Posts Tagged ‘ALBANNACH’

This weekend Celtic Force is handling the entertainment for the Greater Greenville Scottish Festival in South Carolina.

This is a newer event that has grown quickly over the past few years and uses a couple of quality venues. This year will feature Albannach and Coyote Run, both favorites of the festival, at both the Friday night ceilidh (kay-lee), held downtown behind the Peace Center, and all day Saturday at the Entertainment Pavilion at Furman University.

Saturday is full of typical activities for a Scottish event such as highland athletics, pipe bands, clan tents, herding demonstrations, vendors and kids activities.

This year the festival welcomes as a special guest…Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex.

Check out the festival web site at www.greenvillegames.org  for details and schedules. See you there!

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As we’ve mentioned all along, we expect this trip to be quite unique.  We’ll try to see as much as we can in the time we are there, but still have time to enjoy that time.  Does that make sense?

For instance, our journey into the Highlands on Friday will take us by Loch Lomond and wind its way into the Highlands across Rannoch Moor, by Glencoe and into Fort William for lunch. The trip continues north from there and features some beautiful scenery and a stop at Urquhart Castle (1) on the shores of Loch Ness. This castle stood during the time of Wallace and was one of the most formidable of its kind. A giant step back in time. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urquhart_Castle

We’ll find our way to Inverness from there, check into the Columba Hotel, across the Ness River from Inverness Castle (2) and prepare ourselves for an evening at Hootananny, http://www.hootananny.co.uk/index-2.php a great night spot with a performance by Ted Christopher, http://www.bannockburnband.co.uk/ one of Scotland’s busiest and most entertaining singers. (And close friend of David’s)

On Sat. we rise, have our breakfast and say goodbye to Inverness as we make our way to Culloden Battlefield. http://www.nts.org.uk/Culloden/Home/  We will stand on the ground that saw the end of a way of life for Scotland. A haunting place that stirs emotions of those that understand its significance, a place Big Davey said was a must see on this trip.

Did I mention that our guide for the Highlands and Culloden is Hugh Allison, http://www.scottishtalespinner.com/ (another friend of David’s) who is the former Director of the Culloden Battlefield.  A writer himself, Hugh will be a great addition to our trip. I bet he will have some interesting insights and a few funny stories about Davey.

We leave Hugh at Culloden and head south toward our next evening’s lodging in Pitlochry. On our way there we will make another stop at Blair Castle (3). http://www.blair-castle.co.uk/  This is the home of the Murray Clan and is one of the busiest castles in Scotland. We will not be doing an inside tour of the castle but we will see the grounds and visit the ruins of St Brides Kirk, that is tucked away under some very old, very large trees. St Brides was built on a Druid mound and was constructed during the 1100s. Buried under the floor of the Kirk is Bonnie Dundee, one of Scotland’s strongest military leaders during the time of King James II & IV, who was killed during the battle of Killiecrankie, just a couple of miles down the road.

After an early afternoon check in at our hotel and time to catch your breath, we’ll head toward our evenings destination, a wedding and dinner at Murthly Castle (4) near Dunkeld. http://www.murthly-estate.com/page2.html We plan to be there around 4 pm to tour the glorious grounds of this 15^th century castle in daylight then move into the 17^th century chapel for the wedding of our good friends Randy Dedrickson and Susan Barry Hallenburg. We’ll have great music for the service featuring bagpipes, Susie Malcolm on harp and her husband, 2004 Scots Trad Songwriter of the Year, Jim Malcolm, singing and playing guitar. http://www.jimmalcolm.com/  The local minister, Rev. Bill Ewart (in kilt of course), will be officiating at one of his last services, as he is due to retire in April.

Once the service is completed we move into the castle for dinner and an evening of more great music. Jim will join us again in the evening and Scottish fiddler Pete Clark http://www.musicinscotland.com/PeteClark/ along with a pianist will perform and also play some dance music for us. Can you say ceilidh? (kay-lee)

I might also mention that our special guest for the evening (besides the bride & groom) will be the owners of Murthly Castle. Cool, huh?

So, there you go, four castles and a wedding. And this all happens within a 36-hour period.

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Due to last minute cancellations we now have 4 seats available for the Albannach Homecoming Tour to Scotland March 9-16, 2010!!!

This trip will allow you to see some of the best Scotland has to offer and there will be plenty of music and merriment to be had.

Stirling, Bannockburn, Glasgow, Inverness, Edinburgh, Loch Ness, Glencoe, the Highlands, castles, all will leave their marks. Featuring performances by Albannach, Ted Christopher, Jim Malcolm and Mickey Harte, in some of Scotland’s most interesting places.

This trip will be the experience of a lifetime!!!

For more information, visit: CLICK HERE!

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By: Donovan Murray
www.TheCelticForce.com

The sounds from the stage this weekend at the Williamsburg Scottish Festival matched the turnout. It was GREAT! This is the second year Celtic Force has handled the entertainment for the festival, now into its third decade, and the combination of styles and personalities of the performers left those attending with wonderful memories. The weather turned out to be fantastic (no rain, a little warm) and the full moon that delivered its smile on Saturday night topped off a perfect evening. Seems that a new attendance record was set as well. Those performing not only complimented each other but there were several times during the weekend that different artists joined others on stage for a once in a lifetime jam.

As usual the power and sound of pipes and drums delivered by Albannach had everyone moving to the primal tunes and screaming loud enough to reach Richmond. Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas wowed the audience with their blend of fiddle and cello that delivered listeners the passion and intensity of instruments that have left their marks on Celtic music history. Coyote Run, normally a long way from home, were pumped to be playing in their own backyard with sets that demonstrated their unique abilities, highlighted by tight harmonies and theatrical presentations, that took the audience to new places in the Celtic music experience. And when you consider that Williamsburg honors the military during their weekend, it was fitting to have the Air Force Heritage Aire Celtic Ensemble, based out of Langley, playing traditional and lighthearted tunes that showcased those individual musicians’ talents.

You know you have a good blend of talent when you see members of Coyote Run, along with Alasdair Fraser, join the Air Force Ensemble for a tune. To see the crowd on its feet getting dance step instructions from Alasdair so that everyone knows how to do a Scottish reel adds a special something to the day. Having local musicians such as So’loch & a group based out of the Green Oak Pub in Virginia Beach add their talents to the mix. And then Albannach invites Coyote Run & Graham Smith to join them on the final song of the weekend to end with a bang. That’s special!

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ALBANNACH
is Scots-Gaelic for “Scottish” or “Scotsman”. Albannach are all born and bred in Scotland, with lives dedicated to sharing their intriguing culture, history and heritage by means of their music. Albannach are not just another Scottish ‘Pipes & Drums’ band, bringing a new and exciting form of music to audiences everywhere. A championship piper, an extremely talented main drummer, bass drummers and bodhran musicians bring a brand new approach to percussion and Celtic music. The music is power, passion and primal and promises to leave you begging for more. Albannach’s style has been described as “Celtic battle music. It’s a ferocious, primal thing of beauty, the sound of ancient ancestors being summoned up from rich earth to tell tales of battles and victories and celebrations around fires so big the darkness of a Scottish night was pushed back beyond the nearby hills.”-Steve Wildsmith, The Daily Times

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