Storylands Sessions

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Storylands Sessions

Music & storytelling events in Badenoch led by musician Hamish Napier and historian and researcher Aila Schafer. Read more about your hosts below.

A celebration of Highland culture and community, the Sessions bring together all ages as both audience and performers. Tales and Tunes Come Together in Monthly Live Events in Badenoch. The Storylands Sessions are a series of music and storytelling events in Badenoch venues. Hosted by musician, Hamish Napier, and writer, Merryn Glover, The Sessions are a celebration of Highland culture and communit

y, both traditional and contemporary. We welcome locals and visitors alike, classic material and original creations, and we love the buzz when they come together. Hamish Napier is a Highland folk musician, composer and tutor. His award-winning recent album The Woods, celebrates the trees of Scotland. https://www.hamishnapier.com/

Merryn Glover is a writer of fiction, drama, poetry and non-fiction. Her award-winning recent novel, Of Stone and Sky, is a story of the bonds between people and land in the Cairngorms. https://www.merrynglover.com/

When and Where Are the Events? Six events per month! Open Mic Night

The high point of the Storylands Sessions is the monthly Open Mic Night at the Ptarmigan Dome, Loch Insh, with an Early Show and Late Show on the same night. The evenings celebrate Highland culture and community, both traditional and contemporary, drawing locals and visitors and young and old alike in a warm and welcoming space. The evening will be threaded together by your co-hosts, Merryn and Hamish, with tales, tunes and terrible jokes.
.and four Workshop Series

Story and Poetry for Performance, one in person and one online, with award-winning author and experienced performer, Merryn Glover. This workshop series builds confidence for taking your ideas and experiences and shaping them into spoken pieces for sharing with others! In a relaxed, fun and highly supportive environment, we will share our work and find the best ways to get your best words into the world. Folk Music, also one in person and one online, with award-winning musician, music tutor and experienced performer, Hamish Napier. Learn how to arrange and perform folk tunes and songs in a group, or solo in this workshop series that in this builds confidence and ideas to find the best ways to get your best playing and singing into the world. https://badenochstorylands.com/storylands-sessions/

Our Sponsors

Storylands Sessions is proud to be funded by the Cairngorms National Park Authority and by the Community Led Vision Fund through the Cairngorms Trust.

04/09/2026

Join Hamish Napier online to listen to his new album 'The Hill' on launch day!

https://hamishnapier.bandcamp.com/merch/the-hill-listening-party

01/09/2026

WORD WORKSHOPS: WAR & PEACE
9th & 10th September

What stories can objects carry - conflict, courage, loss, hope… or peace?

This September, our WAR & PEACE workshops invite you to explore the hidden stories of objects from Highland Folk Museum connected to conflict, reconciliation, memory and resilience.

As Isabel Grant, founder of the Highland Folk Museum, wrote: “Among the ancient Gaels and Scandanavians, weapons were looked upon almost as living things: possessing a soul of their own and an individual dexterity; sometimes thirsting for blood; at other times desiring rest; able to augur well or ill to their owner by their bright or dull appearance. They had personal names and were handed down as precious heirlooms”.

Using museum objects as starting points, you’ll be guided into new writing - from stories and poems to memoir, humour, drama, reflections on place, or something completely unexpected.

Led by educator and poet Karen Hodgson Pryce, these friendly sessions are open to new and experienced writers alike.

💻 Wednesday 9th September
ONLINE adults workshop, age 16+
7–9pm

✒️ Thursday 10th September
IN PERSON at the Highland Folk Museum
Young Writers, ages 13–18: 5–6pm
Adults, age 16+: 6:30–8:30pm

Curious? Come and write with us.
Visit the link in comments to find out more and book your place.

25/08/2026

The theme for our Storylands Sessions Writing Workshops in August was ‘Habitation’, led by poet Karen Hodgson Pryce.

The Doll’s House from the Highland Folk Museum proved to be a rich source of inspiration bringing unique voices with vibrant authentic stories, intriguing and alive with colour and symbolism.

Each participant took the prompts and went in their own intuitive direction. There is never any need to adhere to the theme or the material in the workshop.

Amongst the many rich themes and ideas that emerged and took flight were child's play, new homes, seeking homes, settling in, façades, appearances, ‘inhabitation’, ghostly presences or ‘a house with a personality’ of its own, with our young adults creating dynamic stories about holiday homes and a homely family scene disturbed.

Our next workshops are: online on 9th Sept and in-person on 10th Sept on the theme of War & Peace. Join us to see where your imagination will take you. No writing experience is needed - beginners and experienced writers are equally welcome.

Visit the link in comments to find out more and book your place.

24/08/2026

TOMORROW! 🎶
Calling musicians in the Strath — and visitors too! 🎻🎹🪗🪈

Folk Music Workshop
📅 25 Aug, 7pm–9pm
🏡 The Iona Gallery, Kingussie

The Autumn Series of my Storylands Sessions folk music classes begins tomorrow evening at The Iona Gallery in Kingussie.

Come along for a welcoming, relaxed folk music workshop where we’ll build our trad tune repertoire, develop our playing, and enjoy making music together.

Every time a tune is played or sung, it lives again — so please join us in carrying on the living heritage of Badenoch and Strathspey. 🎶🎼

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/folk-music-evening-classes-in-person-tickets-360629662027

Each workshop is standalone, so if you’re new to the series, or haven’t been along for a while, you’ll be especially welcome. I’ll provide sheet music on arrival, and we’ll get playing together in a laid-back way, with a mix of reading and learning by ear.

