It’s always lovely to take an award back to Caithness, says Brandon after latest Hot Country TV honour
Entertainer Brandon McPhee has spoken of how much he enjoys being able to bring a little bit of Caithness over to the Emerald Isle after picking up his latest musical accolade in Ireland.
The 27-year-old singer and accordionist was named as Scottish Entertainer of the Year at the Hot Country TV Awards 2024 held in Letterkenny.
The Galway Irish Crystal trophy – Brandon’s seventh Hot Country award – was handed over by radio presenter Jim Carway. Hot Country TV is Europe’s longest-running country music show, founded by Cork-based Hugh O’Brien.
“It's nice to be recognised and always lovely to take an award back home to Caithness,” Brandon said. “It was great to be part of the whole experience again.”
He had been touring in Ireland with band members Manson Grant (keyboards/bass), Robert Cameron (drums) and Jamie Anderson (guitars), performing in Lisburn, Longford, Castleblayney and Banteer.
Brandon, who comes from Castletown, has a special bond with his Irish fans.
“They are very welcoming and they love their music over there,” he said. “It's just nice to be accepted, to have the opportunity to perform over there and, I suppose, bring a little of Caithness to Ireland.”
March also saw the release of Brandon’s new single, a duet with Irish music legend Daniel O’Donnell. They teamed up for a rendition of Across the Hills of Home, written by Scottish-born folk singer/songwriter Eric Bogle.
In its first few days the song had more than 50,000 streams, with over 100,000 views for the online video. Across the Hills of Home is released on the Demon Music Group label.
"It has been played all over the world so we are delighted,” Brandon said. “It was just such an honour to record the song and such an honour to record it with Daniel."
Meanwhile, Brandon is looking forward to performing in his home county again with a concert at Wick Assembly Rooms on Friday, May 31. Tickets are on sale at Gail's Gift Box in Wick and McBeath's jewellers in Thurso.
“It’ll be great to be back in Wick,” Brandon said.
“This is my 17th year in music. I started recording when I was 10. Some of the first shows I did were in Halkirk and Thurso and then Wick, so we thought we'd go to Wick this time and put on the Brandon McPhee Show.
“It's got a lot of singing in it and a lot of accordion as well, so it's kind of a mixture.”
Brandon and his band will be at Elgin Town Hall the following night (June 1) and Deeside Community Centre Theatre in Aboyne on June 2.
This year’s Hot Country TV Awards took place in the Mount Errigal Hotel, Letterkenny. Brandon had been named as Traditional Entertainer of the Year at the 2023 event held in Monaghan.
