During the last couple of months I’ve had quite a few trips up to the Scottish Highlands to perform at the beautiful Novar Estate in Dingwall near Inverness.

I was booked to provide entertainment for some groups of American visitors who were visiting Scotland as very special guests of Whyte and Mackay award-winning whisky.

They were certainly lucky as they got to see Scotland in all its summer glory – we had such amazing weather here during June! And lucky for me too, as the drive up from Glasgow to Inverness was really something in the sunshine – just like driving through a picture postcard.

Whyte and Mackay wanted to provide some high-class entertainment that was a little different from the usual ‘bagpipes and Scottish dancing’, so they asked me to sing a mixture of music for the guests, including some American songbook standards.

During pre-dinner cocktails I sang light easy-listening songs, including some fun vintage-style versions of pop songs (in the style of Postmodern Jukebox), and during dinner I provided jazz standards plus some other well-known classics such as popular Bond themes. After dinner we picked up the pace and let our hair down a bit with some music for dancing (Abba was a big favourite, as always!).

From my time singing on American cruiseships I’ve always loved entertaining American audiences, as they’re always very friendly and enthusiastic. The groups at the Novar Estate were no exception, and so we had a lot of fun.

Really speaking, my job was very easy, as the guests were already so happy at being in such a sumptuous setting. Whyte and Mackay had treated them to some stunning trips around Scotland, and The Novar Estate is a really outstanding venue. Check out this link for some fascinating history on its origins: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novar_House

Neil and the team at the Novar did an absolutely sterling job ensuring that every detail was absolutely perfect, from the whisky cocktails to the sumptuous dinner. Shauna from Whyte and Mackay was the perfect hostess, organising everything so it ran perfectly smoothly and making sure that everyone was totally happy.

It was so lovely to meet everyone at Novar, and I’m looking forward to returning again soon.