McIntosh Ross

McIntosh Ross

McIntosh Ross is the collaboration between Lorraine McIntosh and Ricky Ross, both associated with the Scottish group Deacon Blue. The pair make music together outside the context of Deacon Blue, with both writing and both singing on the project.

Background

McIntosh Ross develops from more than two decades of work in and around Deacon Blue. The duo sets out to make an album that is equally theirs rather than a Ricky Ross solo record with Lorraine McIntosh on backing vocals, and they keep the recording process deliberately simple. The songs are intended to be melodic, meaningful and uncluttered, with an emphasis on straightforward arrangements.

The recording takes place at Red Star Studio in Silver Lake, Los Angeles rather than in Scotland. Mark Howard produces the sessions. Howard has previously worked with Bob Dylan and Tom Waits, and has produced Lucinda Williams’s album World Without Tears.

The Great Lakes

The project’s album, The Great Lakes, brings together Celtic and Americana influences. The recording features drummer Steven Nistor, bass player Daryl Johnson, pedal steel and banjo player Doug Pettibone, and guitarist and backing vocalist David Scott of The Pearl Fishers. Scott is an old friend of both McIntosh and Ross from Glasgow, and he also produces Ricky Ross’s solo album Pale Rider.

The songs are selected for being significant to both writers, and the finished album combines folk-leaning material with alt.country elements and references to both Scotland and the American south.

Other work

Ricky Ross also writes songs for and with other artists, including James Blunt, Ronan Keating, Will Young, Nanci Griffith, EG White and Jamie Cullum. Lorraine McIntosh builds an acting career alongside her singing, appearing as a regular character in the Scottish soap River City, in the BBC drama series Hope Springs, and in several feature films.