Twenty-five years in, and she’s never headlined a Scottish tour until now.
Julie Fowlis has been a professional musician for 25 years. She has sung to over a billion people at the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony, recorded the theme song for Brave, the Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA-winning Disney-Pixar film, and had her vocals make it to space on a NASA astronaut’s playlist. She has never done a headline tour of Scotland until this summer.
On Tuesday 9 June, she plays Tivoli Theatre in Aberdeen, joined by a band of long-term collaborators and guest musicians who have shaped her sound across multiple records and projects.
The Aberdeen show features Kris Drever, who appeared on some of her earliest recordings, including My Love is on the High Seas, which later ended up in the Brave trailer. Also on stage will be Mike McGoldrick, who has played with Fowlis across multiple records and collaborated on projects including Transatlantic Sessions.
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It’s all part of a live album
Every performance on this run is being recorded, with tracks drawn from across the series to produce a live album. It’s something Fowlis says fans have been asking about for years. The plan is to capture what a studio recording can’t.
“Live performance has a magic all of its own,” she says. “It’s about the shared energy in the room and that sense that every night is completely unique.”
The setlist will include familiar material alongside pieces that have been part of her live shows for years but haven’t made it onto any record. Aberdeen audiences might hear something before it officially exists anywhere.
Twenty-five years, first Scottish tour
A classically trained musician who crosses genres, styles and languages, Fowlis was born and raised in North Uist and has built her career around Gaelic song in a way that has reached well beyond its obvious audience. She is Scotland’s inaugural Tosgaire na Gàidhlig, the National Gaelic Ambassador. She most recently collaborated with composer Bear McCreary on the title theme for the Netflix Outlander spin-off, Blood of my Blood.
That this is her first proper Scottish tour after all of it is a little odd, but careers built around one-off collaborations and festival appearances don’t always leave room for conventional touring. As Fowlis puts it: “It’s somehow never quite managed to happen — now’s the time.”
The live album is expected in late 2026. Julie Fowlis plays Tivoli Theatre on Tuesday 9 June. Tickets at juliefowlis.com.
