Celebrating a 40-year career, her 60th birthday, and a decade since the first performance of Pulse (the first part of her Pendulum Trilogy), it seems Mairi Campbell is experiencing a magnificent full-circle moment. Using song, viola, movement and visuals, Campbell will perform her award-winning shows, Auld Lang Syne, Pulse and Living Stone, at the Scottish Storytelling Centre, bringing three chapters of self-discovery together for the first time in a multi-sensory pilgrimage.

The first show, Pulse, explores her relationship with traditional music after rejecting the strict norms of classical training. ‘Pulse is the result of my obsession and desire to hold a beat,’ she explains. ‘At first, I couldn’t do it. I went to music college, to the Guildhall; it was all about following the conductor: “don’t tap your feet. Be a cog in a wheel.” It didn’t sit easy with me. I came away from the classical music scene to get into folk music, because it offered me the opportunity to learn how to play with a beat.’

Campbell found her rhythm through traditional fiddle, dance and Scots music, leading to her rendition of ‘Auld Lang Syne’, a version she performed around the world to captive audiences and Sex And The City fans alike (it appeared in the first movie based on that TV hit). But Campbell still sees the song and its namesake show as a personal endeavour. ‘The song has got something in it that’s not to do with what the words mean. These are not just words written on a page. They’re sounds that move in mysterious ways. So, in Auld Lang Syne, we find unique, often quite funny ways to look at the song and its connection to friendship.’

Despite performing solo, Campbell stresses that she achieved her success through musical community. ‘Fifteen years ago, I wanted to make these shows. But I had no idea how I was going to do it. I’m really grateful to have been introduced to Kath Burlinson, my director and co-creator. Her long-term support and direction have shaped this work and helped me to honour my ancestry.’

In this spirit, Living Stone, the trilogy’s final part, ends Campbell’s voyage with a reflection on connection and community, found through endurance. ‘I’d always envisioned connecting these shows. As they unfolded, I found myself going deeper. Finding your beat or your voice is quite tangible; Living Stone is this interplay between them.’

Campbell says this final show in the trilogy is inspired by a 400-million-year-old stone. ‘Being around the stone, lifting it and feeling the weight, brought me to this grounded place, and a physical place: the community on Lismore where the stone was found. It marks a milestone; and it’s got a hole in the middle. So I ended up playing with the sense of the word. You must go through the hole, maybe to get a bit more whole.’

Mairi Campbell: Pendulum Trilogy, Scottish Storytelling Centre, 2–17 August, 5pm.