SCOTTISH folk luminary John McCusker is marking his 25th anniversary as a professional musician by making Hello, Goodbye, his first solo album in 13 years.

"To be honest, I don't really see the 25 years as a huge milestone, but there were two things happening at the same time that led to the album," says the Bellshill multi-instrumentalist, producer and composer, who is accompanying last Friday's release on his new label Under One Sky Records with a tour that visits the National Centre for Early Music in York tomorrow night.

"One was the 25th anniversary of my first playing in The Battlefield Band at the age of 17; the other was building a recording studio over the past two years with my wife, Heidi [Irish folk singer Heidi Talbot], in a bothy dating from 1779 by our home," says John, who lives in the Scottish Borders.

Hello, Goodbye is the first album to be recorded in this state-of-the-art studio, designed by legendary record producer and studio designer Calum Malcolm, who has combined the traditional and the new.

A further factor was John finding time to compose songs while on a world tour as part of Mark Knopfler's band. "You get time to start thinking about things, you have space to do that, so I started singing melodies into my phone," he says. "And I thought, maybe, with all these things coming together, it's a lovely time to reflect on the past and start new ventures."

The album title conveys that place in time too. "I wonder whether it's a subconscious thing, when you have to think about a title. 'Hello, Goodbye' was the first thing that came into my mind and I spent a couple of months trying to think of other things but it just stuck," says John. "When people started asking about it, I thought about how I've always spent my entire career saying 'hello' to new projects, new musicians, new opportunities.

"I've been very fortunate that the reason I couldn't make a solo record for 13 years was because I was so busy that a solo akbum never came into me head."

What can we read into the "Goodbye" part of the title, John? "As a working musician, anyone who travels as much as I do – and I probably spend eight months travelling – has to say hello and goodbye a lot, and at times you have to say goodbye to your personal relationships too."

Nevertheless, 42-year-old John draws inspiration from other long-serving musicians. "I've always tried to keep myself excited and inspired, and I guess I'm lucky to have met all these people who have blown me away," he says. "There have been 'happy accidents', where most things I've done have started over a pint in a pub, and you become pals, and it doesn't matter if they're famous or not, they're just people who inspire me."

To the likes of Kris Drever and Heidi Talbot, now add Mark Knopfler. "Playing with Mark has turned my musical world upside down. It reminded me of joining The Battlefield Band; that nervous energy of doing something completely new for me," says John. "Performing with Mark, with his amazing knowledge, working with his band and crew, you realise how much you still have to learn.

"Like learning over the years how to play in a theatre; how to be yourself on stage; how to talk to the audience, and then there you are, 25 years into your career, on stage at the Royal Hall with Mark Knopfler."

John recalls how as a musician of 17 he loved jumping up and down and being full of energy, "but I was mentored by the Battlefield Band's piper, Iain MacDonald, who told me that every note counted". "In my musical life, I have always learned from every experience," he says. And still every note counts.