Battlefield Band

Battlefield Band

Battlefield Band is a Scottish traditional music group. Founded in Glasgow in 1969, they have released over 30 albums and undergone many changes of lineup. As of 2010, there are no founder members in the band.

Several former members have developed distinguished solo careers. The band is noted for its combination of bagpipes with other instruments, most notably on their cover of Bad Moon Rising and its mix of traditional songs and tunes with new material. The group tour internationally, playing to audiences in Europe, Australia, Asia, the Middle East & Canada, as well as more than 60 cities annually in the United States.

Battlefield Band were winners of 'Best Live Act' at the inaugural Scots Trad Music Awards in 2003

Battlefield Band's "Compliments to Buddy McMaster" was nominated for the 7th Annual Independent Music Awards for World Traditional Song of the year.

Contents

History

The band's current brand of music was developed when Brian McNeill and Alan Reid were joined by Jenny Clark (vocals, guitar, cittern, appalachian dulcimer and whistle) and Duncan McGillivray (pipes and whistle). Stand Easy, the album they recorded in 1979, still stands up as one of the band's finest. The next line-up included Dougie Pincock (bagpipes) and Jim and Sylvia Barnes, Alan Reid (vocals and electric keyboards) and Brian McNeill (fiddle). Alan Reid, which has been a member ever since, finally left the band at the end of 2010, concentrating on his musical duo with guitarist & singer Rob van Sante who has been Battlefield Band's sound engineer for the past thirteenth years.[1]

Instruments and themes

Every line-up since the Stand Easy album has had at least one bagpiper. Unusual aspects of the instrumental line-up for a traditional band include the presence of electric keyboards and the absence of percussion. Every album mixes traditional Scottish songs and tunes with modern (often original) compositions. Themes range from drinking, friendship and hard times to history, geography and politics.

The band's 2006 album, The Road of Tears, deals explicitly with the theme of displacement. Many of the songs deal with emigration, both voluntary and forced. Battlefield Band's 2007 album, Dookin' has a lighter feel, after the eloquently somber tone of The Road of Tears. Dookin' includes a mix of vocals, with lead being shared by Alan Reid and Sean O'Donnell, and instrumentals.

Current members

Note: Sean O'Donnell replaced former Irish vocal/guitarist Pat Kilbride in July 2005. Multi-instrumentalist Ewen Henderson is the most recent addition to Battlefield Band and the youngest member.

Past members

  • Ricky Starrs (musician)and one of early members. Multi instumentalist gutar mandolin whistles. Played on original Arfolk recording later rereleased as farewell to Nova Scotia.
  • Alan Reid - keyboards/guitar/vocals/accordion (Alan was the last remaining founding member of the band to leave, doing so in 2010)
  • Brian McNeill - fiddle, writes detective novels, teaching with the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Dance
  • John Gahagan - (fiddle/whistle) now working as a graphic artist in Glasgow and continuing to play music.
  • Jen Clark - vocals, guitar, cittern and dulcimer (among other things now running a psychotherapy practice and offering voicework in Edinburgh).
  • John McCusker - fiddle, replaced McNeill.
  • Davy Steele - (1948–2001) sang with Drinkers Drouth, Ceolbeg and Clan Alba as well as making solo albums.
  • Dougie Pincock - (bagpipes) now director of the National Centre of Excellence in Traditional Music (Sgoil Chiùil na Gàidhealtachd) in Plockton.
  • Duncan MacGillivray - (bagpipes) has won many piping competitions, including the Gold Medal at the Northern Meeting in Inverness in 1997.
  • Iain MacDonald - (bagpipes) was the musician in residence at the Gaelic College on the Isle of Skye.
  • Alistair Russell - (guitar, vocal) during his 13 years in the band he claims to have travelled one million miles. Currently has a solo career.
  • Pat Kilbride - (guitar, vocal) lived in Brittany, Belgium then the USA. He has recorded with "The Kips Bay Ceilidh Band" and done solo albums.
  • Ged Foley - (guitar, vocal, Northumbrian pipes) has recorded with the House Band, Patrick Street and Celtic Fiddle Festival
  • Karine Polwart
  • Jim and Sylvia Barnes - (bouzouki & vocal/dulcimer) came to Battlefield Band via Kentigern. Jim died in 2004.
  • Jamie McMenemy - (bouzouki, vocal) still a very active musician and co-founder of the Breton group Kornog, now lives in Brittany.

