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