Day 01

Well, our trip began after we finished celebrating our parents 50th wedding anniversary. What a time! I think we’re well warmed up with the amount of music played!!

All gathered at the airport except for Lucy who was home for her little one’s first day of school. She will join us later on in Scotland. Bumped into a good friend Stephan MacLeod aka “Windom Earle”. He was dropping off his girlfriend, Ingrid. Coincidently she was heading to Scotland too, but our paths would split in Heathrow.

On the plane, there were a few inconveniences. The tv/entertainment system was down. They tried to fix it the entire trip, booting and rebooting. At one point fuses were pulled which knocked the power out for a while, which when accompanied with turbulence caused a slight panic. Then, when tea was ordered, it was discovered that the plane was short on water. The bathroom completely ran out! It was like visiting someone who hadn’t paid their utility bills!!

We all arrived safe after a long day of travel and we were greeted in Inverness by a piper at the bottom of the stairs to the plane. What a nice touch and kick off for the festival! We checked in to the beautiful Royal Highland Hotel, then went out for a bit and a walk around the city. Landed at Hootenany’s and listened to some musicians having a session. Great time!

Some went to bed and some didn’t... they found a little place with jazz which wrapped up their night perfectly.

“Come on down to Inverness, it will bring you happiness.”
Dan Norman Cummings

Day 02

We all woke up and had our big traditional Scottish breakfast, which if you don’t know, consists of eggs, ham-like bacon, fried tomato and mushrooms, blood pudding and potato scones, tea or coffee, toast... maybe more. There’s variations on what you get, but all we know is you get it everyday, everywhere. It sets you up for a long day of driving and performing.

Packed the van and drove to Skye. Today we’re playing at the Aros theatre in Portree.

We have a few new recruits on this trip. Sheumas’ wife Moncia and Jamie’s wife Cynthia have joined us. It’s their first trip to Scotland and so far have been enjoying it.

Our driver for this trip is Duncan Simpson. Not only is he a hard worker and great driver, but he makes an excellent tour guide. He knows a lot of history and geography and presents it all in an entertaining style.

The drive was beautiful. We saw lots of great scenery and some sheep too. Stopped at Castle Moil Restaurant for a quick lunch.

Showed up for soundcheck. All was going smoothly until Kyle realized he brought the wrong fiddle, one without a pickup. Luckily there was a spare mic around and he could use that.

The show went well and afterwards we saw some piper friends of ours, which have ties to Cape Breton. Dr. Angus MacDonald, who lived in St. Peters for a while and Angus MacKenzie of Mabou now living in Portree. It was great to catch up!

Day 03

Today we left the lovely Isle of Skye and travelled to Lochaber High School. It involved a variety of smart, well mannered students who seemed interested in Cape Breton culture. We had a great time.

Boyd and Stewart had a radio interview with a local radio station. This gave us an opportunity to have lunch in an interesting place. Duncan (our driver), suggested the base of Ben Nevis. Ben Nevis has the highest peak in Scotland. It takes about three hours at a healthy pace to make it to the top. The temperature at the peak today was around -14 degrees Celsius. Maybe we’ll hike it next time.

Our arrival into Roy Bridge brought back many memories to the the band. In 1988, The Barra MacNeils toured Scotland on a Highland exchange. The first show in Scotland just so happened to be in Roy Bridge.

Ishbel MacAskill arrived with Lucy from Inverness. Lucy did all the traveling that day and did a show that night!

Ishbel performed in our show as well. Always a treat to hear her wonderful Gaelic songs. Great audience!

Day 04

We had an interesting drive today. Made a road stop at a bathroom that was award winning. It won “The Loo of the Year”. We bought a few Scottish tourist items and kept on our way.

We played our second school show at Dornoch Academy. It was a drama class. Lots of great questions. A few musicians in the audience as well.

We are based in Tain tonight. Our driver Duncan let us know that Tain was where Madonna got married to Guy Richie. Quite a small town for such an event. Duncan didn’t know where they got divorced.

