Battlefield Band

For 30 years Battlefield Band has been a training ground for some of the greatest Scottish musicians. The band's current brand of music was developed when Brian McNeill and Alan Reid were joined by Jenny Clark (vocals, guitar, cittern, 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 MacNeill (fiddle). Alan has been a constant member ever since. 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 the most well-travelled folk bands of the past 20+ years it is no surprise that there have been some exhausted members.

The present line-up consist of Alan Reid (Keyboards/Guitar/Vocals), Mike Katz (Highland Bagpipes/Small Pipes/Whistles/Guitar), Alasdair White (Fiddle/Whistle/Banjo/Bazouki/Highland and Small Pipes/Bodhran) and Sean O' Donnell (Vocals/Guitar).

Their latest album is "Dookin'" (released UK: August 2007, US: September 2007).