Brandon on the rise in country chart

CASTLETOWN musician Brandon McPhee has plenty to smile about at the moment.

The young accordionist and singer entertained Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay, at the Castle of Mey last Saturday evening and is placed at number 36 on a chart for country artists ahead of greats like Jim Reeves and Patsy Cline.

"It was a real honour to be asked to appear at the castle and that's the sixth time I've played for Prince Charles, including once at Buckingham Palace," Brandon said. "I was absolutely delighted to be part of the whole occasion."

Brandon said he played three different sets of tunes for the royal party which included Lord Snowdon and Lady Sarah Chatto – son and daughter of the late Princess Margaret.

"After I played a medley, Prince Charles said, 'I don't know how you do it, you must have six fingers!'"

Earlier in the day, Brandon had presented Caithness Music’s Brandon McPhee Hour from the Mey Games and was filmed by Caithness TV producer Robert Cameron for a forthcoming programme.

Robert said: "I work as a one-man team, filming and editing the whole thing. We hope this programme will be aired on Thursday [August 15] at 4pm on Sky 376, Freesat 516, worldwide on the web on Phil Mack’s Spotlight Channel."

Brandon is sitting at number 36 in the Top 200 Artists Charts compiled on radio airplay worldwide. The biggest names in country music feature in this chart.

His recordings were all done at a small studio in Tannach using some of the latest professional software available.

Over the past months Brandon has been working with legendary Irish duo Foster and Allen on a joint recording to be released in the next few weeks as a single and music video.

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