Battlefield Band
 | This article may be written from a fan's point of view, rather than a neutral point of view. (February 2008) |
Battlefield Band are a Scottish traditional music group. Founded in Glasgow in the 1970s, they have undergone several changes of lineup, though founder member Alan Reid has remained a constant presence; several former members, notably John McCusker, have developed distinguished solo careers. The band is noted for their combination of bagpipes with other instruments, and their mix of traditional songs and tunes with new material.
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 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). Reid has been a constant member ever since.
Instruments and themes
Every line-up has had a bagpiper, and sometimes two. For a mainly instrumental and traditional band, the presence of electric keyboards is unusual but even more unusual is the absence of percussion. Every album revives some well-researched, long-dead Scottish songs and tunes as well as modern compositions (often original ones). The music ranges from the usual drinking, friendship and hard times to history, geography and politics. As one of the most well-travelled folk bands of the past 20+ years it is no surprise that there have been some exhausted members.
The band's penultimate 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 newest release (2007), "Dookin'" has a decidedly lighter feel, after the eloquently somber tone of The Road of Tears. Dookin' includes the patented mix of vocals, with lead being shared by Alan Reid and Sean O'Donnell, and brilliant instrumentals.
Current members
- Alan Reid - Keyboards/Guitar/Vocals (also only remaining, founding member of the band)
- Alasdair White - Fiddle/Whistle/Banjo/Bouzouki/Highland and Small Pipes/Bodhran
- Mike Katz - Highland pipes/small pipes/various whistles/bass guitar
- Sean O'Donnell - vocals/guitar
Note: Sean O'Donnell is the most recent addition to Battlefield Band. Irish, he replaced former Irish vocal/guitarist Pat Kilbride July 2005.
Past members
- Brian McNeill - fiddle, writes detective novels, teaching with the Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Dance
- John Gahagan - (fiddle/whistle) now working as a graphic artist in Glasgow and continuing to play music.
- Jen Clark- vocals and multi-instrumentalist (still doing amazing things with the dulcimer) is currently based in Edinburgh and doing some new work with Iain Macinnes and Mairi Campbell
- John McCusker - fiddle, replacing McNeill seemed like an impossible task, but McCusker, still a teenager at the time did it. After a few years he went solo, adopted a Mohican hair-cut and married Yorkshire folk singer Kate Rusby
- Davy Steel - (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
- Iain MacDonald - (bagpipes) is now 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. Now acclaimed as a soloist.
- 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 Patrick Street and the House Band
- Karine Polwart
- Jim and Sylvia Barnes - (bouzouki & vocal/dulcimer) came to Battlefield Band via Kentigern. Jim sadly passed away in 2004.
- Jamie McMenemy - (bouzouki, vocal) still a very active musician and co-founder of the Breton group Kornog, now lives in Brittany
Discography
- Scottish Folk (1976) or [[Farewell to Nova Scotia (1976)
- Battlefield Band (1977)
- Wae's me for Prince Charlie (1978)
- At the Front (1978)
- Stand Easy (1979)
- Preview (1980)
- Home is Where the Van Is (1980)
- The Story So Far (1982)
- There's a Buzz (1982)
- Anthem for the Common Man (1984)
- On the Rise (1986)
- Music in Trust Vol 1 (1986)
- After Hours: Forward to Scotland's Past (1987)
- Celtic Hotel (1987)
- Music in Trust Vol 2 (1988)
- Home Ground - Live From Scotland (1989)
- New Spring (1991)
- Quiet Days (1992)
- Opening Moves (1993)
- Farewell to Nova Scotia (1CD) (1996) (= Scottish Folk reissue on CD)
- Threads (1995)
- Across the Borders (1997)
- Live Celtic Folk Music (1998)
- Rain, Hail or Shine (1998)
- Leaving Friday Harbor (1999)
- Happy Daze (2001)
- Time and Tide (2002)
- Best of Battlefield 1976 - 2003
- Out for the Night (2004)
- The Road of Tears (2006)
- Dookin'(2007)
Solo albums by past and former members
Davy Steel
- Long Time Getting Here (1984)
- Summerlee (1994)
- Chasing Shadows (1998)
Brian MacNeill
- 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)