Inspired by
their rich heritage of Celtic music and fired by the strength
and vibrancy of today's Scottish cultural scene, which
indeed they have done much to create and fuel, they have
led, and been at the forefront, of a great revival in
Scottish music. Refusing to be limited musically
by suffocating antiquarianism, or the music business'
fashions, they have mixed the old songs and music with
a new self-penned repertoire, all played on a fusion of
ancient and modern instruments - bagpipes, fiddle, synthesiser,
guitar, flutes, bodhran and accordion
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Named after the Glasgow suburb
of Battlefield, where the group was formed by four student
friends, Battlefield Band have been on the world''s roads
for just on 30 years now, distilling their own unique
form of the Scottish spirit and bottling it in concert
and onto disc - Germany, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand,
Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Holland, Syria, Jordan, India,
Sri Lanka, Egypt, U.S.A., Canada, Uzbekistan and the U.K.
They have broken down barriers and pioneered many new
directions which others have followed. Angry, joyful,
raucous, contemplative, their music is most importantly
- accessible to all.
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During those years there have obviously
been line-up changes and indeed the band are remarkable for the
smooth and organic way in which these changes have taken place.
Their continued creativity, freshness and enthusiasm is due to
the positive way they have viewed, and used, these changes - and
of course the new musicians themselves have been of prime importance.
Musical evidence of these changes can be heard on their many albums
made over the years.
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from
L-R: Alan Reid, Mike Katz, Sean O'Donnell & Alasdair
White
Photograph:
Simon Hollington
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Battlefield Band are:
Alan
Reid (keyboards/guitar/vocals)
from Glasgow, one of the founder members of the band and
an invaluable factor in their success and longevity, does
much of the bands singing and songwriting, particularly
on contemporary Scottish themes.
Mike Katz (Highland
pipes/small pipes/various whistles/bass guitar) the unmistakeable
piper who joined the line-up in late 1997and has contibuted
massively to the music and accessibility of the band.
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Sean O'Donnell
(vocals/guitar) an accomplished guitar player and singer
from Derry, Northern Ireland, who has been playing music
since the age of 16, and also plays bass, bouzouki and cittern.
He moved to Scotland in 1996, quickly becoming actively
involved in the live music scene, having played with the
award- winning Scots Irish band Bionic, as part of The Emily
Smith Band as well as the Michael McGoldrick Band, Deaf
Shepherd, and Daimh.
Alasdair White (fiddle/whistle/banjo/bazouki/Highland
and small pipes/bodhran/...and probably anything else he
can lay his hands on!). Already a superb fiddle player and
multi-instrumentalist, Alasdair hails from the island of
Lewis, one of the Gaelic speaking Outer Hebrides.
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