PiggeryBrae home page
home
scottish
folk night
burns
suppers
scottish
folk night
wi' burns
.
our name
Songs
Shop
PHOTOS
.
contacts

guestbook

Bookings

.
CHARITY
wheelchair
RNLI CHAS
Children1st
StVincent's
StJohns Hospice
Boys BrigadeBoysBrigade
Reachout
The Haven
poppy
erskine
Links

 

PiggeryBrae - Digital Radio USA


                  




thedigitalfolklife.org
A Production of The Folk Life ( Inc. 1976)
John McLaughlin Editor

.
.

.
An Interview with PiggeryBrae, 2008

by John McLaughlin

.

 
 

[Wull McArthur is the webmaster for the GlescaPals discussion group on the Internet, devoted to the East End of Glasgow (where I come from), and is also one of the leading lights in a traditional Scottish folk music band. Since we couldn't get together for a sitdown interview, to supplement my curiosity about the background to he and and their fine CD, I suggested to Wull that I could sent the band a ten question interview, and he could fill in the answers. H was willing to do so, and here's the result:]

John: Where did you come up with the name "PiggeryBrae"?

Wull : "In Cambuslang, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, there is a back road known locally as Piggery Brae . One evening our group were discussing a name for the band... Fergi digressed and spoke of his courting days at the PiggeryBrae...PIGGERYBRAE....now there's a name said I .... we all laughed.....and PiggeryBrae it was!"

John: Who are the four guys who sing and play on the Piggery Brae CD? Could you say something about each of them - yourself included?

Wull: PiggeryBrae are 4 local guys who all live in Cambuslang, Scotland. Fergi is the elder statesman and links all the songs with jokes and patter as well as singing and providing harmonies. Ian is a retired (early) dentist and provides an excellent sound with clever use of the fiddle and mandolin. Alastair is our self confessed 'superstar' the man with the golden voice and guitar chords! Wull provides the lovely sound of the flute and whistles to the songs along with some vocals. When we perform live we have a lot of 'patter' between the band and we have the odd comedy sketch, which goes down well.


John: Who are the lead singers on the different cuts on the CD? 

Wull: Our lead singer and guitar player is Alastair he leads in all tracks barr the 4 listed below. Fergi sings two tracks 5 & 6 ( four strong winds & fiddlers green) and provides harmonies as well as singing verses in many of the songs Fergi also plays a bit of guitar and the bodhran. Ian plays the fiddle and mandolin and sings track 9 - Jock o' Hazeldean. Wull plays Flute (D) Flute (Bb) and whistles (D, C, Low G ) sings track 7 - I wish I was in Glasgow 
 


John: You've got a nice mix of traditional and more-recently composed songs on the CD. Where did you come up with the program?

Wull : we had long discussions about which songs to include and we ended up chosing the songs we all enjoy performing and which have been well received at our concerts. We also ensured every member had the lead voice in one song.

John: What are your own favorite songs on the CD (You can skip this one if you like - it might cause a fight in the band!) 

Wull : I have many favourites but if pushed I'd chose No Mans Land and of course my Glasgow song!

John: I'd heard "The Gallawa' Hills" sung by Johnny Morris, years ago, as a sort of mournful song. Your version sounds more like an Andy Stewart version. Is that accurate, or did you come up with the arrangement from a different background than the one I know? Is there Archie Fisher in the idea? 

Wull: I've never heard a mournful version of this song in my mind its a upbeat happy song..... yes we'll gang oot o'er the hills tae Gallowa!


John: "The Wee Room" is very funny. Was it hard to get your Cambuslang audience to do the auld Glesga accent?

Wull : This question made me laugh, because Cambuslang is just on the outskirts of Glasgow and the Glesga acccent is well spoken! 

 

John: I love "Wild Mountain Thyme" as a closer. Whose idea was it to put it there?

Wull : 
This was a song I introduced to the band and its a natural finisher, we always end on it.... successfully I might add!


John: "I Wish I Was in Glasgow" was an instant favorite for me. Was it your producer's idea to have "GlescaPals!" end it?

Wull: No that was my idea, as you know GlescaPals website and the 'Pals' I have met have taken over a large part of my life and it was just natural for me to end the song to my GlescaPals.

John: Any questions I should have asked, any answers to questions you might have asked if you were running the interview? How long together?

Wull: I first officially played with Alastair and Fergi at three Burns supppers in 2000. A year later in Jan.2001 there were four of us when Hugh Lee (fiddler) joined us then in Oct.2001 the name PiggeryBrae was born! Hugh left the band in 2003 and was replaced by Ian in October 2003 and since then we have kept that 4 piece set-up. PiggeryBrae concerts are all about music, fun and laughter and all donations to us goes to various charities. As can be seen on our charity webpages 

          

Interview from website : - http://www.thedigitalfolklife.org/piggerybrae.html

.

.
PiggeryBrae a get together of folk music, humour & patter

top

webmaister 2008

.wemWEB ©     PiggeryBrae perform to raise money for good causes     remember to sign the Guestbook
                         
©
copyright, no image or writings can be reproduced or copied without the owners consent