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Buy The Big Spree by Breabach
Breabach are one of the most talked about new acts on the Scottish folk scene. Their innovative celtic style, blending double bagpipes, whistle, fiddle, song and Scottish stepdance, brings to the stage, flare, excitement and diversity rarely seen from such a young group. The Big Spree is there long-awaited debut album.
Breabach are, Calum MacCrimmon (highland pipes, whistles), Donal Brown (highland pipes, whistles ), Patsy Reid (fiddle) and Ewan Robertson (guitar).
"Their obvious playing skills, and an essentially Scottish traditional repertoire, make for interesting listening...but it's the high-energy instrumental attack that excites" ......Norman Chalmers..Scotland on Sunday
Media Reviews
a swirling collection of stirring tunes and top notch songs, and the powerhouse instrumentals are a testament to youthful exuberance, burgeoning talent and a total joy to listen to
What a debut! ‘The Big Spree’ is a swirling collection of stirring tunes and top notch songs, and the powerhouse instrumentals are a testament to youthful exuberance, burgeoning talent and a total joy to listen to. The recollection of this band’s superb Celtic Connections set is literally ringing in my ears as I listen to this album. Breabach is a four-piece band that has attracted the eyes and ears of festival organisers, winning themselves a coveted slot at Cambridge Folk Festival this year. Readers who’ve heard this band play live will know exactly why, because they hurl their tunes at you with such attack that you need to be ready to steel yourself against their onslaught. Donal Brown & Calum MacCrimmon between them play Highland bagpipes, flutes and whistles, Patsy Reid plays fiddle, viola and cello, and Ewan Robertson is guitarist, lead vocalist, and what a rich and commanding voice he has. Patsy too has a lovely, listenable voice, evidenced by her fine interpretation of ‘Lochaber No More.’ Duncan Lyall and Ewen Vernal guest on double bass on various tracks, adding considerable depth to the music.
Calum and Patsy contribute some cracking tunes themselves, and these are joined by further riches; the outstanding ‘Davy Webster’s’ by the late Gordon Duncan – a magnificent and celebratory tribute to this great piper. There are reels, strathspeys and jigs by Angus MacDonald, Adam Sutherland, Donald MacLeod, Neil Gow and other fine composers. Well known traditional tunes sit snugly in the mix too, including ‘The Snuff Wife’, ‘George White’s Favourite’, ‘Brose and Butter’ and ‘Bonnie Isle O’Whalsay.’ Though the pace of the music slows down occasionally, overall it’s a huge sound, bursting with energy, and there will be few who can sit still when listening to these brilliant tunes, brilliantly played.
An outstanding first album from a fantastic young band. More power to their elbow for getting it so right so early on in their careers!
Debbie Koristas...The Living Tradition
Their obvious playing skills, and an essentially Scottish traditional repertoire, make for interesting listening
.."Their obvious playing skills, and an essentially Scottish traditional repertoire, make for interesting listening.."
Their raucous, driving attack, underpinned by Ewan Robertson's propulsive guitar work, is energised and exciting.
IT IS not that long since a band playing to the standard of Braebach would have been considered a remarkable phenomenon on the Scottish folk scene. These days, however, no-one bats an eyelid at a young group performing with the technical assurance and feel for traditional idioms that are abundantly evident here, a measure of how much standards have risen across the board since the early 1990s. Braebach are unusual in that their quartet line-up is dominated by two Highland pipers, Donal Brown and the man with the famous piping lineage, Calum MacCrimmon. Their raucous, driving attack, underpinned by Ewan Robertson's propulsive guitar work, is energised and exciting. Fiddler Patsy Reid is no slouch when the spotlight falls on her either, and both she and Robertson throw in a song as well. The tunes are mostly well-known traditional pieces, with a leavening of more contemporary material.
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