STORMBIRD is the debut EP by GREENSHANKS (Will Boyd-Wallis) featuring acclaimed musicians: Hamish Napier, James Mackintosh, James Lindsay, Ross Ainslie, Becky Doe and Iain Forrest – produced by Hamish Napier, Will Boyd-Wallis and Andrea Gobbi. 

GREENSHANKS lives in Strathspey in the Highlands of Scotland. He gained recognition at Glasgow’s Celtic Connections in 2023 where he was a finalist at the Danny Kyle Open Stage.  Now, after forty years of playing and writing music, this is the first time any of his songs have been released.

GREENSHANKS has dedicated the last thirty years working to care for woodlands, moorlands, mountains and coasts in hard-to-reach places in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.  

In recent years he never goes anywhere without his ‘guitalele’ which features on two of the tracks.  Consequently his songs resonate with all the wisdom and experience of a man who has spent considerable time in the wilds. 

He sings as he speaks – direct, authentic and honest.  His songs have emotional depth, at times fragile with tender vocals but with a calm, driven, rhythmic power. 

The STORMBIRD songs are all themed on the sea. The first, Fistful of Sand, featuring Ross Ainslie on whistle, is a powerful portrayal of the unjust clearance of the community from the Isle of Rum. It immortalises Will’s great-great-grandfather John Mòr McLean, only a year old when they were evicted.  The Ballad of Billy and Eilidh is a cautionary folk tale with a foot-tapping tune lifted by Iain Forrest’s slide guitar and a pleasingly predictable finish.  Sandstone, (released as a single on 18th January 2025) is a love story, defined by Becky Doe’s viola and a heart-wrenching piano solo by Hamish Napier. Into the Open began life in a secret cave during lockdown and became a message of hope inspiring the artist Stephen Redpath to paint the watercolour featured on the CD sleeve.  The title track Stormbird, marks a moment in time and stretches it into an intense rendition of a life changing encounter with a Leach’s Storm Petrel on the cliffs of St Kilda.

Will says, “This EP has been a long time coming. The first track Fistful of Sand has been growing in me ever since I was a boy when my mother told me that my great-great-grandfather was born on the Isle of Rum on the West Coast of Scotland. He was evicted and sailed to Nova Scotia, eventually settling in New Zealand.  This story led me to move to the Highlands in my early twenties with a vow to put something back. I dedicate this EP to my mother Maha, great-granddaughter of John Mòr McLean.

All of the other songs have been inspired by the many people, places and creatures I have met on my daily life and work with the National Trust for Scotland.  I am grateful to all of them – animal, plant and mineral – for all the joy and comfort they have given me”.

greenshanks.bandcamp.com