Touring the Highlands with Bear's Den

In May 2014, Bear’s Den got the opportunity to do something we’d wanted to do for a long time. We got to include the famous (among touring bands, anyway) Highlands & Islands leg in our UK headline tour. The Highlands & Islands will take a band to various cities, towns and islands (mostly) in the north of Scotland. We had the privilege to visit Orkney, Inverness, Stornoway, Aberdeen and Aviemore. It’s a completely different experience to “normal” touring, as there are no motorways, no service stations, no chain hotels and not a whole lot of people. Instead, there are sheep, highland cattle, ferries, breathtaking landscapes, castles, coast and a wonderful absence of city noises and stressed people. It’s a real adventure, and we got to try Harris tweed looms, visit isolated beaches and prehistoric stone circles, play unusual venues, stay in small, family-run hotels and taste the world’s best whisky (allegedly!) and get a private tour of the Highland Park distilleries. We were joined by a couple of dear friends of ours: Christof, an amazing singer/songwriter and a deft hand in the kitchen; and Kelly Teacher, an incredible photographer and the only girl in the touring party (sorry about…everything). Here are some of the photos she took while we were there.