TANNAHILL WEAVERS

Born of a 1968 session in Paisley, Scotland and named for the town’s historic weaving industry and local poet laureate Robert Tannahill, the Tannahill Weavers have made an international name for their special brand of Scottish music, blending the beauty of traditional melodies with the power of modern rhythms. The Tannahills began to attract attention when founding members Roy Gullane and Phil Smillie added the full- sized highland bagpipes to the on-stage presentations, the first professional Scottish folk group to successfully do so. The combination of the powerful pipe solos, Roy’s driving guitar backing and lead vocals, and Phil’s ethereal flute playing breathed new life into Scotland’s vast repertoire of traditional melodies and songs.Three years and a dozen countries later, the Tannahills were the toast of Europe, having won the Scotstar Award for Folk Record of the Year with their third album, The Tannahill Weavers. Canada came the next summer, with thousands at the national festivals in Vancouver, Winnipeg and Toronto screaming an approval that echoed throughout the Canadian media. The Regina Leader-Post wrote, “The Tannahill Weavers personify Celtic music, and if you are given to superlatives, you have to call their talent ‘awesome’.” Since their first visit to the United States, the Tannahills’ unique combination of traditional melodies on pipes, flute and fiddle, driving rhythms on guitar and bouzouki, and powerful three and four part vocal harmonies have taken the musical community by storm. As Garrison Keillor, then host of “A Prairie Home Companion”, remarked, “These guys are a bunch of heroes every time they go on tour in the States”. The Tannahills have turned their acoustic excitement loose on audiences with an electrifying effect. They have that unique combination of traditional melodies, driving rhythmic accompaniment, and rich vocals that make their performances unforgettable. As the Winnipeg Free Press noted, “The Tannahill Weavers – properly harnessed – could probably power an entire city for a year on the strength of last night’s concert alone. The music may be old time Celtic, but the drive and enthusiasm are akin to straight ahead rock and roll.”
Over the years the Tannies have been trailblazers for Scottish music, and their tight harmonies and powerful, inventive arrangements have won them fans from beyond the folk and Celtic music scenes. In 2011 the band was inducted into the Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame, and in 2018 they released their highly acclaimed 50th Anniversary album Òrach (“Golden” in Gaelic) on award-winning label Compass Records.
Recent years have seen an exciting change to the band line-up, with the addition on bagpipes and fiddle of Scotland’s youngest Clan leader, Iain MacGillivray. Iain speaks (and sings) Gaelic fluently and has performed on such high profile projects as Outlander and with Martha Reeves and the Vandellas amongst many others. With Iain, Roy, Phil, and fiddle and bouzouki player Malcolm Bushby, the Tannahill Weavers are firmly established as one of the premier groups on the concert stage. Their latest recording Solstice is scheduled for release in October of 2024. From reflective ballads to footstomping reels and jigs, the variety and range of the material they perform is matched only by their enthusiasm and lively Celtic spirits.

https://tannahillweavers.com

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