“The Gaelic cross-over voice of his generation...."
Norrie Tago MacIver
“The Gaelic cross-over voice of his generation. Norrie is a singer of range, clarity and melody, and although firmly rooted in Gaelic tradition, he has a voice completely at ease with a backbeat, effortlessly exploring rhythm and modern idioms.” - Calum MacDonald, Runrig
Norrie "Tago" MacIver is a singer/songwriter from Carloway in the Isle of Lewis and is currently living in Fife after many years away from home.
Norrie moved down to Glasgow to attend the RSAMD where he graduated with Honours in 2009. During his time in Glasgow, Norrie was the lead singer of the award winning band Bodega, who in 2006 won the BBC radio 2 Young Folk Awards. This allowed the band to play at some of the biggest festivals in the UK including Cambridge Folk Festival. Bodega also went on to win Folk band of the Year at the MG Alba Scot Trad Music awards in 2008.
Since arriving in Glasgow, Norrie has played and toured all over the world including America, Canada, Australia and South Korea, as well as throughout Europe.
In 2010 Norrie became the lead singer of Manran who made a name for themselves by releasing the single Latha Math, which was written by Norrie himself, and the band went on to sell over 5000 copies of the single in the first week on iTunes. In December 2011 Norrie was voted Gaelic singer of the Year at the MG Alba Scot Trad Music awards. Manran were also successful that year winning Album of the year at the same awards. As part of Manran, Norrie toured extensively through Europe and America as well as the UK.
2014 saw Norrie record and release his first solo album ‘Danns an Rathaid’ which he released on his own record label, Tago Records. He was joined on the album by some of Scotland’s finest musicians including Brian McAlpine, who co-produced the album alongside Norrie. The album features some of Norrie’s own songs, as well as songs he has put his own stamp on.
In December 2015, Norrie decided to leave Manran to focus on other projects and to have time for his solo career. In February 2016, Norrie joined Skipinnish as their new lead singer. Skipinnish have since appeared at festivals and venues all over the UK, selling out venues such as the Barrowlands and Usher Hall. Norrie has also released tow albums with Skipinnish since joining, “The Seventh Wave” and “Steer By The Stars”
In 2018 Norrie was approached by Paul MacAlindin and the Glasgow Barons to write four new songs based on the history of Govan. This was a great opportunity for Norrie who had always wanted to perform with an orchestra. After the success of the first concert, Norrie went on to write a total of 13 new songs that he performed over 3 concerts with the orchestra.Together, Norrie and the Glasgow Barons recorded an album of all the songs during lockdown which was released in December 2020.
During lockdown Norrie kept busy by teaching Gaelic online to students from all over the world but also kept on performing through Facebook every week. The support Norrie received from the online shows blew him away and he decided to record a lockdown album for all the fans. This album was created completely by the fans. They chose the songs and album title and the “Lockdown Sessions” was released in November 2020 on Norrie’s own label, Tago Records.
In 2021 Norrie won “Online Performance” at the MG Alba Trad Music awards!