Dougie MacLean

Vocals, guitar, keyboard, percussion, tractor.

In the liner notes to the song “Strathmore” on the new CD from Scottish singer-songwriter Dougie MacLean, “wee grey Fergie tractor” is listed among the players.

And sure enough, the gentle purr of the machine’s engine accompanies MacLean’s melodic ode to hard work and camaraderie on the farm:

“Old Dave would cut and Tim and I would lead

And we’d move the hay til our hands would bleed

With a story told to keep our spirits high

To keep our spirits high”

MacLean’s 1947 Ferguson tractor likely won’t join him on stage when he visits Astoria Tuesday, Sept. 26, for a solo performance at the Liberty Theater.

But the internationally acclaimed musician needs little help evoking the feeling of hearth and home. Described as a “Scottish James Taylor” and “a musical hero,” MacLean has gained status as a worldwide folk music icon while remaining firmly rooted, literally and artistically, in his native Scotland, where he lives and records in the historic village where he was born and raised.

MacLean grew up in a musical family – his mother played mandolin and his father the fiddle, and shared a love of music equal parts Highland Gaelic tradition and Elvis Presley and the Beatles.

He began his own musical career in the 1970s, singing and playing guitar and fiddle with the ground-breaking Scottish folk groups Silly Wizard and the Tannahill Weavers. But he resisted the push to pursue his musical career in London, and instead returned to his native Dunkeld, where he founded his own record label, naming it after the historic village, and an arts and music gallery he runs with his artist wife, Jennifer.

MacLean played at Acoustic Sussex in England in December 2005. Photo from www.acousticsussex.org.ukMacLean has become enough of a fixture in Dunkeld that he’s included on the town’s own Web site, www.visitdunkeld.com (where you can see a photo of MacLean’s own collection of wee grey Fergies).

Though often described as a Scottish folk singer, MacLean is not an interpreter of traditional Scottish songs. Instead, he weaves age-old influences through his own contemporary works – all delivered in his soft Highland brogue – that touch on the sense of home, the loss of a friend, and even the precarious state of the world, as in “Into the Flames,” also from his latest recording, “Inside the Thunder:”

“The chosen one the wisest man

He’ll help us any way he can

A clever word to calm our fear

But he’s laughing when we cannot hear”

Over the years his songs have been covered by Irish performers Mary Black and Delores Keane and American country singer Kathy Mattea. The song “The Gael” was featured in the film “The Last of the Mohicans,” and his music has been spotlighted in two BBC documentaries. For local fans, his music can often be heard on the NPR radio program, “Thistle and Shamrock.”

MacLean is a mainstay at the Dunnichen Festival in Letham Village Hall in Angus, Scotland. Photo by Phil Hannah.In the 1990s, singer Frankie Miller had a No. 1 hit with MacLean’s “Caledonia,” a “wee homesick song” that became an unofficial Scottish anthem.

In 2005, MacLean unveiled “Rural Image – A SongVision Symphony,” a multimedia performance that features a small orchestra, dancers, digital imagery and even the wee Fergie on stage.

“Inside the Thunder,” his 18th recording, was produced by MacLean’s 22-year-old son Jamie, whom he credits with helping bring some modern influences to the 10-song collection, his first new CD in four years.

But a sense of place remains the underlying foundation of his work, as in the album’s song, “Open Fields:”

“We all stand here broken and torn

We long to get back to what’s real

Back to the open field

Back to the rolling hills

Back to the running burn”

Dougie MacLean rests on a pallet after a day of cutting peats, slabs of boggy soil that are set out to dry and used as fuel during the Scottish winter. Photo from www.atthepeats.com

‘Inside the Thunder’ is Dougie MacLean’s latest CD.