We played Carnegie Hall tonight! Yes, it is the same guy who made the world famous one in New York. The Scottish venue is a lovely rustic hall. Ryan played played Carnegie in New York with the Chieftains in 2007. Playing before us tonight was the Fèis Chataibh Cèilidh Trail. It was a group very accomplished musicians that sang and played a variety of instruments. They did a great job and the crowd loved them.

The show went well and afterwards they had a vat of tea waiting for us. Much appreciated.

Day 05

Today we had to drive to Inverness for our final official show for the festival. It was also the grand finale for the festival and included the Caledonian Canal Ceilidh Trail, Tread and Blazin’ Fiddles. However, before we left, we went to visit the Glenmorangie Distillery. When we got there, they weren’t giving tours, so we walked around a bit ourselves and made up our own tour and facts about Glenmorangie.

We arrived fairly early. Donnie went to the theatre, some went to eat and some went to shop. Inverness is a beautiful place with lots of restaurants and shops.

Our sound check was very efficient. BBC Alba are taping the performance so there were more people to answer to technically to get everything right. The theatre is newly renovated and quite huge in comparison to some of the community halls we’ve played on this run.

The show began with the Caledonian Canal Ceilidh Trail. Once again, they were a group of very talented young musicians who played a variety of instruments and sang. They were fantastic. They even did a version of Leonard Cohn’s Hallelujah in Gaelic. Just when you thought you’ve heard every version!

Another band on the bill was Tread. We have made friends with these guys over the years. Many of it’s members play and dance with the Chieftains. They are unbelievable! The two Pilatzke brothers are from Canada and do the Ottawa Valley style of step dancing. The crowd really enjoyed them.

The final band of the evening was Blazin’ Fiddles. They have performed in Cape Breton for Celtic Colours as a band and as individuals. We have also bumped into them at other festivals. It consists of many excellent fiddle players accompanied with piano and guitar. Their arrangements are very interesting and the energy on the stage was felt by the enthusiastic audience. They are the hometown band and are very popular, which is no surprise with the show they put on.

At the end of the show, we all got up together and did a finally. Some Jerry Holland tunes were included in his memory then into a whole pile of other tunes. We all got up and danced at the end. It was a lot of fun.

After the show everyone gathered at the festival club where performers were entertaining the crowd. We got up and did a set, which included Happy Birthday for our bass player Jamie Gatti. It was his birthday at that hour. We finished with a way over the top rock show ending and headed back to the hotel.

At the hotel we bumped into a group of women from the Isle of Lewis. They were having a “Hen Party” or a bachelorette party. They were looking for some music and were staying at the hotel. Well they came to the right place. When word was out that someone was getting married, everyone took turns singing songs about love and weddings or whatever else they had to offer in the lobby. Everyone at the hotel offered a song. Even the night porter who was Indian. He sang a verse then translated it before moving on to the next one. Stewart sang a few Gaelic songs, even some that the band Runrig do. The entire group of women sang every word along.

A great night and early morning was had by all. What a way to end the festival!!

Day 06

Today was the first and only day off of the entire tour. Some got out and shopped while others slept in and went out to eat. Not too much exciting happened. We all knew that the next day was going to be very early to head to the airport, so early to bed was the general consensus.

Day 07

5:30am lobby call. All gathered where Duncan and Nicola picked us up. We got to the airport in time to check in and as we were about to go to the gate Duncan was playing electric bagpipes for us. He piped us on our way, while some groggy people looked on with a little bit of confusion. Got our flight to Gatwick, where we parted ways with Jamie and Cynthia. They were spending the rest of the week in London.

We made our way to Heathrow, checked in and found out our flight was delayed for about 3 hours. So hung around.

Finally flew out and made it to Montreal in time for our connection. Then home sweet home.

We had a great time at the Blas, and would like to thank everyone who helped us on our way, and to all the people who came out to see the shows.

See you on our next adventure!