Global Hit – Shooglenifty

We’re going to stay in the UK now as we end the program. But we’re going to move from England to Scotland, with the latest music from the Scottish band Shooglenifty. We’ve featured them before in the program you may remember.

Their name is a bit of word play that a band member dreamed up. Shoogle is apparently a Scottish term that means to shake. And NIFTY means… well, nifty. As in what a nifty name for a band that plays rollicking, good-time, Scottish roots music.

The band’s been around for 17 years. Now Shooglenifty has a new CD out. It’s called “Troots.” If you’re wondering what THAT means, drummer James MacIntosh will tell you. He says the word is another Scottish-ism, courtesy of fellow band member Malcolm Crosbie.

Macintosh: “It’s a plural of trout. Malcolm’s grandfather took him fishing and led Malcolm up to a loch, which he assured him it would be full to the heid of troots. So, to translate he said the loch, or lake, would be full to the surface with trout. And then they arrived and there was not one trout biting that day.”

“Full To the Heid of Troots” became the name of a song on the CD as well. The choice highlights the band’s sense of humor when it comes to song titles. Their sound — though — is no joke. It’s seriously catchy.

Fans of Shooglenifty have learned not to expect traditional Scottish music. But this CD sounds fairly traditional. Maybe that simply means that the band — with its irreverent style — IS what traditional Scottish music sounds like in the 21st century.

Macintosh: “The kitchness of Scottish, you know that image of Scotland with bagpipes, tartan, and shortbread, we’ve tried to subvert that over the years with our music because there’s a lot more to Scottish culture than these things.”

Music from the new Shooglenifty CD “Troots” close out our show today.