Concert Tours

Discography

  • 1976 Farewell to Nova Scotia (or Scottish Folk) [#01] debut studio album (first released on Escalibur label)
  • 1977 Battlefield Band [#02] studio album #02 (first released on Topic label)
  • 1978 Wae's me for Prince Charlie [#03] studio album #03 (first released on Escalibur label)
  • 1978 At the Front [#04] studio album #04 (first released on Topic label)
  • 1979/1980 Stand Easy/Preview [#05] studio album #05 (first released on Topic label)
  • 1980 Home Is Where the Van Is [#06] studio album #06
  • 1982 The Story So Far 1977-1980 [#07] compilation album #1 of the 3 first studios albums released on Topic label
  • 1982 There's a Buzz [#08] studio album #07
  • 1984 Anthem for the Common Man [#09] studio album #08
  • 1986 Music in Trust Vol 1 [#10] Soundtrack album #01
  • 1986 On the Rise [#11] studio album #09
  • 1987 After Hours: Forward to Scotland's Past [#12] compilation album #2 of the five last previous albums
  • 1987 Celtic Hotel [#13] studio album #10
  • 1988 Music in Trust Vol 2 [#14] Soundtrack album #02
  • 1989 Home Ground - Live From Scotland [#15] live album #1 (a live recording of a concert in Spring 1989 in Aberdeen, Scotland)
  • 2001 Happy Daze [#23] studio album #16
  • 2002 Time and Tide [#24] studio album #17
  • 2002 Best of Battlefield 1976-2003 [#25] compilation album #4
  • 2004 Out for the Night [#26] studio album #18
  • 2006 The Road of Tears [#27] studio album #19
  • 2007 Dookin' [#28] studio album #20
  • 2009 Zama Zama... Try Your Luck [#29] studio album #21
  • 2011 LINE-UP, released 2011

Solo albums by Battlefield Band past and former members

Alasdair White

  • An Clár Geal (2006)

Mike Katz

  • A Month of Sundays (2004)

John McCusker

  • John McCusker (album)|John McCusker (1995)
  • Yella Hoose (2000)
  • Goodnight Ginger (2003)

Brian McNeill

  • Monksgate (1978)
  • Unstrung Hero (1985)
  • The Busker And Devil's Only Daughter (1985)
  • The Back o' the North Wind (1991)
  • No Gods (1995)
  • To Answer the Peacock (1999)

Brian McNeill & Tom McDonagh

  • Horses for Courses (1993)

Brian McNeill & Iain MacKintosh

  • Stage by Stage (1995)
  • Gentle Persuasion (1997)

Dougie Pincock

  • Something Blew (1994)

Alan Reid

  • The Sunlit Eye (1997) (studio album)
  • Recollection (2011) (compilation)

Alan Reid & Brian McNeill

  • Sidetracks (1981)

Alan Reid & Rob van Sante

  • Under the Blue (2001)
  • The Rise and Fall o' Charlie (2009)

Alistair Russell

  • Getting to the Border (1984)
  • A19 (2002)

Alistair Russell & Chris Parkinson

  • Paddy Goes To Huddersfield (2001)

Davy Steele

  • Long Time Getting Here (1984)
  • Summerlee (1994)
  • Chasing Shadows (1998)

References

  1. ^ Alan Reid & Rob van Sante duo Web Site / Biography

External links


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