Biography Wikipedia
Group Members: Various Artists - Green Linnet, Pat Kilbride, Mike Katz, Douglas Pincock, Drever | McCusker | Woomble, Brian McNeill, Brian McNeil, John McCusker
Wikipedia:
Battlefield Band are 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.
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. In 2011 they were winners of 'Best Band' at the Scots Trad Music Awards 2011.
Battlefield Band's "Compliments to Buddy McMaster" was nominated for the 7th Annual Independent Music Awards for World Traditional Song of the year. They have also been nominated for the 11th Independent Music Awards 'World Traditional Song' category for their recording of 'A' Bhriogais Uallach' (The Pompous Trousers), a track from their recent 'Line-up' album released in 2011..
They have also collaborated with other musicians including the Scottish Harp player and glass sculptor Alison Kinnaird MBE.
History
The band's 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 thirteen years.
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
Sean O'Donnell - vocals/guitarEwen Henderson - fiddle/bagpipes/whistles/piano/vocalsAlasdair White - fiddle/tin whistle/banjo/bouzouki/Highland bagpipes/small pipes/bodhranMike Katz - Highland pipes/small pipes/various whistles/bass guitar/guitarNote: 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.
