Seven Nations

Infobox musical artist
Name = Seven Nations


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Genre = Celtic rock
Years_active = 1993 – present
Label = Independent Releases/No Major Label
URL = http://www.sevennations.com
Current_members = Kirk McLeod: Vocals, Keyboard, Guitars, Great Highland Bagpipes Struby: Vocals, Acoustic and Bass Guitars Scott Long:Great Highland Bagpipes, Shuttle pipes, Uillean Pipes Crisco: Drums and Percussion
Past_members = Neil Anderson Nick Watson Ashton Geoghagan Dan Stacey

). The band tours extensively and has played in many diverse venues, from small bars to prestigious concert halls.

Band History

Seven Nations got its start in New York City in 1993 as the part-time project of then-bartender McLeod, under the name Clan Na Gael. Lead singer Kirk McLeod states that late 1993 "was the first time we added bagpipes to the show," and therefore the origin of the band as it is today [http://www.sevennations.com] .

During summers, when McLeod was a kid, his folks sent him off to Scottish music camp to learn traditional bagpipe technique. Eventually, McLeod assembled a band from friends in Florida and recruits from Canada to play his songs.

The band's original members were Kirk McLeod (vocals, keyboard, guitars and Great Highland Bagpipes), Neil Anderson (vocals, highland and Uilleann bagpipes, Scottish smallpipes, tin whistles and mandolin), Jim "Struby" Struble (vocals, acoustic and bass guitars) and Nick Watson (vocals, drums and percussion). The band changed its name in 1997 because a Nevada folk music group was already operating under the same name [http://aroundthehearth.com/clannagael/] .

Watson left the band in 1997 and was replaced by Ashton Geoghagan. Anderson left the band in 1998, and in 1999 Dan Stacey (fiddle, Canadian step dancing) and Scott Long (highland bagpipes) joined Seven Nations's lineup. Geoghagan left in August 2001 to pursue other interests(he is currently a Paramedic/Engineer with Jacksonville Fire Rescue), and was replaced by Christian "Crisco" Miceli, who rounds out the band's current membership. Watson and Anderson currently play together with former "The Bolshoi" frontman Trevor Tanner in a new Celtic rock group called "Rathkeltair" which has done extensive touring up and down the east coast. Dan Stacey left in December 2007 to pursue a solo career, and was on tour with the New York City area band "Cherish the Ladies", as well as " The Step Crew ". In 2005, the original members reunited to produce an album where, in addition to tracks from earlier albums "Rain and Thunder", "Old Ground" and "Big Dog", there are six new tracks and two completely original songs recorded in December, 2004. "" [http://www.sevennations.com] .They also played four shows live in New York, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina.

The band regularly tours across the US, has appeared on ESPN, CNN World Beat, PBS and CBS, and has sold over 140,000 albums since 1996, without signing to a major label . The band's most successful release to date was "And Now It's Come to This", released on Razor & Tie Records in 2002. The album's mainstream rock sound was considered to be a drastic change from the band's traditional style. Their latest album, "Thanks for Waiting", returns to the acoustic style and does not feature an electric guitar.

The band is currently based out of Orlando, Florida.

Media

The band has been in the media numerous times, most notably during the Dewar's Scotch campaign ads, which featured a print campaign in over 20 major magazines, as well as use of the Dewar's tour bus during late 1999 to 2002. Also in the media was use of the song "Big Yellow Bus" off their 2002 album "And Now It Comes to This" in an episode of a CBS drama, but the episode never aired.

PBS also did a feature titled "An Evening with Seven Nations", which was aired sometime in the late 1990's and is available on VHS.

In the early 2000's, ESPN approached them to create the theme for their Extreme Sports show, which airs internationally.

Perhaps the most successful media exposure, short of the Dewar's Campaign, was during the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah where they played in the Torch Lighting Ceremony.

Discography

Albums

* "Rain and Thunder" (1994)
* "Old Ground" (1995)
* "Big Dog" (1996)
* "Road Kill" (Two Volume Live Set) (1998)
* "The Factory" (1999)
* "The Pictou Sessions" (2000)
* "Seven Nations" (2000)
* "Live at the Palace Theater" (2001)
* "And Now It's Come to This" (2002)
* "Christmas EP" (2003)
* "Christmas EP 2004" (2004)
* "" (2005)
* "Thanks For Waiting" (2005)
* "Time As The Enemy" (2008)

ingles

* "Wonderful" (2002)

Other

* "Your Big Day" (2007) _{possible addition to new album}
* "Winding Me Up" (2007) _{possible addition to new album}
* "Infinity" (2007) _{possible addition to new album}

Solo Albums

* Kirk McLeod - "So Piano" (2003)
* Dan Stacey - "Crank It" (2003)
* Scott Long - "In and Out the Harbour" (2003)

Awards and Achievements

* Performed at the Torch Lighting ceremony at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City
* Subject of PBS Special “An Evening with Seven Nations”
* Chosen by Extreme Sports to create the music theme for their theme, which airs internationally
* Featured on CNN in a Worldbeat special airing internationally
* Selected by Dewar’s Scotch for a multi-million dollar profile campaign and sponsorship, which included a national print campaign with exposure in over 20 major magazines
* Seven Nations CD flown on the Space Shuttle Endeavor by Canadian astronaut, Chris Hadfield
* First American band to be asked by the National Trust of Scotland to do a return engagement
* Rolling Stone Presents Showcase and VIP party in San Francisco in 2001
* Performed for the televised opening ceremony of the New York Marathon in late 2001
* National Major-market Hard Rock Café tour in 2001 [http://www.sevennations.com]
* Concert series with the South Carolina Symphony Orchesta
* Annual performance(s) at Irish 2000 Music and Arts Festival, Altamont, NY. One of the largest Irish fests on the East Coast

External links

* [http://www.sevennations.com/ Official Site]
* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:5msyxdsb2olg~T0 Seven Nations at allmusic.com]
* [http://www.razorandtie.com/label/artistdetail.asp?artist=302 Seven Nations at the Razor & Tie record label website]
* [http://www.7nfan.com Seven Nations Fan Site]
* [http://www.myspace.com/sevennations Seven Nations MySpace page]