- country:United Kingdom
- region:Scotland
- style(s):Folk
- label:Temple Records
- type:Band, Composer/Songwriter
- gender:male
- instrumentation:instrumental, vocal
- artist posted by:Magnetic Music
Line up
- Alan Reid (vocals + keyboards)
- Alasdair White (Fiddle, Pipes, bouzouki)
- Mike Katz (Pipes, Whistle, Guitar)
- Sean O'Donnell (vocals + guitar)
Links
Battlefield Band Forward with Scotland's past
Under the banner "Forward With Scotland's Past", Battlefield Band play Scottish music of a unique quality. Inspired by their rich heritage of Celtic music and fired by the strength of today's Scottish Cultural scene, which indeed they have done much to create and fuel, Battlefield Band performs music of rare passion and joy. Refusing to be limited musically by suffocating antiqua-rianism or the 'music biz', they have mixed the old songs with new self-penned material, playing them on a unique fusion of ancient and modern instruments - bagpipe, fiddle, synthesizer, guitar, cittern, flute, bodhran and accordion.
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 37 years now, distilling their own unique form of the Scottish spirit and bottling it in concert and onto more than 30 albums - 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. This is the band they all measure themselves against. After three decades they still lead the way for Scottish music all the time introducing new musicians, new music; always involving their ever widening audience.
Edinburgh Evening News honoured the band: "The Battlefield Band is turning into a national treasure and ex-emplifies the ongoing nature of Scottish musical tradition". And the MOJO Magazine from England wrote: "They knit the Scottish tradition into a sound that still sounds fresh, alert and relevant and belies their veteran status. No tricks, no gimmicks, just very fine music." Billboard Magazin/USA topped: "What the internationally renowned Irish band, the Chieftains, has done for traditonal Irish music, Battlefield Band is doing for the music of Scotland."
Some highlights from their long-lasting career: 2003 they won at the Scots Trad Music Awards in the category "'Best Live Act". They played in front of a million of pilgrims when the pope hold a mass in the Scottish green grass. With Mike Oldfield they played in a sold-out Wembley arena. A race-horse is bearing their name. The Battlefield Band even had their own TV show in England and hosted stars like Van Morrison or Paul Brady.
Line-Up:
Alan Reid (keyboards/guitar/vocals), one of the founder members of the band
Mike Katz (Highland pipes/small pipes/various whistles/bass guitar)
Sean O'Donnell (vocals/guitar)
Alasdair White (fiddle/whistle/banjo/bazouki/Highland and small pipes/bodhran/...and probably anything else he can lay his hands on)
Latest album: "The road of tears"
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