Dowally
Dowally is an Edinburgh-based duo which has been making music together since 2015. Their sound is contemporary original folk; rooted in the Scottish and Irish traditions but influenced by jazz, Klezmer, American old time and everything in-between. Rachel Walker plays the fiddle, low whistle and sings. Daniel Abrahams plays the guitar, piano, double bass and also sings.They have recorded 3 studio albums, the most recent of which is 'early bird // night owl', released in February 2021. This album features guest appearances from some of Scotland's finest folk musicians, including Phil Alexander (Moishe's Bagel, Eliza Carthy band), Graham Coe (The Jellyman's Daughter) and Michael Starkey. Frequent collaborators also include Ciaran Ryan (Dallahan) and Dominic Blaikie.
"Utterly enchanting" Songlines
"Rather splendid" Teddy Jamieson, The Herald
"A special blend of different worlds" The National
Dan Abrahams
Dan is part-time engineer and part-time musician. He grew up in Sheffield listening to punk, ska and rock, eventually casting them aside after discovering the world of jazz and soul music in his dad's record collection. A move to Edinburgh in his late teens garnered his first proper introduction to folk music, playing in sessions and in ceilidh bands up and down the country. He's formed over 5 bands during his ten years in Auld Reekie, ranging from funk/soul (The Foo Birds) and jazz (Bonzai Quartet, Rianna Walcott Band) to old-time folk (Wayward Jane) and prog-folk (Dowally). Dowally is the perfect outlet for Dan's compositional output, allowing catchy folk melodies to combine with hypnotic Balkan rhythms and jazz harmony. He's recorded as a double bassist and guitarist for various artists, including a European collaboration of European musicians and sound artists (Folkatron 2018).
Rachel Walker
Rachel hails from Glasgow but has been active on the lively Edinburgh folk scene for 10 years. Whilst enjoying playing Scottish and Irish trad immensely, Rachel also has a passion for composition in an original style and this comes through in Dowally. She was awarded the 2019 Inspiring Scotland Bursary for Music by the Saltire Society which enabled her to participate in the Tim Kliphuis 'Grappelli-Django Camp' in the Netherlands, a meeting place for improvising musicians from around Europe. Rachel also forms part of old-time American folk quartet, 'Wayward Jane' and regularly collaborates with guitarist and vocalist Dominic Blaikie.
