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 Jenny Clark (vocals, guitar, cittern, dulcimer) and Duncan McGillivray (pipes an

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 Jenny Clark (vocals, guitar, cittern, dulcimer) and Duncan McGillivray (pipes and whistle) joined up with Brian McNeill and Alan Reid. 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 any accordion, melodeon or percussion. Every album contains a couple of well-researched long-dead Scottish songs and tunes as well as modern compositions about drinking, friendship or hard times. As one the most well-travelled folk bands of the past 20 years it is no surprise that there have been some exhausted members.

Current members are: Alan Reid, Mike Katz, Sean O'Donnell & Alasdair White