‘Gweek River Rats’ - that’s my washing hanging up and if you look closely you can see me sat in the cockpit

Spoiler alert: I’m restless. And not always in a physical way. My mind takes me travelling far more than my feet do. Don’t get me wrong, I love travelling in real life with my big, stomping boots and my guitar on my back as most musicians do but in my head I can go anywhere. I’ve lived whole lives just in my mind. As a lighthouse keeper with wind-whipped eyelashes, a cat at my heel wandering the clifftops in a yellow sou’wester. As a 1920’s American moonshiner with a family of twelve and a penchant for chewing tobacco. I’ve even lived a whole lifecycle as a sycamore leaf. It’s only when my mind starts to narrow that I feel the urge to run away. As if that will solve everything.

- a song was brought to mind

Still I look back on my boat days with soft eyes. In my head, those years lasted a whole lifetime. We would spend days foraging for samphire on the Helford mud-flats and wild garlic down in the forest of bluebells. One summer’s day we even went mud sliding down the creek until our whole bodies were covered. Luckily it was hot enough that the mud dried pretty instantly and flaked off again on our trudge home, leaving the skin beneath as soft as a seeding dandelion.

- my commute to work was a short row across the river to The Boatyard Cafe, run by a woman called Susie who remains one of my favourite ever humans

- foraging for wild garlic

Of course, it wasn’t all like that. But that’s what I mean about memory. Bubbles. Sometimes I allow myself to remember the hard times. The times where we couldn’t afford to buy food or when the bilge flooded through and destroyed our belongings. Or when the storms outside were so strong it sounded like the whole boat would rip in two.

- I’m a wishwanderer, like Vashti

I think remembering both sides is important. Our brains try to glaze over the hard stuff, I think it’s a survival technique. I’ve always been an overly-nostalgic person; romanticising everything before it’s even happened. Recently though I’ve trained myself to honour the hard times too. They ultimately coloured my life with all sorts of shade and as I touched on in my first post here, we can’t shine without our shadows.

Gently

I light this candle

Its wick is wise 

To the drifting light

I mind the days

Before

Of yore

When I would cry

at the glow

Of a nautical day

At the simmering glaze 

The Helford haze 

I mind again 

The Cornish pen 

Below a sky of savage curls 

The youthful veneer

My eyes had once

As I stood on ridge and rock

It brings me back

To the wooden ship’s peg

That sits on my sill

- a poem by Caitlin Gilligan

As ever, I’d love to hear your thoughts on my new style of newsletter - I’m finding Substack very inspiring and it makes me want to endlessly write but please let me know if you’d like to hear anything else from me? Winter is fairly quiet for a wee musician like me. My last gig of the year is coming up:

28th November at Manchester’s iconic Band On The Wall.

I will be opening the night for the lovely Katie Mac! After that I will be wintering. Writing here. Writing songs. Poems. Singing. You know the score!

Click on the image below to buy my latest EP Thin Places

Firstly, I just want to say THANK YOU for choosing to support me! As you may know being a grassrootsy, folk muso is a hard field to reap at the best of times so all of these amazing gestures really help.

- enjoying a hot cup of Joseph somewhere in Wales

I want to make this a space where I can explore my own love of writing as well as celebrate the history and lore of old folk songs. Feel free to suggest songs in the comment section too, I’m always open to recommendations and love learning new tunes!

A song

As a wee thank you for signing up, I thought I’d share with you a home-recording of quite a well-known folk tune and one of my favourites: Black is the Colour.

I first heard this song when I was around 16 and had just discovered my parent’s CD of Live at the Point by Christy Moore. To my knowledge, Christy had picked it up from the great Scottish bard Hamish Imlach. They had met at a folk club in Manchester sometime in the late 60s and became instant pals; a friendship which lasted until Hamish’s death “during the first hours of 1996.”*

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