Afore Ye Go: Houston and Hepburn reunite for new Donegal-Scottish trad album

‘Afore Ye Go’, the forthcoming album from Inishowen fiddler Jack Houston and Scottish flautist and piper Hamish Hepburn, is a project that has been brewing for the better part of a decade - just not in any deliberate way.

The pair first met as teenagers through an exchange between the Inishowen Traditional Music Project and Fèis Spè in the Cairngorms. Their connection was instant: two young players raised on repertoires that often overlap and echo each other. By the time they became flatmates in Glasgow during their university years, forming their own céilí band and touring together, it felt inevitable that they would one day record an album.

“We had always intended to record music,” Houston recalls, “but never had the funds as students.”

Life, as it tends to, carried them in different directions. Hepburn eventually left Scotland for New Zealand. Houston, who is from Burt, settled into medical training in Glasgow, commuting back and forth to Donegal as much as rosters allowed. The recording project remained something for someday.

Someday finally arrived in 2025 when Hepburn returned home to Scotland for a visit. Sensing an opportunity, Houston booked the pair into Brookwood Recording Studio in Glasgow, with a piano session later added in Culdaff at MacRuarí Audio.

The result is Afore Ye Go, which will be released on 12 December. It’s an album soaked in shared history, geographical distance and the kind of friendship that bends but never breaks.

The title itself came from quip from Houston’s mother Mary when Hamish came home from New Zealand on a flying visit, exhorting them to get it done afore ye go.

But serendipity wasn’t the only force shaping the record. That same year, both musicians lost grandparents: Houston’s grandmother Kathleen Holmes of Burt and Hepburn’s grandfather James Hepburn of Mallaig. In a bittersweet twist, both elders heard the tribute tunes composed for them on before they passed away. “The first and last tracks are dedicated to them,” Houston says.

That sense of lineage runs through the album. Many of the new compositions draw on stories, people and landscapes from Donegal and the Scottish Highlands - places with deep musical traffic between them. Houston notes that a large amount of Donegal’s fiddle repertoire originally travelled across the water with seasonal labourers, fishermen and tattie hoakers. In Inishowen, close enough to catch Scottish radio broadcasts, the strands intertwined even more.

Because of that shared heritage, the album’s tracklist stitches together their own new tunes with pieces from master composers on both sides of the water.

There are works by St Johnston fiddle legend Tommy Peoples, Buncrana’s Dinny McLaughlin, and Burt-Teelin maestro Dermot Byrne, alongside a piece by Scottish-based fiddler Simon Bradley one of Hepburn’s former university tutors, whose own family roots stretch back to Inishowen. Houston has also created a new Irish translation of the traditional song ‘Dark Inishowen’, adding another layer of home-soaked texture.

The pair invited other friends to collaborate on the album. Guitarists Jack McRobbie and Miguel Girão, percussionist Callum Edwards, and Culdaff pianist Ella McGrory all contribute, shaping a sound that feels full but never crowded.

McGrory’s presence is particularly special. The daughter of Neil McGrory and Roisin Harrigan, Ella grew up immersed in the same Donegal fiddle traditions that shaped Houston’s childhood. She’s currently making waves touring Europe with her band 3 on the Bund, and Houston reveals she’ll also feature on his next project: a new solo fiddle album, An Fhidil Bhriste, due out in 2026. “I’m really excited about that one - it’ll be strongly Inishowen-themed,” he says. “Keep an eye out for the launches and gig dates.”

The album’s artwork is another deeply personal touch, created by Houston’s girlfriend, Glasgow-based artist Kirsty Jones. It ties the project together visually just as the music binds its themes.

Read more: George Houston releases TODC album and appears on Jools Holland

Despite juggling multiple artistic projects, Houston is still firmly rooted in his other life: he’s a hospital doctor who works in general medicine at Glasgow Royal Infirmary, splitting his time between Scotland and Donegal. The early years of his medical career - covid, exhaustion, distance from home - left little room for music. But things have eased.

“I’m really enjoying the work now,” he says. “I can be more flexible with my hours, which is brilliant for the music, and it means I get to spend more time in Donegal too.”

His younger brother George Houston - fresh off touring his fourth album TODC - is also making waves.

Any sibling rivalry? Jack laughs. “Not at all, I taught him everything he knows. If the doctoring and fiddling don’t work out I might make a living as a George Houston tribute act. Jorge Houston?”

“But seriously, he's absolutely flying and has plenty more great music to come.”

‘Afore Ye Go’ is, at its heart, an album about friendship, family, distance and return - the musical conversation between Donegal and the Highlands carried forward by two musicians who know both places deeply. And though it took the better part of a decade to come together, the timing feels just right.

“When we finally sat down with all the tracks,” Houston says, “‘Afore Ye Go’ was as good a name as any.”

Jack Houston’s new album, Afore Ye Go, will be launched on 12 December, and is available for pre-order – CDs and digital download – at jackceol.bandcamp.com