Dumfries born singer songwriter and tartan army fanatic; Jake Pollock has had a crack at writing the song for the Euros in Germany this summer. “Alba gu Bràth” was written and recorded in the University town of St Andrews as Jake Pollock teamed up with fellow student, and producer Rob Johnstone to construct this song.
The entirety of ‘Alba gu Bràth’ was recorded using the impressive range of facilities within the Laidlaw Music Centre. Whilst all guitar parts and lead vocals were performed by Jake in the studio, producer Rob additionally contributed to the song as he played all the bass parts and sang most of the backing vocals. The drummer from Rob’s band (Raincheck) Narayan Murti was called in to add a more professional sounding drum part to the song. With the assistance from Rob and Narayan, Jake Pollock’s ‘Alba gu Bràth’ was able to become the complete sounding song that it is today.
The title of the song, ‘Alba gu Bràth’ is a famous Gaelic phrase that translates to ‘Scotland forever’ and is used to show allegiance to Scotland. So, it feels like fitting words to chant as we march into the European championships. Jake’s father Steven Pollock has taken him to Scotland games home and away from the age of six and perhaps is the sole reason for Jake’s devotion to the tartan army. Jake and his Father travel to the games with the rest of the Prestwick Tartan Army, who are a tight group of friends that have followed Scotland around the world for many years. Many of the lyrics in ‘Alba gu Bràth’ were inspired by Jake’s personal experiences in following Scotland or by the many stories shared to him by his father.
There is no way to hide for Scotland this time around as they have drawn the host nation Germany in the opening game. Just as well we thrive in such big occasion as over 200,000 Scots are expected to travel to Germany this time around for Scotland’s three group games. We will in fact, ‘be coming down the road’. The gargantuan anticipation for this tournament, isn’t just limited to those traveling fans. Bars, fan zones and living rooms from Stranraer to the Shetlands and across Scotland will be filled with nervous Scots as the months of count down come to a close and the opening game kicks off. The tartan army loves a sing song and many anthems have got us by over the years like, Loch Lomond, Flower of Scotland, Yes Sir I can Boogie amongst many others. So, what’s the harm in adding one more to that mix. Let this be a song for Scotland, a song about national pride and optimism, as we wish our boys in blue and white the very best as they bid to take over Europe and to bring the trophy ‘hame’.
You can listed to the song on the link below
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAbNopFfCYM
