A TALENTED young accordion player from Clacks impressed judges at a number of competitions recently, improving on his performances from last year.

Dollar Academy pupil Archie MacKechnie won the under-13 Traditional Class at this year’s Royal National Mod, held in Stornoway last month – a title which he had also claimed at the National Mod the previous year.

The FII pupil then went on to finish second in the under-19 Traditional March, Strathspey and Reel Class – improving on his fourth-place finish in last year’s competition.

While he did not manage to earn a spot in 2015, Archie also clinched third place in the under-19 Contemporary Class.
The young accordionist spends hours practising at school, often early in the morning before teaching begins, and is grateful for all the tuition he is getting. He also had the chance to perform in a lunchtime concert, which further helped him in preparing for competitions.

Pushing on to earn more accolades, the committed youngster continued his string of tremendous performances and competed in the All Scotland Accordion and Fiddle Festival in Perth on October 29.

He finished runner up in the under-16 Pipe, March, Strathspey and Reel Class and also came second in the under-16 World Music Class.