Freda Leask & The Shoormal Band
Freda Leask is a Shetland born singer/songwriter whose material is a blend of traditional and contemporary music, where well-known songs mix with original self-penned material.
A keen promoter of the Shetland dialect, many of her own songs are sung in the local tongue, but range in style from folk to country to gospel. Originator of highly acclaimed folk group ' Shoormal,' Freda continues to perform as vocalist with this band.
Shoormal's albums have received excellent reviews with one gaining a nomination for the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. Alongside this team, Freda's compositions continue to receive AirPlay, inĀ Scotland and abroad.
Freda was the driving force behind the musical element of Shetland's Christmas Album, featuring some of Shetland's top musicians and selling 100, 000 world-wide and her 'musical story' features regularly on the children's TV cbeebies channel.
She has also been involved in various Shetland collaborations with 'The Orkney Gathering,' Bruce Molsky, 'The Gospel Band', the 'Back from Beyond' project and, more recently, she recorded backing vocals on Kris Drever's Mareel EP.
Currently playing with 'The Shoormal Band, are the very talented: Alice Mullay, Jonathon Ritch, Gregg Arthur, Archer Kemp and Trevor Smith.