"Melinda Crawford plays with the precision and attention to detail that marks out all the great Scottish players. However, what marks her out from the rest is the passionate performance she delivers on this recording. This is terrific stuff.\" ~ Bruce MacGregor from Blazin’ Fiddles "The Wandering Suitcase of Stirling\" is a wonderful musical exploration that blends old and new Celtic fiddle styles by U.S. National Scottish fiddle champion, Melinda Crawford. Ms. Crawford is not afraid to take risks. Her fiddling is energetic and original while her slow airs are heartfelt and soulful.\" ~ Bonnie Rideout, Three-time U.S. National Scottish Fiddling Champion Melinda Crawford, a U.S. National Scottish Fiddling Champion, performs frequently for Scottish highland games, Celtic festivals, and concerts throughout the United States. She started fiddling when she was eleven, when her parents bought her her first fiddle book, The Scottish Violinist, while they were attending a highland games. She had just started to play the violin in school, and fiddling sounded like \"fun.\" From that time on, she gleaned what she could from the annual competitions and workshops at the local highland games. Since that time, Melinda has won numerous awards for her solo playing and her original compositions at regional and national Scottish FIRE competitions. She has achieved fiddling titles such as the Allegheny Mountain Fiddling Champion and the Potomac Valley Fiddling Champion several times prior to winning the 2003 U.S. National Scottish Fiddling Championship and becoming a sanctioned Scottish F.I.R.E. competition judge. From the CD liner notes: As a thoiseach (Keep It Up); The UnReal The first reel is a great old traditional tune that has always reminded me of “The Little Engine That Could.” The second tune is an irregular reel of mine that isn’t even a reel since true reels have only 8 measures in the first half of the tune and mine has 9! Oran na Maighdinn-Mara (The Mermaid’s Song) When playing this, I always imagine silkies ascending the depths of a loch before breaking through to the surface. High Street Potholes; Route 670 West; Doon Da Appian Way My Columbus, Ohio street set! “High Street Potholes” commemorates the case of a particularly bad flat tire that I got “one dark and stormy night.” Route 670 is the road that I drive every day to get to the street where I live, Appian Way. The Comrie Croft Waltz This was written during my stay at the Comrie Croft Bunkhouse in Comrie, Scotland, where I had my first private room in almost two weeks of traveling “dorm-style” from hostel to hostel! The Kelleys Island Reel; Mo Chuachag Lagach (My Gentle Milkmaid); Da Scallowa Lasses; Glenogle The first tune is for a particularly memorable trip to Kelleys Island, Ohio. “Da Scallowa Lasses” is one of the oldest Shetland tunes still surviving today. Are You Sleeping, Maggie?; Drummond Castle First, a lovely slow reel that questions that ever-sleepy girl, Maggie, followed by an old jig named after Drummond Castle in Crieff, Scotland. Craig O’ Barnes; Bruachan Loch Nis (The Banks of Loch Ness); Port na Fainne (The Wedding Ring); Yontif Reel Yontif Reel combines my both of my musical heritages, and is written in honor of my family’s holiday parties. Miss Drummond of Perth, The Highlander’s Farewell to Erin, Because He Was A Bonnie Lad I played these reels while I was doing the competition circuit. The last one even helped me to garner my national championship. It also happens to be one of those great tunes that exist as both a terrific strathspey and as an energetic reel. Colonel Baird; The Wandering Suitcase of Stirling; Sullivant Hall “The Wandering Suitcase of Stirling” is about a stressful day of travel and sightseeing in the great historic burg of Stirling, Scotland. Sullivant Hall houses the Ohio State University’s music library – where I was when the tune popped loudly into my head! Sleepy Maggie; Glenburnie Rant; Sweet Molly; Gravel Walk A package of four fantastic traditional, birling reels! Thank you to the Newburgh florist and Elizabeth and Tom Pearson for helping me to find the town of historic Glenburnie. The Sailor’s Wife; Lady Elizabeth Cole’s Reel; Cowboy Jig “Lady Elizabeth Cole’s Reel” is actually a jig written by Robert Mackintosh, a contemporary (and some say rival) of Niel Gow. ‘Neath Edinburgh Castle This slow reel came to me unbidden while I was sitting on my sofa beneath a huge photograph of Edinburgh Castle. It makes me wonder what is beneath that castle – what exists in the depths of its bottom-most cellars and passageways… Lament for Mr. P.J. Ross This slow air is in memory of my first violin teacher who saw value in my fiddling, who saw how much it meant to me, and who encouraged it. Twist Ye Twine Ye Even So This is a simple tune written by J. Scott Skinner that appealed to me when I was learning my first fiddle tunes. Since then, it has mutated!