Talented youngsters Mirka launch their debut CD

Young three-piece band Mirka launched their first CD to a packed cafe bar at Mareel this afternoon.

The band is comprised of fiddler Danny Garrick, his sister Karis on keyboards and their cousin Loris MacDonald on accordion.

They take their name from Mirka Water, a loch in the hills east of Vidlin where members of their family originated from.

Possessing a mutual love of traditional music both in Shetland and further afield, the trio are certainly doing their bit to keep it alive with their obvious talent.

Danny and Loris are currently studying at Edinburgh and Heriot Watt University respectively, and were on the delayed boat which arrived at 9.30am today. But the rough voyage failed to dampen their enthusiasm, with Loris in particular dashing about and welcoming everbody to the launch.

With Karis working back home it could not have been easy to get in regular practice, but with the aid of producer Arthur Nicholson they have come up with an impressive debut.

After Loris thanked everyone for coming they went straight into a selection of tunes, before they broke off again for a chat with the audience.

The CDs, eponymously titled Mirka, appeared to be flying off the table, so their popularly was certainly in no doubt.