EDDI READER 'Sings the Songs of Robert Burns' Sadenia Reader was born and spent her formative years in Glasgow. The first of seven children, her father Danny was a welder and home was a two room flat. With a growing family, Danny, his wife Jean and the family were re-housed in Irvine on the Ayrshire coast, but Eddi lived in Glasgow again in her mid-teens, with her grandmother, studying for school qualifications.

I found this to be rather special because like Eddi, I was brought up in Glasgow for the first few years of my childhood,and then I too moved to Ayrshire. My father is a welder also. The coincidences inspired me because her start in life was rather like mine and she managed to become a famous singer.

Eddi Reader has given me a new interest in Robert Burns and I am now proud to say that I come from where he used to live. I have been inspired to look up more facts about him. I am sure that this has affected more people than me.

by Karen Fraser

We asked Eddi Reader some questions and she was kind enough to reply to us with the answers..Cheers Eddi!

Why did you choose Robert Burns to write an album about and study and why not some other poet?

" Well, I was sure he picked me!! I was minding my own business and playing guitar... I found a special tuning of the guitar strings and the melody of MY LOVE IS LIKE A RED RED ROSE seemed to fit over the top of the tuning.... This was about two and a bit years ago.... and as the days progressed I would find myself in charity bookshops, rummaging and coming across unusual and ancient Burns books.... I was curious to find out how many of his words I recognised or had heard of.  I felt that he was just this guy who wrote some hard sounding words that my 'boring' english teacher tried to 'bully' me into learning when I was at school.  A lot of other people I knew seemed to know so much about his work, I kind of felt weird that I didnt know anything about him, except he lived in my town of Irvine for a while and there was something about stabbing haggis's and middle aged bankers getting drunk and toasting 'lassies'...
I found a book by HUGH DOUGLAS called THE TINDERHEART.... This is what Burns called himself. It is a wonderful book. I recommend you get a hold of a copy.
It told the story of Roberts life in a way that brought him to life for me. Hugh Douglas uses the people that Burns knew and quotes about what they experienced with him.
One of my favorites was a quote from someones great grandmother from Mauchline who remembered HER grandmother talking about Burns at the dancing.  " I didnae like him much... he was that sarcastic ye didnae know wit he wid say next"...
Then I started to see him as a young cheeky wee boy who was a star in his own town because he was funny and full of life and handsome but poor, from a large family, getting into trouble from his da because he liked dancing too much. Falling in love with every girl in town and writing cheeky verse to the ones who put their nose up to him. Also writing sarcastic but hilarious verse about the people in the town who people would be too polite to speak bad off but the truth was plain to see...Pinning the verses anonymously on the trees in the town green in Mauchline. Kinda like our graffiti in bus shelters now.
One local guy had a grocers shop and he sold 'behind the counter' cures for colds and ailments. These 'cures' never really worked and tasted awful.  This man was one of Burns' close friends but it didnt stop Burns writing a poem about him called DEATH AND DR HORNBROOK... in the poem 'Death' ( the black hooded guy with the sythe and no face) goes to God and complains that his work is wasted because this guy Hornbrook (Burns' mate) was killing everybody with his cures before he gets to them.
This was pinned on the tree at the town green and locals, who were growing used to this young mans wit I imagine, would copy it out or commit it to memory and pass it around .. I can see them all sitting  by the fireside giggling or in the taverns (Poozy Nancys Burns fav pub, still there today.) uproariously laughing because  Burns had got their neighbour and his medicine spot on.
So he began to capture my imagination and I began to want to know him because, romantically, I felt sorry for him that the only images we have of him were 'stuffy looking' ones. I think he would have been anything but 'stuffy'... he'd be the one who when he arrived the party really started. I imagined him calling me from his place in Heaven. Hoping I would understand him. I think he would have liked the way I sing

Did anyone influence you to sing Burns songs?

MICHEAL MARRA is a friend of mine who lives in Dundee and is a GREAT musician/ songwriter and he asked me to sing RED RED ROSE for a tv show he did three years ago for Burns night. Then it was RED RED ROSE that lead me to the other songs.Which was the first Robert Burns song you ever sang and how did it make you feel?
I had sung Burns songs before like AE FOND KISS... I recorded a version of that when I recorded PERFECT....but, the first Burns song I sung, I didnt even know was his... that was... CHARLIE IS MY DARLIN ... I have sung that as a lullaby to my (now 15year old) son for years... I learned that one at school I think...or from a grandparent..... but I never knew it was Roberts.... there are others that I have heard growing up and I am sure I have hummed the melody to COMIN THRO THE RYE or THE CAMPBELLS ARE COMING.. these songs were always about

.
What is your favourite Robert Burns song / poem?

I love WILLIE STEWART because there is so much love from RB to his friend in it.
I am still discovering his songs and poems ... everytime I look in the books there are new ones to laugh at or sigh at.

Would you like the chance to go back in time and meet Robert Burns?

Oh YES.. I would love that... I want to see how he smiles or what he's like with his hair all messed up.

If you were to ask Robert burns one question what would it be?

NO FAIR ...just one question??
"do you want to go for a walk through Mauchline and Auchinleck and Tarboulton? "
then maybe all the other questions would come out and I could tell him how everyone sings his songs, not just here, but in Russa, Japan, France, Germany, Spain, America, we sing him still even though its 200 years later... I think he would be shocked!!

Would you like to see more children writing poetry or being encouraged to do so?

Children are the BEST poets because the are not afraid of what people will judge good or bad poems so they write down exactly the most marvellous descrptions. I used to write down everything that my sons made up. My favourite was written by my 11 year old son when he was 4... its called UP IN THE SKY WHERE THE BLUE SKY IS..
So the answer is yes.. most definatly but with a caution.... dont think you can teach them it because they already know how... just give them the pencil and the paper and surround them with inspirational things.
What would you say was the most rewarding part of your career so far?
Getting good feedback for what I do always thrills me and
doing records that I think people keep and play in their homes for years..... a lot of people love certain songs and certain artists for maybe a year or so, or until the magazines stop talking about them.... i seem to have managed to make albums that are treasured and that dont seem to end up in charity shops, well not in the shops I go in anyway.

If you were not a singer what would you do?

Well singing is one thing I do but I do other things like mothering and cooking and painting, cleaning, organising... etc
but if I had to choose a job , I'd say something in art or design or acting maybe.
My fantasy job would be a helen mirren detective kinda gal.Do you like singing in front of an audience?
Well to start with , it was scary, but now, I enjoy it... I couldnt do it 7 nights a week because I'd want to get back to my SIMS game on the MAC Ha Ha!

How do you manage to have such a busy career and bring up a family?

I have a lot of support from my family and my mum especially... when I was in high school we would fight and argue a LOT, but now I know she's the best freind you can have. Now she's not so busy bringing up a million kids. She always is there to help when I need to sing and my boys need to be looked after for a week or so.
But I also dont do too much because I dont want to miss a minute of them growing up.  So I hope and pray that we will be provided for. Someone said to me once..."concentrate on doing what you love and loving what you do and the sports car will come" .... I think that means focus on enjoying what you love to do and like moths to the light you will attract good fortune..

Thanks once again eddi reader for answering our questions!

www.eddireader.com