The Hour

A moving play, based on the story of a reclusive fisherman from Shetland who lived a secret double life as a gifted blues musician, is being shown as part of this year’s Celtic Connections.

The play, Long Gone Lonesome, charts the life of Thomas Fraser, who became obsessed with the style of music after getting his hand on some records brought home by his uncle, who was in the Navy.

A very shy, reserved man, Fraser’s musical genius didn’t come to light until his grandson Karl found a stash of recordings 25 years after his death.

And playwright and musician Duncan McLean, who became fascinated by his story, has turned the tale into the National Theatre of Scotland production.

Speaking about the play, Duncan said: “He (Fraser) was born in 1927 on small island on Shetland called Burra, and he grew up in a fishing community, in a fishing family, and he spent all his life as a fisherman.

“But he had a secret passion for country music and the blues, so in the 40s and 50s, when these types of music were really unappreciated, unknown in Shetland and not much known in Scotland, he perfected the singing and the guitar style of his musical heroes like Hank Williams and Jimmie Rodgers.”

Thomas was very shy and his talent was never celebrated, but his dedication to music saw him create a huge catalogue of songs that have now been discovered and are featured in the play, performed by the Lone Star Swing Band.

“He was a very, very shy man. To call him a recluse is probably quite accurate. He was really embarrassed about performing in public,” Duncan explained.

“What he did was he invested a lot of money in buying a reel to reel tape recorder, and over the course of about 25 years he recorded literally thousands of songs of himself singing and playing. He played the fiddle as well as the guitar, so it’s an amazing mixture of Shetland fiddle tunes and above all the blues and country.”

If you’d like to find out more about the show, check out the Celtic Connections site.