Under the banner "Forward with Scotland’s
Past," the Battlefield Band plays Scottish music with a rare passion
and joy.
Inspired by their rich Celtic musical heritage and fired by the strength
of today’s Scottish cultural scene, the four musicians of the group
mix old songs with their new, self-penned material, performing them with
a unique fusion of ancient and modern instruments - bagpipe, fiddle, synthesizer,
guitar, cittern, flute, bodhran and accordion. After 30 years, they still
lead the way for Scottish music, being awarded the first Best Live Act
by the first annual Scots Trad Music Awards in 2003.
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
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.
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.
L-R: Alan Reid, Mike Katz, Sean O'Donnell & Alasdair White
Photograph: Simon Hollington
The current line-up features:
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.
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.
Alasdair White (fiddle/whistle/banjo/bazouki/Highland
and small pipes/bodhran/...and probably anything else he can lay 
his
hands on!), is the most recent addition to the band. Already a superb
fiddle player and multi-instrumentalist, Alasdair hails from the island
of Lewis, one of the Gaelic speaking Outer Hebrides.
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.
