The album was recorded in Highland Perthshire in August 2024

Quinie, working with traditional Scots material, has released Forefowk, Mind Me, her third full-length, on Upset The Rhythm. The record was developed across a loosely structured research trip through Argyll on horseback and recorded in Highland Perthshire in August 2024, with financial support from Creative Scotland. The album appears in conjunction with a book and film documenting the material and the process.

The record centres unaccompanied vocal work, interspersed with original and adapted pieces from Scots, Gaelic, and Irish traditions. Fragments of toasts, improvisations, and poetic texts appear throughout, framed in a way that avoids museum-style reconstruction. Instead of treating oral traditions as something inert or complete, Forefowk, Mind Me presents them as something contingent and permeable. The title, in Scots, folds memory, ancestry, and watchfulness into a single phrase. “Forefowk” translates roughly as ‘those who came before’, while “mind me” can variously suggest remembrance, protection, or the need to be cared for.

The album was recorded at The Big Shed, a community space near Loch Tummel. It includes contributions from Ailbhe Nic Oireachtaigh on viola, Oliver Pitt on duduk, bouzouki, and percussion, Harry Górski-Brown on small pipes and violin, and Stevie Jones, who handled both double bass and production. All have previously been associated with experimental, improvised, or non-standard practices, often working across genre boundaries without signalling fusion or synthesis. Pitt is also a member of Golden Teacher, Jones has produced work for Alasdair Roberts and Kathryn Joseph, and Górski-Brown has collaborated with Brighde Chaimbeul and Lucia Capellaro.

The record’s content moves between formal songs and shorter interludes. Some of the pieces are taken from oral tradition; others are written by Quinie in a closely related idiom. Many are delivered in Scots, one of Scotland’s three official languages alongside English and Gaelic, used historically by Scottish Travellers, Lowland communities, and in certain urban centres. The vocal style draws from the repertoire and techniques of Scottish Traveller singers, particularly Sheila Stewart. In interviews, Quinie has cited Stewart’s radio recordings as the starting point for her own engagement with unaccompanied song, followed by encounters with Traveller communities that reshaped her understanding of performance as social and political act.

Quinie’s album launch will take place at St Pancras Old Church on 30 May 2025, with additional sets by Harry Górski-Brown and Sound of Yell. Tickets are available via Dice.

Quinie is the recording name of Josie Vallely, a Scottish artist and vocalist based in Glasgow. Working primarily with voice, language, and performance, she operates at the intersection of contemporary music and traditional forms. She began performing Scots unaccompanied songs in 2015 and has cited Scottish Traveller traditions and archive recordings as formative reference points. Her work frequently involves elements of site-based practice, community engagement, and alternative research methods. Forefowk, Mind Me follows her previous releases Meadowsweet (2022) and Quinie (2019). She has performed at events such as Counterflows and collaborated with musicians including Stef Kett and Lucia Capellaro. In addition to her work as a singer, she has presented audio pieces and performances in gallery and broadcast contexts.

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