Alasdair MacCuish and the Black Rose Ceilidh Band are the "Best Scottish Dance Band" and that's official!! They won this accolade at the first Scots Trad Music Awards in Edinburgh in September 2003. Alasdair began the accordion at the age of 12 under the guidance of Graham Laurie. Tuition in the early days was mainly classical based, but with his roots lying in the Uists (his father from Balranald in North Uist, his grandfather a piper from Milton in South Uist and his mother's family were MecLellan's and Gillies' from Mallaig and Morar), it was inevitable that the 'calling' of traditional music would eventually take hold. The competition scene was a major part of his early playing career and he become Scottish accordion champion in 1997.
Whilst he is a self confessed lover of traditional pipe and Gaelic music (as the sleeve notes of any Black Rose album will prove!) he also thrives on the current folk scene and enjoys taking contemporary compositions and fitting them into the Scottish dance music idiom. A marketing graduate, he spent a number of years in that field before joining the BBC last year, where he works on Radio Scotland's 'Celtic Connections' and 'Pipeline' programmes. His long term ambition is to take Scottish dance music out of fringes of the general traditional music scene and ensure it gains the recognition and respect it deserves. The bands style is very much focused on the demands of the dancer but musically they draw on influences from the wider Scottish and Irish contemporary folk scenes.
In great demand for radio and TV appearances, they have produced 4 studio albums. In a live situation, the band are likely to have you dancing like you have never danced before. With the ability to play at tempos to suit the most discerning dancer, the band's swinging style will have your feet stirring from the first note to the last.
Alasdair MacCuish (accordion), Scott Gordon (accordion), Alison Smith (fiddle), David Gracie (keyboards), Iain "stretch" MacFadyen (drums and guitar) |
|