Open to ages 16+ for players of folk instruments at intermediate to advanced level.

18/08/2026

It was wonderful to be back in Newtonmore for our Storylands Sessions gathering this month and to see lots of familiar faces as well as a few new people in the audience.

There was a lovely buzz in the hall as we shared and enjoyed a wealth of creative reflections in storytelling, poetry, music and song on the theme ‘Threshold Spaces’ - dream and waking, seen and unseen, doorways and crossings, boundaries, folklore and myth.

We were thrilled to be joined by our special guest, Eileen Budd, author, artist and storyteller who specialises in Scottish folklore, folk traditions, origin stories and ancient legends. Eileen drew us into an atmospheric realm of fairies (the sìth), mermaids, sea witches - and the intertidal zone as a liminal or threshold space of protection (the sìth can’t get you there!).

Everyone was completely enthralled, with lots of brilliant feedback from our sessions’ community, summed up beautifully by Storylands friend and long-time supporter Sheila MacKay: “The stories from Eileen Budd will live with me forever.”

Storylands Sessions will be visiting the Findhorn Bay Festival in September, and will return for our regular show on 13th October at the Ptarmigan Dome, in partnership with the Scottish Storytelling Festival.

10/08/2026

LAST CALL FOR BOOKING
✨ Join us for Storylands Sessions: THRESHOLD SPACES ✨

⛰️ Tuesday 11th August 7pm - 9.30pm
🏡 St Bride's Church, Newtonmore

We’re delighted to welcome Scottish author, artist and storyteller Eileen Budd to our Storylands Sessions gathering this month, where she’ll share stories of thresholds - and the creatures we’ll find there.

With her deep knowledge of Scottish folklore, folk traditions, origin stories and ancient legends, Eileen is the perfect guide to lead us into into the strange, shifting territory of Threshold Spaces.

Come along for an atmospheric evening to share your own stories of spaces between one state and another: between waking and dreaming, the known and unknown, the everyday and the otherworldly.

Whether you’re local or visiting the area, we warmly welcome contributions from all ages and backgrounds, in words, music, song or art — or simply sit back, listen, and enjoy being part of our welcoming and enthusiastic audience.

Details of how to get involved and booking details via link in comments.

04/08/2026

STORYLANDS SESSIONS WRITING WORKSHOPS at THE HIGHLAND FOLK MUSEUM

Thurs 6 Aug
5 - 6pm, Young Writers (13- 18)
6.30 - 8.30pm, Adults (16+)

Open the door to your imagination in a relaxed and welcoming space at the Highland Folk Museum with poet Karen Hodgson Pryce.

Explore ideas and spark your creativity, whether in stories, poems, memoir, drama, humour, fantasy....with creative prompts and lots of encouragement.

Book your place via link in comments

Connect | Create | Belong

03/08/2026

NEWSLETTER ✒️👀

Catch up on our Storylands Sessions news!

Storylands returns in August ✨

THRESHOLD SPACES - August Show with special guest Eileen Budd; Storylands Sessions Anthology: Creating with Storylands Sessions – Word Workshops, Folk Music Workshops; June Visual Art Feature Night ‘Rooted’; Sessions Community;

🔗in comments

Next Show

📖Storylands Show, Threshold Spaces with Eileen Budd
📅 Tuesday 11 August, 7pm – 9.30pm
📌 St Bride’s Church,, Newtonmore

03/08/2026

ONLINE WRITING WORKSHOP
💻 WEDNESDAY 5 AUG
🔷 7 – 9pm, ONLINE WORKSHOPS FOR ADULTS (AGE 16+)

What might this miniature world inspire you to write?

HABITATION: Home, dwellings and habitats; past and present; real and imagined; people and nature; the stories spaces could tell.

From wherever you are in the world, let everyday objects from the Highland Folk Museum spark your imagination to create stories, poems and imaginative writing in a relaxed ONLINE workshop with poet Karen Hodgson Pryce.

Your writing can go anywhere - stories, poems, memoir, humour, imagination, drama, reflections on place or completely unexpected journeys...the objects are simply doorways into your own creativity.

Find out more and book your place now via link in comments.

27/07/2026

Storylands Sessions
AUGUST: THRESHOLD SPACES
📅 Tuesday 11 August | 🕖 7.00pm–9.30pm
📍 St Bride's Parish Church, Newtonmore

What happens when we cross a threshold?

August's Storylands Sessions gathering invites us into the spaces between one state and another: between waking and dreaming, the known and the unknown, the everyday and the otherworldly.

We're delighted to welcome Eileen Budd – Scottish author, artist and storyteller – whose work draws on Scottish folklore, folk traditions, origin stories and ancient legends. Her performances weave together traditional tales, historic objects, folk beliefs and the natural world, bringing the heritage behind these stories vividly to life.

Eileen is the perfect guide to lead through the strange, shifting landscape of Threshold Spaces, and we can't wait to discover where her stories will take us.

Inspired by Eileen's work, our theme is THRESHOLD SPACES: dream and waking; seen and unseen; doorways and crossings; dusk and dawn; shorelines; boundaries, the turning of the seasons; journeys between worlds; transformation, folklore and myth; things glimpsed from the corner of the eye.

Whether you're visiting the area or live locally, we welcome contributions from people of all ages and backgrounds. Share a story, song, tune, poem, artwork or reflection inspired by the theme—or simply come along to listen and enjoy the company of our welcoming Sessions community.

Tickets and details of how to get involved can be found via the link in the comments.

Address

Badenoch And Strathspey
Kingussie

Website

https://badenochstorylands.com/storylands-sessions/

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